Parenting Toddlers (1-3) Support Group

This community is focused on the joys, challenges and concerns faced by parents of toddlers (1 to 3 year olds). The major areas of child development include: physical development, perception and sensory development, communication and language development, cognitive development, emotional development and social development. Join to share your stories and get advice.

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mamawx4 11/08/2009

I am adopting my 2 grandsons ages 2 & 3.My 2 year old hates clothes.As soon as we put them on he takes them off,alot of times the diaper goes too.We try to get him dressed to go some where and if we don't do it just before we walk out the door we have to do it all over again.We went to my in laws today for Sunday dinner and as soon as we walked through the door he starts stripping.Everyone thinks its cute and I did too at first,Now its just tiring trying to keep his clothes on.We live in an older house and it don't stay as warm as it should and he refuses to wear pjs to bed.If we wait to put them on after he is asleep he will have them off by morning or start crying until he gets them off.He won't stay under the cover either so I have to get up all through the night to cover him up.When it gets real cold we put him in bed with us to try and keep him warm but he still gets out from under the cover and gets cold.He even undresses outside if we don't watch him very close.He has been this way since he was born only happy when he is naked.
Any advise would be great!!

deleted_user 11/08/2009

You may not agree with this advice, but I would just leave him be. He will eventually realise that you're not going to keep dressing him and that being without clothes is cold. Make sure the house is warm enough that he won't become hypothermic, just chilly and let him sleep in the nuddy if he wants. Go to bed yourself and let him sort it out.

deleted_user 11/08/2009

I wonder if it's a sensory issue? Very sensitive to tactile and touch. I would bring it up with his physician at your next visit. Maybe experiment with different materials, if not him wearing them then just getting use to touching them and finding out if their are some he likes. Or it could be just the tags? I know some people who can only wear their socks inside out because they can't stand the seams. Hard to say it could be so many things at this age! I would play around with things like finger paints and play doh, again all about getting use to touch. Best of luck!!

mamawx4 11/08/2009

I try to keep it warm enough for him to sleep that way but we have to keep 5 electric heaters going through out the the house to do so.Our electric bills get out of this world in winter!My husband is on oxygen so we can't have any open flame so it has to be electric.We did have him evaluated by an OT because his brother has Sensory Integration and they didn't feel he had aproblem with it.It just gets embarrassing sometimes when your kid decides he would rather be in his birthday suite in from of people,especially if it is a stranger or like in a lawyers office or somewhere like that.I took him with me to visit my lawyer and he decides to strip right in her office while we were talking and run down the hall.I was horrified!!She of course thought it was funny when her secretary brought him back naked as the day he was born.Thank God I grew up with her and I know she has kids of her own or I would have probably crawled under her desk.Everyone in that office got a good laugh out of it and he thought he was being real cute.You should have seen the big grin on his face!!

suzyhopes 11/09/2009

What if you made a big deal of letting him pick out his own clothes? Then he might be proud to show off what he picked out instead? It might be a crazy looking outfit, but better than his birthday suit!
One of my twins hates to wear pajamas too ( she gets it from me I think hehe) But she gets really hot, even when we thinks it's cold in the house, so she's more comfortable that way.

deleted_user 11/10/2009

maybe is there a way to sew fasteners into the clothes so you can hook the pants and shirts together so they couldn't get them off?? Just a thought as I do not sew or anything like that so not sure if this is even possible.

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