Battling to get arms through sleeves - every time!

[jollijojo]

My baby is now 6 and a half months. Every time I dress her, she screams when I try to put her arms through her sleeves. Clothes that you need to pull over her head are worse (like vests), because you have to pull her arm upwards to get through the sleeve. She has been doing this since when she was only a few weeks /days old (sorry, can't remember, but very early on). I try to distract her, giving her a toy, singing songs, rhymes or making a game out of it. But to no avail. She screams and goes all red in the face and makes her arms completely stiff, making it a real battle. Does anyone have advice on how to make this easier for everyone? Will she outgrow it eventually, or does it just get worse as they become toddlers?

Normal. It gets worse. It's about on a par with washing hands and face after eating, the look of utter disgust, red face and real tears. 30 seconds later it's forgotten. Don't worry about it.

For cardigans, coats etc I sit him on my lap, facing away, with Cbeebies on and sneak his arms in without him noticing

Umm, you don't have to pull her arm upwards - push the elbow from below. You shouldn't need to pull her arms at all. Hold her arm as you put the hand in the sleeve and you'll probably find that she pushes the rest of the way herself. Also definitely get her dressed sitting up - 6m olds regard it as a massive infringement of their dignity to be dressed lying down.

Octavia, the problem is with clothing that you have to pull over her head, like vests, so the sleeves are higher than her arms to start off with.... I know what you mean with pushing the elbow, but the problem is to get her to bend her arm while she's screaming, so that you can get to the elbow. Unless I'm missing something about your technique .

Thanks for the ideas - just knowing that it is a common occurence helps!

My 9.5 month old still screams whilst getting dressed and has done since about 2 weeks old. It has got slightly better now we can do it sitting up. I have resided to the fact that he just doesn't like being clothed, he pulls his socks off now and also pulls at his trousers, and he's started to try and pull his t-shirt/ vest back up over his head once I've put it on before we even get to the arms. He will happily go right under a shower after swimming but god forbid you try and wipe his face to wash it or wipe his dribbly nose!

Also don't feel bad that you might be hurting her and are dressing your baby wrong. I look after children in my job and I've dressed hundreds of them, some make a fuss, some don't mind. As with all people, babies are all different and have their own likes and dislikes, even at 6 months!