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Original poster

naked toddlers

28 replies

Katherine · 20/09/2002 14:49

My 2.5 yr old DD is driving me mad. I have to dress her about 20 times a day as she is forever stripping. I keep finding her in the back garden with wellies hat and nothing else. She must be freezing. I'm forever late as I have to allow 15 minutes to recover all her clothes and dress her. Most of the time I can't find everything so ew go through several outfits a day. Even if we go somewhere in the car she takes off her shoes and socks so I have to spend allow and extra 5 mins to put them back on when we get there. I had hoped it was just the warm summer (!!) but she's still at it now and I'm getting really cross about it. Any suggestions?

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batey · 20/09/2002 18:08

Both my dds have done this, dd2 is just about stopping now, she's 2 1/2. I know it drives you mad! IME I just went with it, didn't bother attempting to dress her until 5 mins before we were leaving, and then once she was dressed she went in the buggy straight away or I open the door and she'd be distracted by outside. Also again IME, the more my dds knew it got to me the more they'd do it! The one good thing is they both learnt v. quickly to dress/undress themselves and sort out their shoes!! The other thing we have (now) is a fine colection of dressing up clothes/shoes/hats jewellery etc,at least that saves on many "normal" outfits being changed a day. Good Luck, it will pass eventually.......!

Adelaide · 20/09/2002 19:39

My 2 yr old ds has also been doing this all Summer. Or rather he is either completely naked or he insists on wearing "trackybots" and a long sleeve top no matter how hot it is - from one extreme to the other!! However, you're right batey he is now very adept at dressing and undressing for his age!!

lucyk · 20/09/2002 20:00

i had this problem and a great idea is to put them in dungerees as they find it harder to
take them off or try using a dolly to dress the same as your dd

janh · 20/09/2002 20:32

dungarees BACK TO FRONT is best!!!

helenmc · 20/09/2002 21:05

Bad news - my twins are still doing that at 5!! makes getting to school interesting tho

Original poster
Katherine · 22/09/2002 21:21

Ah thanks well its good to know I'm not the only one!
Dungarees is out I'm afraid as DD is now fully potty trained but not dungaree trained (had some lovely ones I've had to pack away). Am considering turning off the heating and opening all the windows but as shes quite happy in wellies and a hat outside in the evening I feel it is me that will get chilly! Have to admit you are right about dressing though. She and her brother have been selecting their own clothes lately and appearing fully dressed in the morning(I do try to praise them even at 6am) so have started leaving their clothes out to wear. I suppose I've just got to build on this - if I can get her to dress herself 20 times a day then perhaps the novelty of stripping will wear off.

OP posts:
ScummyMummy · 22/09/2002 22:17

One of my twin boys' most constant refrains is "Mummy, I want to be naked!" I have no problem with this and let them get on with it but it did lead to a most mortifying moment recently...
I have a friend whose little boy avidly joins them in running round "being naked" when he's visiting. I was in the kitchen making us mums a cup of coffee when I heard one of my little wretches say to her son, matter of factly but with some satisfaction and, alas, with perfect clarity, "I have a very big willie, X, and you have a very small one."
A hasty change of subject was called for when I mustered the composure to re-enter the room.

Tinker · 22/09/2002 22:22

At least it wasn't the other way round Scummy. Was there a 'That's my boy' feeling

All kids seem to be obsessed with getting their kit off. My daughter always lies on the bed as though preparing herself for a gynaecological examination after her bath. Noticed one of her Barbies in the same pose yesterday!

Marina · 23/09/2002 08:24

Well thanks to this thread I can stop worrying about some young lady friends of ours who like to do nude cartwheels round the garden. As they are 6 and 9 and big and tall for their age it is sometimes hard to keep the conversation flowing with their parents while all this is going on.
Katherine, I am tremendously impressed she can dress herself so young. Getting our 3 year old ds out in the morning is like dressing the Sun King - he lolls languidly on the floor extending the odd toe or arm and lets us do all the work, claiming he is too worn out to pull up his own pants. And as we are racing against the clock, I always give in in the end.

susanmt · 23/09/2002 12:55

My dd is 2+7 months and she is always bare. By the time she comes in to us in the morning she has already stripped of pj's and nappy. I now get her dressed about 5 mons before we go anywhere. She does it at her childminders too. But the worst was on Frinday on the bus. I'm sitting happily feedind ds, and she was sitting on the inside seat on the coach (it's quite a trp to town for us). I was very glad it was a coach. She was sitting on the floor (she often does, making a wee house for herself, keeps her amused) when the top came off. There she was, naked on the bus!!! I had to somehow get her dressed again while holding ds who was NOT pleased at having his bf interuppted, while trying to keep her quiet, cos she's shouting 'MEEEEEE BAAAAAARRRRRE' while I'm trying to get her knackers back on!
Oh and the lying on the bed as if waiting for the gynaecologist is a fave pose in our house too!!

susanmt · 23/09/2002 12:56

knickers that is!!

