Battles getting DD dressed

[nancysgirl]

nyone ant ideas?

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For some reason when I set my ds a task (however mundane eg. getting dressed, taking toys back upstairs) I say "see if you can do it before I count to, say, 348" and he's off like a shot. If I say, before I count to 5, he doesn't even begin. Weird kid!

Me again-didn't preview my message and of course it's disappeared hasn't it?

Just a rant about how to get DD(nearly 3) dressed without us killing each other as she just will not put clothes on. Is very obliging and sweet natured most of the time but we have got into a battle situation and I don't know how to get out of it.
Any ideas anyone?

I did hear of someone who actually carried out the threat of taking their ds out in his pyjamas. Apparently he never fought it out again!

DD doesn't get breakfast until she's dressed in day clothes. Amazing what cooperation being hungry can bring about.
Somehow I have persuaded her that she doesn't wear her Barbie dress out of the house, only for bed, so getting her to change into that for bed (because she loves the dress) is pretty easy, too.

Get the clothes and the child in front of the tv whip off nighty, keep reffering to the tv all the time putting clothes on and ta-da, one dressed child! And if she takes them off just leave the house as she is, shell get the message!

I did actually take my dd to playschool in her pjs when she was about three.It did work because she was mortified and we went home to get dressed and go back.She's twelve now and doesn't remember it but it definately worked at the time.

She gets dressed no problem now,its my ds (19months)who i have to chase around to get his clothes on.Nightmare,agree with twiglet , keep saying the mantra ..just a phase.

Thinking about it - going out in pyjamas could go either way - I think if I did that with DD2 (23 months and currently abhors clothes) she would just take it that she need never get dressed again

You have to come up with a tactic to suit the child, though; DS has and still would happily wear his PJs out of the house, am almost confused by your children who appear conscious of how they they are dressed compared to social norms, at so young an age. DS sure isn't.
DD has been known to have major tantrums, snow on the ground, still refusing to wear socks, shoes or her coat. She just cries and complains loudly instead -- still refusing to let me put her coat on. Not because she dislikes the coat, per se, but she doesn't like wearing more than one long-sleeve item; she hates being constrained and fettered. Just because they're cold, doesn't mean they'll necessarily put more clothing on.

Could you lay out 2 choices of clothes and let her choose which set she wears? She might be a bit more forthcoming in putting them on if she thinks she was involved in choosing the outfit.

A sticker chart, one sticker for everytime she co operates in getting dressed. 10 stickers = a treat or something along those lines.

Shes obviously got into a game of doing this and just needs the cycle broken. Use the power of silence rather than arguing with her. Give her 2 choices and make her choose one and stick with it. ie: you can either put on your clothes yourself like a big girl, or mummy will put them on for you. Which will you choose? Don't show her you are getting angry, bite your lip even if you are fuming inside. Ask her why she doesn't want to get dressed, is there a reason?

Don't know if any of this is any good, but thought I'd throw a few suggestions your way.

I don't think that there is any reason why she won't get dressed other than because I want her to!!
Have taken her out in PJ's which she thought was hilarious and pointed it out to everyone!
I can just tell by the look in her eyes that she is playing a game. as i said before she is very co-operative over just about everything else. I know we have got into a vicious circle but its breaking it that's the difficult bit isn't it?
I do usually give her the choice of either you do it or I will and it always goes well-she starts to put things on then whips them off as soon as my backs turned! Then I end up forcing them on her and we both end up in a complete state!
Oh well, just a phase,just a phase.......!!!

We have got similar problems with very similarly-aged dd, who will be 3 in May. I don't want to jinx it but last night dp tried a tactic which worked a dream: got dd to choose tomorrow's (ie today's) clothes at bedtime, while talking to her about how having fights about getting dressed makes everyone unhappy, and how nice it would be if she would get dressed without fighting about it. She was really proud of the outfit she had chosen and showed me what she was going to wear when I went to say goodnight. This morning, amazingly, she got dressed without any fighting. We were astonished.

Very likely this is a one-off show of cooperation, but you never know! As to why they do it, I think it's the rush in the morning that produces it, at least with our dd. When we were on holiday last week she was much easier to get dressed and much more cooperative in general (though there were still some fights), because we weren't racing around to get to nursery on time. Not much you can do about that though.

Nancysgirl

Try this thread , which I started earlier this year