Argh DD and clothes!!!!!

[manchestermummy]

At wits end with DD1 5.6. She is so incredibly fussy about clothing and it has got beyond a joke. No matter what we do or say, she will NOT dress appropriately for the weather. Reward charts, threats of not going, even bribery do not work. She hates goumg anywhere on thru grounds that it is cold but simply will not wear anything warm. Ever. It is no good saying that leave her to wear what she wants and get cold: we have been doing this for three years and there has been no impact whatsoever. Every single family outing is ruined by this. We get to the park and within seconds the moaning starts.

She also seems to struggle in some social situations (esp if there is fresh air involved; playtime is a nightmare for her and she now says she never wants yo go to school). I cannot cope with it any more. It is ruining family life. I have even taken away all her clothes so that she has no choice but that just means more hysteria. She is very, very bright (her teacher says) but in this respect is like a two-year-old.

Please help. I just do not know what to do. I am concerned that if she continues to dress for the beach in the middle of winter she will be teased. I have a horrible feeling this may already be happening.

Sorry it's long.

You've stolen my child :) DD is exactly the same in many respects. She it totally over sensitive to many clothing 'issues' (zips, seams and bows especially. Shoes I often buy at least 1 size too big as she hates them pressing). She used to go mental in spring when the windows were opened again and the breeze came in. By the end of autumn she'd go mental if I put a hat on her as she was no longer desensitized to that over the summer! We have had screaming fights over her suddenly stripping off something that is rubbing or annoying her which she goes ballistic over and cannot tolerate. She has puked at the smell of bread baking in Asda and run screaming into the car park to get away from hand driers in public loos!

Extreme sensitivities can be signs of many things (not suggesting your DD has any of them but could be worth investigating) such as Asperger's, giftedness, sensory processing difficulties and just hyper sensitivity. No practical solutions for you. Nowadays I just grit my teeth and let her rip off what ever is bugging her. At least that usually happens whilst we are still at home!

Oh I am so pleased it is not just us, thanks so much for responding.

We put all inappropriate clothing (ie flimsy dresses) away in the attic or in our wardrobe. Only leave out the weather appropriate ones in her wardrobe for her to choose from in morning

my dd had a similar sort of response. we let her knickers and socks inside out, so that the lables and seams didn't rub.

her entire wardrobe seems to consist of leggings and vest tops.
(thankfully she wears these the right way around!)

Oh mine is like this. At nearly 7 she is better, but still refuses to wear a hat, scarf of buttons. Also hates her coat. Likes to go out in bare feet and sandals in winter. I've given up and am just resigned to looking like an unfit mother.

Would only wear a strappy top and shorts the other day.she says she isn't cold, but I can see goosebumps

She has never ever worn a sun hat ever in her life, despite my buying about 10 of them. She was pulling them off at 6 months old. Have also been there with socks