Getting two year old dressed advice

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I have a two year old (26 months) and she makes getting dressed such a drama everyday, several times a day.
I have tried giving options, she will just chuck both options in the floor. I have tried making it a game or letting her do it herself to no avail.
Every time I need to get her ready she runs off and hides or kicks and screams and fights so the socks or leggings or knickers come flying off quicker than they go on.
Often I do the school run with her with no shoes on and in pyjamas as I can’t get her sorted on time.
I dread going out the house with her as we have to get clothes on and the whole circus starts, I know it sounds really stupid as she is tiny but she puts up a good fight and it’s so mentally exhausting.
I don’t think it’s sensory as she has spent a day in a dinosaur costume and a witch costume recently which neither are comfortable.
It wasn’t so bad in the summer but she must be so cold now- I am wearing long sleeved t-shirts with jumpers inside and she is always naked!

All kids go through this phase.

I got mine ready in front of the TV for awhile. We don't even watch a lot of TV but it worked and then after awhile they just got over it.

Mine did this too, so first job in the morning (after a wee if potty trained at night) was to get dressed before going downstairs. Make it fun if possible (let's jump into your trousers! Etc etc) but get it done really quickly and onto something more fun straight away, e.g. eating breakfast!

Also, my eldest doesn't seem to feel the cold. I wouldn't bother forcing jumpers or coats, just being them with you and have them to hand if needed

Does she take her clothes off once they're on or just fight the getting dressed process?

Does she wear PJ's at night? And do they go on easily?

@Lottie6712 yes if we make the mistake at the weekends of not getting her dressed straight away it’s even worse but I do try and dress her upon waking her- she is a pretty late sleeper and we have to be out by 8:10 for the school run. She has breakfast after we get home from the school run usually.
@NuffSaidSam she will keep her clothes on as long as they are clean, but if they have a blob of yoghurt on or something she won’t let me just wipe it off; the clothes must come off! So as you can imagine there is a lot of taking clothes off. She also dribbles in her knickers a lot (not full accidents but a bit in the pants) so obviously we are changing those a lot too which is a battle.
The Pjs are less of a battle because they have her favourite cartoon characters on.l but she’s never keen to be honest.
Maybe I just need to give up and buy the clothes I promised myself I would never get for her!

If she's easier putting things on that she's chosen I would definitely take her shopping and let her choose stuff covered in Disney characters of whatever it is that she wants!

Choose an easy life!

I can relate, DD(3) is v similar!! Choosing clothes in shops has helped. I’m considering a daily routine chart with Velcro and picture tiles for all the morning tasks but she’s a little older and I think might respond to it being predictable and she can ‘read’ the jobs herself.

Good luck. This too shall pass! Pjs on the school run sounds fine to me, if need be. Hopefully you can find a winter coat she loves! Dinosaur one maybe??

Put the TV on, maybe give her something to nibble, e.g.dry cereal, then dress her and into the car, still bringing the nibbles if necessary.
Wearing clothes for going out isn't really optional, so do it however you can at this point. X

Sounds like you're doing really well! I would just let her where what she wants personally - mine wore dress up most days at one point :) xx

Also you said she has breakfast after the school run... Any chance she's waking up hangry? I defo had to get something to eat in my DD at that age within 15 mins or she was unbearable. She's 4.5 now and will happily play etc before having breakfast.

I would agree with always get dressed first thing so it's a routine/expectation - don't set yourself up for a battle with having to do it later on.

However I would probably try doing breakfast first in case she's just really hungry and narked off because of that. It's a good time of year to do the school run in PJs - stick a blanket or footmuff on her legs and a coat on her top half and nobody will know or care!

And yes. Character clothes is not a hill worth dying on. Getting dressed is non negotiable so you might as well let her enjoy it.

Dd1 was a nightmare for this, esp socks and shoes. We'd get one thing done and there'd be a massive meltdown at the idea of doing it on the other foot. Repeated ALL day for every little thing.

The only thing that helped for me was to be very unbothered about it myself, but give 'times' for things (although she couldn't tell the time) - eg 'now we've done x, it's sock time/shoe time/coat time'.

If I appeared to WANT her to put the second shoe or whatever on, screaming and kicking off for ages. If I shrugged and was "what can we do? It's sock time, so we don't have a choice", it worked way better! So presenting it as something not negotiable, but also not my choice, if that makes sense!

Dd2 was extremely opinionated and wore tutus and wellies with leggings on her head for ages to give her "long hair". Usually with a Scooby Doo backpack. It was superb.

It does pass! Sounds like you're doing a great job!

My tip is to not give choices, just make it clear that it’s getting dressed time and give appropriate help. No negotiation

At that age I ditched pyjamas and put DS in clean comfy day clothes at bedtime, thus eliminating that particular struggle from the morning routine. It was the only way I could get his sister to school on time! He happily dresses himself now

@ppaaWWssyes you’ve made me realise we also do that - clean leggings and top on at bedtime. Often needs changing again after breakfast but hey ho.

For your sanity I would lose this battle! If she will put on a witches outfit let her, tell her witches always wear knickers, it helps them do spells, keep a pair of witching knickers by the door. If she still won’t then maybe she will wear cat knickers, for my daughter that was a pair of cotton leggings. My daughter dresses now, it will wear off!

Thank you all for the advice. We have a children’s clothing exchange coming up soon locally to us so I will take her there to choose so at least we aren’t spending any money on her fashion choices.
The routine chart sounds good too, so I will look at buying/ making one.

My son was the same and to be honest, it only really got better once he started wearing school uniform! He always wanted to wear pyjamas and so sometimes I would let him wear PJs under his clothes. I did find that letting him choose clothes he was excited about helped so even if it was something ugly with dinosaurs or tractors on, I didn’t mind- as long as he wasn’t wearing PJ’s! And giving him choices helped a lot too. But it will pass but I do understand how draining it is.