Utka · 24/09/2002 13:42

Family joke in my parent's house is that I used to do this. Most mortifying episode for them was the time I stripped off completely at the cinema, during Mary Poppins. Fortunately it was dark. I never watch MP now without a giggle. Don't think I've turned out too bad, and am not too much of an exhibitionist, so I'd go with it. Agree with other comments that the more you make of it the worse it is likely to get. Maybe if you praise her efforts to the skies the novelty will wear off? Reverse psychology?!

FrancesJ · 24/09/2002 22:40

lol @ susanmt (I love that story - can just picture it - can't stop giggling) and Utka. Lovely. Bless toddlers. I didn't strip, apparantly, but did used to wander around wearing one of my mother's old nighties, with (major fashion statement, here) an old bra over the nightie. Fine around the house, as 'dressing up', but she became a bit embarrased when I snook out and went a-wandering around the street to show the neighbours how lovely I looked. So there are things to be said for nudity......

tigermoth · 25/09/2002 14:01

I've got a stripper toddler too. My oldest son did this and definitely grew out of it, so I am sure it will pass with this one too. Poor oldest boy gets so embarrassed now when the three year old hides his clothes in the playground.

Anyway, one thing I am doing now, evil mummy that I am, is taking the odd photo of the most silly naked poses. I will hide them away carefully. Possible blackmail material, I think, for when my sons become teenagers....

Bumblelion · 25/09/2002 14:12

On reading this thread, I had to make a comment.

Marina, about your friend's two young girls - I would not be happy with my daughter (9) doing cartwheels around the garden naked (although she is quite developed for her age and if she wasn't so developed, may be I wouldn't feel so upset at this).

I hate the thought that my DD1 is losing her innocence and I have to tell her to cover up and not sit with her legs wide open, but I feel that I wouldn't want her to be in any situation (or get her into any situation) that could be potentially dangerous.

Another comment:

I love seeing children naked on a beach - so at nature and natural, but I do feel uncomfortable when I see older children. Not uncomfortable for myself but the older people that are seeing them, dirty old men, etc. I know that not everyone is a potential paedophile, but I remember an occasion when I was at my local park with my children, and an old man was sitting on a bench in the kiddies play area but had no children with him - it just made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

I also remember an incident from when I was younger (about 11 or 12 - a long time ago!). I was quite naive and I was in the park playing with my group of friends from school and a man asked to take photographs of us doing handstands. This we quite happily did and it is only now that I think it was all a bit deviant.

susanmt · 27/09/2002 14:47

We have friends staying this weekend (arrived yesterday)
When they got here dd ran out to meet the car (she has only met these folk a couple of times) and then stripped off in the garden while they were getting their cases out of the boot.
What a welcome! I am going to have to have a wee chat with her about it!

ANonnyMouse · 27/09/2002 15:43

Bad news: my husband is still doing it at 34 Mind you, it's generally only when lots and lots of alcohol is involved.

Scatterbrain · 27/09/2002 15:52

Hooray !

When can you and dh come to dinner Anonnymouse ?

ANonnyMouse · 27/09/2002 16:09

Fortunately, he's generally well behaved when meeting "strangers" so there's no point inviting him to dinner! Unless you have the Black Beauty theme on CD? All I can say is that it's lucky our garden is long, very dark at night and not over looked at all!!

It's like having an extra child really. A lot of the time I try to use the Toddler Taming principles on him

Of course, ANonnyMouse is a fake nickname. I'm not using my "real" one - I'm sure there are people here who know me!

Scatterbrain · 27/09/2002 16:11

Oh Shame - I was getting excited ! Mind you, he strips to Black Beauty does he ? There's a thought !

Neigh, neigh.......

ANonnyMouse · 27/09/2002 16:13

It's all rather sad really. If he was extremely tall, well muscled and not p*ed as a fart it might be quite nice I guess...

SoupDragon · 27/09/2002 16:16

ROTFL !

My DS1 likes to be Tarzan at every opportunity and as we all know, "Tarzan wears just pants*". He is, in fact, wearing Just Pants at this very moment. All fine in the privacy of your own home but not quite so amusing in the Play Barn in the middle of a toddler session.

*Underpants to all you Americans.

Scatterbrain · 27/09/2002 16:17

So how many times exactly does he have to meet someone to consider them not a stranger anymore ?

You see I am loathe to let the chance slip of seeing a not tall, not muscular 34 year old man cantering naked around my garden, and am trying to work a way around it !

Where there's a willy there's a way !

Scatterbrain · 27/09/2002 16:22

Oh SoupDragon - Ho Ho Ho - I misread your post first time and thought it was your dh who was wearing "just pants" in the play barn !

I was about to call Social services !!

SoupDragon · 27/09/2002 16:28

I think one naked husband on Mumsnet is enough!