2 year old suddenly terrified of getting changed at night

[Tinybossproblems]

My daughter has recently turned 2 and getting her dressed has become a huge battle, especially at bedtime.

She absolutely refuses to wear sleepsuits now. She will wear pyjamas or leggings and a top, but if I try to put a sleepsuit on her she immediately says “no, no, scary” and gets really upset.

I have tried giving her choices, such as asking if she wants the green pyjamas or pink pyjamas, but it makes no difference. She just says no and appears visibly upset.

What worries me is how frightened she seems at the thought of getting dressed. Getting changed can turn into a huge battle because she becomes genuinely scared and very worked up. She also dislikes getting dressed in the morning, but it is nowhere near as bad as nighttime.

Has anyone experienced anything similar at this age? Did your toddler suddenly become scared of getting changed, particularly at night? What helped?

I have already stopped attempting to make her wear sleepsuits, but I am concerned about why getting changed itself seems to scare her so much.

First of all, you need to stop the battle, it makes things uncertain for her. Have you tried nightdresses? Or saying I’ll put these here (end of bed) and if you want to put them on after story time, it’s up to you. If the house is warm enough then being naked for a while isn’t going to cause damage. Just show you’re not going to argue but respect her wishes and it’ll probably ease in a week or so.

Although she is using the word “scary”, it might just be the sensory feeling of being constricted in a sleep suit that she doesn’t like, and she is reacting in the only way that makes sense to her.
Could you try getting changed into your own PJs at the same time, so you can sort of model that it isn’t scary / something to be worried about?

Possibly doesn’t like the feel of wearing a sleepsuit. If Pjs are acceptable do that.

one of mine reeeeaaallly didn’t like the sensory experience of changing outfits. I can understand that a bit, going from your wear softened warm clothes to new cold and maybe stiff ones isn’t that nice and also the pressure points changing is… idk unsettling.

it’s probably worse in the evening as they’re tired. Can you do it earlier or buffer the change so clothes off, something (a bath?) and then get dressed? Or warm the clothes a little.

Stop battling. Let her sleep in whatever she chooses.
Maybe change into some ''comfy clothes' before tea (these will basically be pyjamas but without bed images, so a t-shirt and leggings or something) and then she can go straight to bed.

She might not like getting cold and getting out of her clothes. She might prefer getting changed under the covers or have the clothes warmed first (just by rubbing them). Young kids are very sensitive.

Thank you for all your suggestions they’ve helped me a lot. I’ve started giving baths and changing her into her bedtime clothes before dinner which has worked. Appreciate the advice 🙏🏽

None of ours likes sleep suits and we're wearing jamas not long after age 1