4.5 yr old won't get dressed, ignores me - Page 2

[bendingbirch]

I remember reading in Elizabeth Crary's (spelling??) work that the AVERAGE age to get dressed with verbal reminders is age five and the AVERAGE age to get dressed without verbal reminders is age 10. Seriously.

This may or may not fit your family, but it may give you peace of mind if your child is not quite there yet.

I had one friend who would lay out complete outfits on the floor with the arms and legs in various poses. Her child loved that!

And yes, I have an eight year old who totally dresses herself with no reminders, an almost five year old who frequently needs help because she would go anywhere in PJ's and a one week old who needs complete help, LOL
Blessings to all...

[perl]

I resorted to bribes. I made a picture poster to hang by DS's bed so that he could look at it and see exactly what he needs to do. Get out of bed, take off pull- up, put pull-up in trash, get dressed, go downstairs.

I had to do this b/c he usually wakes up when I'm trying to get DS#2 down for a nap and it made me crazy that DS#1, who is almost 5, would lie in his bed and whine for me to come in and take his pull-up off of him while I'm trying to get the baby to sleep.

So if he could independently do these things he could pick a small prize out of a basket. We practiced for a couple of days and I will still help him if he gets stuck, but after a week or so of bribery he just gets up and dressed. It's become a habit. He doesn't even ask for the prizes anymore!

So it worked well for us.

[ewe+lamb]

Originally Posted by mamazee

Enabling a child to have independence and forcing a child to have independence are two different things. I think I might have dressed my dd at 4.5 (not sure but she did like being babied sometimes) and I don't think she'll be in my basement at 30. At 7, she dresses herself.

ITA with this, encouraging autonomy is the key here. We did the if you put on your t-shirt I can help you with your trousers - it worked great and now for the most part ds dresses himself with a little help if needed.