how to dress a stroppy 13 month old

[Evita]

My daughter absolutely HATES being dressed. I have to chase her around the flat trying to distract her while I put her clothes on bit by bit and it always ends in tears of frustration on her part (soon will be on mine too no doubt!). And when it comes to shoes and socks I have to physically hold her down and force them on as quick as I can. I've tried to get her interested in it as an activity but this doesn't seem to work. Any other tips? When does this kind of stroppiness end? Or does it get worse???

IME with dd it does end when they can do it themselves - in her case from around 18 months. Before then she delighted in stripping off so beware Can you let her try to do part of it whilst you do another, or do it in front of a mirror for entertainment value. If it becomes a battle then put the clothes to one side and leave her to it - so long as you are not in a hurry of course - say you will return when she is ready. dd's latest is to want to try to do a zip or buttons while looking in a mirror - she can't because she is only 2 but loves to have a go.

As to stroppiness I think it just changes focus, I'm afraid. We now battle over teeth cleaning and face washing - delightful when she has smeared snot all over her face and it has dried.

hth

This is just like my dd - except now the chasing game is all giggles until she actual is caught and has to put an arm in....but she still has temper tantrums because getting dressed/undressed means she can't do what she wants to do!

DD is 18 months. I change her nappy (by pinning her down while she screams if necessary, although she is often happy to 'read' a book) and then if she doesn't want more clothes on I let her run around without them. When she gets cold she's willing to have clothes put on. And most mornings we will go out; she is always desperate to go out and she knows we're not going till she's dressed, so sometimes she'll bring me her clothes to put on, all keen and eager.

Of course this doesn't work if we have to get out of the house by a certain time - so then I tell her she can get dressed comfortably, standing up and being allowed to help, or uncomfortably, pinned down on her back on her change mat! Its her choice...

My daughter is now three and has been like this since a baby ( I started a thread on it once).
She is as bad now as she ever was but my arms have been getting incrementally stronger

It's a lark isn't it? My daughter was a delight to dress until about 2 months ago, in fact I used to rather look forward to it. Not it's pure chaos every morning. Not so bad with the undressing so far as she seems to be a bit of a nudist at heart. But then getting the pajamas on for bedtime is a bit of a chore. I get her dad to stand juggling balls and telling rhymes to get her to stay in one place. Honestly, if someone had shown us a video of ourselves doing all this a year ago we'd have be in hysterics.

thank GOd I am not alone - I made a comment here a while back about having to wrestle my DS1 into clothes on a regular basis, and got loads of replies saying they had never had a problem !

My DS1 is nearly 2.5 and has been difficult since about 12 months. He is not always a pain - just when he is tired or I am in a hurry, or just when he thinks it will be fun to wind us up ! I sometimes let him run around without clothes until he gets cold, other times I wrestle him into them. I can often get him dressed easily if he stands on a chair looking out the window, especially if a tractor or a bin lorry is in view

I think somebody on here once suggested putting them to bed in the clothes they would be wearing the next day. A bit wierd but it would cut down on the changing wouldn't it!!

Strange idea but kind of appealing, norma! Maybe spray-on clothes would be another idea ...

Its funny how in some ways they are similar and some ways so different. My dd (16 months) has no problem with getting dressed and absolutely lurrrves shoes - total contrast to yours...however try and put her in the bath and she has screaming hysterics and almost comes to physical harm in a bid to escape. I bet your dd is okay in the bath isn't she?

My daughter adores the bath! In fact we have to avoid saying the word as she gets frantic to go to the bathroom. When I'm pouring it she's trying to climb in over the edge and she always laughs her head off all the way through. Wonder why they differ like this. How's yours with being put in the pram? My daughter's recently started making a real scene though previously she used to love it.

My dd is 18 months and is just learning actions to some nursery rhymes, I find I can put her on her changing table and dress her fairly quickly whilst singing '5 little ducks' as she can do the 'quack quack quack' action with her hands... or incy wincy. or get her to point to her eyes, ears, nose etc... or get her to play peekaboo with me.

We have this on the mornings i work (3 days a week) and it REALLY stressful for all of us - takes me and DH ages and have to hold DS (just two) down with a lot of force to change his nappy and get him dressed. Horrible way to start the day - all the distraction techniques just dont work as he seems intent on crying/screaming and throwing himself about. Doesnt seem to be interested in getting himself dressed (a boy thing!) so i am really glad that today is my last day in this week!

Evita

Getting her into the pram? - ha! now there is a challenge. She arches her back, screams and kicks - but quickly realises the battle is lost and calms down after a couple of minutes

Odd, isn't it? I used to think of the pram as a kind of saviour as whatever mood my daughter was in, a trip in the pram sorted it out. Now I feel I have to shoot everywhere v.v.v. fast and get her out as quick as possible. Travelling on buses is perhaps the worst. She doesn't mind the tube so much. But I've actually cut down the amount of public transport I take at all due to her disgust at the very boredom of it.

I take the pragmatic approach. Periodically the sluglet goes through a phase of not lying down for nappies. During those weeks we use pull ups. Eventually she cooperates again. She's a nudist at heart so clothes can be a nightmare. I find starting the process is the difficult part, once one piece is on, the rest follow relativly easily. So I have underwear with animal pictures on. She can be easily distracted by looking at her front and discussing what's on her chest then making the noise "Cat, mieow, mieow mieow" etc.

As for pyjamas and coats, she's given a choice between two. (any more is asking for trouble) A typical evening's conversation goes
"red nannies (pyjamas) or blue nannies?"
"Red nannies"..."Nooo, blue nannies"...."Noooo red nannies"
At which point I put on one pair of nannies, she screams, wails and sobs "Red nannies", so blue ones are removed and the red ones go on. She has a little cry, hugs teddy, happily trots off to get in a bit more destruction before bedtime.

Ah, little Sluglet, how old is she? The 'destruction' side of things is quite daunting isn't it? After bath time tonight our bathroom is in tatters and I haven't the energy to go clear it up.