help to get 2 yr old dd dressed

[thegoldenfool]

hello,

currently having traumatic mornings trying to get 2 yr old dd dressed, we currently offer her 2 or 3 choices but it is always painful, needs threats, has crying and takes ages and even when succeeded she isn´t wearing socks or a cardigan - ok for now but not in the autumn!

does anyone have any ideas???

We have had some success with a kitchen timer (animal shaped) - Dd gets to have a go til it goes off then I just wade in there. Things have definitely got easier as she's got better at dressing herself... She's 2.5 and just in the last couple of weeks has really got pulling up trousers. Also much better if she chooses her own clothes.

can she dress herself to any level? if so how about a getting dressed race between you and her. if not how about you try to get her dressed quicker than daddy x

I learned never to give mine a choice at that age. She started being given choices when she was about 3.5. I found that giving her options too young was too much for her, even now at nearly 5 if she has too many choices she can't make any. I remember going to Homebase and she wanted a watering can and they came in four different colours, I said she could have one and to choose the colour she wanted. It took her about 20 minutes to come to a decision and then she cried all the way home as she decided she'd made the wrong one.

2 is really young, threats are not going to work but will wind your child up.

Not sure if it would work at her age but techniques from book Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting could be worth a go. The author often mentions techniques working best after age 3 but worth a go.

There's more to it (I recommend book) but you could try choosing clothes night before and laying out "so tomorrow is blue dress day!" but I think more effective (and has worked for non-cooperative 3 yr old DS) is to take a time of day when she's really calm and go through the routine with her eg "what do we do in the morning?" "Wake up, have milk, go downstairs, have breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed." (With as much detail as is useful/relevant to her.) Go through it quite a few times with her and keep trying to use it at the relevant time once she can recite it back to you - then you can ask her "ooh, you've brushed your teeth - so what's next?" Also good to give her warning so maybe whilst she's brushing her teeth ask the question and tell her there's a minute to go.

This worked well for us for bathtime anyway. But the book explains it much better.

Good luck.

thanks very much!

the timer sounds like a good idea . . . .

We used to have screaming fits getting her dressed upstairs, but solved the problem by getting her dressed downstairs after breakfast. No idea why, can only think change of scene, or else she was being a grouch due to hunger.

we get her dressed after breakfast and try to get her to do it herself if possible, I think we are getting stressed at this point as it is the last thing we do before she goes to nursery so we begin clock watching - perhaps it would take some heat out of it to change around her routine . . .

I think also changing the scene from her bedroom may help

she is very determined about what she does and doesn´t like - hence the choices, but I think perhaps it would be more effective is to get her to help choose the clothes in the first place (so many completely unworn summer clothes )

just to say thank you for the suggestion of the egg timer - it worked a treat this morning, in fact so well I suspect the nursery use one too!