2 year old refuses to get dressed in the mornjng

[Anonymous]

Takes us almlost an hour- tried everything. What works?

[Anonymous]

Let them go out in pajamas

Or

Be stern, stop begging and just force them to do it

Or

Make it a make believe time where the prince or princess needs a royal dresser to get them ready, complete with posh royal accents. This depends if the kid is old enough to get it.

[Anonymous]

They don’t come out of their room until they’re dressed. Be consistent with this and maybe start on a weekend or when you don’t have to be somewhere.

[Anonymous]

2yr olds can wear pjs all day. I see lots of high school girls in pjs too, come to think of it.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand. You take clothes out of the drawer and put them on. My two year old doesn't get a say in getting dressed. Are you expecting your two year old to dress themselves?

[Anonymous]

Diaper change is not optional. Try a small reward for cooperating. Maybe a special toy they only get during that time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Diaper change is not optional. Try a small reward for cooperating. Maybe a special toy they only get during that time.

No. The reward for a diaper change is having a clean diaper. Why are you rewarding for something so basic and necessary? You are teaching them they deserve a treat for doing something they should be doing anyway. You are the parent, this is nonnegotiable.

[Anonymous]

I have to do 10 minutes of cuddles before my 2 year old is willing to get dressed.

[Anonymous]

It's not a battle to fight. Kid won't get dressed, they go to school in their pajamas end of story. Or try the get dressed at night and sleep in your clothes for tomorrow plan. Really it's not a big deal. I had a kid who wore the same superhero costume to preschool every day for months. What it my first choice? No, but it was what they wanted and it seems like a silly battle to fight when others were more crucial. 2 year olds are just figuring out that they can have their own wants separate from their parents and they want to exert some control over their lives. So you can give them some control over minor things, it's good for their confidence and development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. You take clothes out of the drawer and put them on. My two year old doesn't get a say in getting dressed. Are you expecting your two year old to dress themselves?

+1

[Anonymous]

I remember those times. It’s hard because the kid will resist as is they are fighting for their life and I was always afraid I’d break something as I was forcing him to get dressed. The force wasn’t equal. I would sit on him. Same for teeth brushing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. You take clothes out of the drawer and put them on. My two year old doesn't get a say in getting dressed. Are you expecting your two year old to dress themselves?

+1

Listen, I get it. If you have a 2 year old who just allows themselves to be dressed, this probably sounds really foreign to you. But some kids fight it. Hard. Mine started when she was even younger, basically as soon as she had the verbal skills to argue with me about it. "I don't want to wear that, I don't want to get dressed, I don't like clothes, I don't like that color" etc.

And guess what? One of the best ways to address it turned out to let her get dressed on her own. I'd put out a few options, tell her she had five minutes, and leave the room. Sometimes she'd make me stay but not let me help. Sometimes she'd ask for help. But literally the only way to get her in clothes was to let her take control. Plus side: she developed the ability to physically dress and undress herself really early, which helps with potty training and lots of preschool activities where they are expected to be independent in those areas.

The funny thing is that she's 4 now and I pick out her clothes again. It happened gradually, but I could see it was stressing her out to have to choose and I started removing more and more choice from the process. Now I go in the her room while she eats breakfast and pick out a whole outfit including socks and underwear, she doesn't choose any of it. She does put it on herself, though.

Kids are weird and they develop different things at different times. You just have a different kind of kid.

[Anonymous]

It can be hard to dress a flailing kid.

[Anonymous]

My 2 year old often wants to dress herself and it takes forever. I try to let her do it if we have time but if she isn't able to do it, I just do it for her so we can move on. Yes she is mad momentarily, but she quickly gets over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. You take clothes out of the drawer and put them on. My two year old doesn't get a say in getting dressed. Are you expecting your two year old to dress themselves?

+1

Listen, I get it. If you have a 2 year old who just allows themselves to be dressed, this probably sounds really foreign to you. But some kids fight it. Hard. Mine started when she was even younger, basically as soon as she had the verbal skills to argue with me about it. "I don't want to wear that, I don't want to get dressed, I don't like clothes, I don't like that color" etc.

And guess what? One of the best ways to address it turned out to let her get dressed on her own. I'd put out a few options, tell her she had five minutes, and leave the room. Sometimes she'd make me stay but not let me help. Sometimes she'd ask for help. But literally the only way to get her in clothes was to let her take control. Plus side: she developed the ability to physically dress and undress herself really early, which helps with potty training and lots of preschool activities where they are expected to be independent in those areas.

The funny thing is that she's 4 now and I pick out her clothes again. It happened gradually, but I could see it was stressing her out to have to choose and I started removing more and more choice from the process. Now I go in the her room while she eats breakfast and pick out a whole outfit including socks and underwear, she doesn't choose any of it. She does put it on herself, though.

Kids are weird and they develop different things at different times. You just have a different kind of kid.

I'm the original PP. My two year old absolutely does not allow herself to get dressed, it's a huge battle. She screams and runs and it's a headache. But I'm the parent, and I'm bigger than her, and I get her dressed. I really just don't understand the mechanics of an hour long struggle here. Pick out clothes, put them on.