Woudl you let your toddler wear footie pajamas to Target? - Page 5

[georgia]

I love the idea of having transitions for bedtime that signal the day has come to an end: we get into our jammies and go to sleep. It's morning time, so we wake up and get dressed. Typically, this is what I've always strived to achieve. BUT, really, if a toddler is sick or cranky or whatever and really wants to wear xyz out to the store, I don't give a second thought about what anyone else is thinking. The people who are thinking "bad" things about me would be thinking even worse if I brought said toddler into the store SCREAMING about not being able to wear pjs. To me, it's all about knowing our children, picking our battles to reinforce our family's values and whatever feels best to our personal comfort level. I actually avoid Target with toddlers in tow to begin with so kudos to Elizabeth for braving the trip to begin with! 

[zensven42]

I don't find pajamas to be socially unacceptable. I find it odd that anyone would. I wear them in public all the time. I have never heard of "inside clothes", lol. .

[Marylizah]

No, I would not.

I think georgia summed it up really well. The day has a rhythm: in the morning, we get dressed. (And that could be sweats/costume/track pants, whatever) and at night we put on our pj's and go to sleep.

But my eldest never wanted to wear anything unusual outside of the house and the youngest is only one, it's not a battle I've ever had to fight. That said, I live in France and I have never, ever seen a child outside in pj's.

Beyond all of that, I think it's kind of gross to wear something outside all day then sleep in it in my bed. Maybe I'm a closet germaphobe. Also, we walk almost everywhere, it rains a lot, things get muddy, get dog poop on them, etc. So to me there are very big differences between what we wear outside and what we wear to bed.

[Friday13th]

I would, although it's never come up.  I need the aforementioned rhythm to *my* day so I get dressed in the morning, even if it's just into a clean pair of yoga pants, and DS1 likes to do what I'm doing so he gets dressed too.  He also usually manages to get his pajamas amazingly filthy during breakfast.  If he did wear jammies all day (like yesterday when we were sick and stayed inside) we put clean jammies on before actually going to bed.

[SandraMort]

Yes, I would let her wear footie pajamas to Target.  I'll even go as far as saying that I'd let the older kids wear them if they wanted.  WHO CARES?  As long as the socially required bits are covered and it's seasonally appropriate?  Really?

[CrunchyChristianMama]

 

It's not a comfort factor at all for her.  It's her intense love of her monkey jammies.  Well, anything with monkeys on it actually.  She has 3 pair of pjs that have monkeys on them and one regular shirt that gets worn at least a couple days a week.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

My DH discussed this the other night and here's the conclusion we came to.  Who cares what she wears to Target?  I don't when it really comes down to it.  The only way I would have made her change would be if I told her that she needed to and then she threw a fit about it.  That's not an appropriate response in our house to a directive.  As it was, all I said was, "here's some clothes honey" and she responded that she wanted to leave her monkey pjs on.  She ended up changing without another word from me on her own, so it became a non-issue.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

sure.  ds is at preschool in pj pants right now.  Mostly because he insisted on wearing "clothes" to bed and then wet the bed and I switched him into pj pants and then he woke up "claiming" they were day time pants so therefore he could wear them to school.  I love little kids's logic.

The only reason I try to get ds out of footies and into two piece clothes is because he is potty trained and one piece clothes are a pain in the *** for pottying (esp in public).

[D_McG]

The only time I left DS leave the house in PJ's was when he had HFMD and we were going to the doctor.

I wouldn't allow it for all the reasons other people posted. We just don't leave the house in PJ's. PJ's for sleeping/lounging... clothes for leaving the house. There was a brief time when I did the whole 'pick your battles' thing. Deliberating on which argument I wanted to have. And it was exhausting. It's like nobody knew what the rules were anymore.

So now, things are a whole lot simpler. There is just no debate with something like wearing PJ's to Target. We save our battles for bigger things. I just don't have the patience to let a 2 year old decide what they're going to wear. I mean she can pick reasonable things. But when she comes out with her dora swimsuit (like this morning) the answer is "no. That's for the beach. Go find some jeans!".

If I see a child at the grocery store in PJ's I think it was either a battle the mom didn't want to fight (not a big deal) or that the mom couldn't be bothered to dress her child that morning. Again, not a big deal.

[MusicianDad]

Just curious, at what point in time did pjs not become clothes? If I'm wearing pj's I'm not naked or anything right? (Well, ok half the time my pj's are naked but that's beyond the point).

PJ's are a type of clothing. (So are swim suits BTW and something you see people of all ages wearing out to shop, etc around here in the warmer weather). Of course you do see people out in PJ's around here too.

I love the ideas that DS comes up with, as much as I love the outfits DD comes up with, because he doesn't care what the "normal" use for something is. The only limit I put up is that underwear cannot be worn on the head (not an issue with DS yet, but have had the conversation when DD was little), and you have to ask if you want to wear something that belongs to another person.

[mrspineau]

So then really, why even have pj's?  if its all the same and pj's are clothes too then why not just sleep in your clothes that you wore all day?  pj's are clothes, yes, for sleeping in. just like a swimsuit is for swimming, a raincoat is for outside in the rain.....

[Honey693]

Originally Posted by D_McG 


So now, things are a whole lot simpler. There is just no debate with something like wearing PJ's to Target. We save our battles for bigger things. I just don't have the patience to let a 2 year old decide what they're going to wear. I mean she can pick reasonable things. But when she comes out with her dora swimsuit (like this morning) the answer is "no. That's for the beach. Go find some jeans!".

Why couldn't she have worn the swimsuit under the jeans?  We've done that before b/c in the summer DD1 hates to take off her swim suit.  It's like she thinks we're going to throw it away if it's not on her or in the washer.

[MusicianDad]

Originally Posted by mrspineau 

So then really, why even have pj's?  if its all the same and pj's are clothes too then why not just sleep in your clothes that you wore all day?  pj's are clothes, yes, for sleeping in. just like a swimsuit is for swimming, a raincoat is for outside in the rain.....

Because PJ's are the ones that are comfortable to sleep in. I wouldn't be able to sleep in jeans and a button down shirt. And for the record, some people do sleep in clothes they wore during the day. Swimsuit is also for sunning, and relaxing when it's hot and you don't wanna do yard work in your undies. Raincoats can and sometimes are worn when there is no rain at all, heck I only have one coat and it's technically a rain coat, but I wore it outside today in the bright sun. Why such strict adherence to what the makers claim their clothing is for?

[applecider]

My kids sleep in the clothes they wear the next day sometimes. I don't really see what the big deal is. Sometimes I wear my yoga pants to the store, then I sleep in them later. Now, I don't wear things that look like jammies to the store, like flannel pants with little doggies on them, but if my kid wanted to, I don't see what the problem is.

[applecider]

Originally Posted by mrspineau 

So then really, why even have pj's?  if its all the same and pj's are clothes too then why not just sleep in your clothes that you wore all day?  pj's are clothes, yes, for sleeping in. just like a swimsuit is for swimming, a raincoat is for outside in the rain.....

But to me, a swimsuit and raincoat have a clear purpose. My kid sleeps in sweatpants or fleece pants, that could easily be mistaken for "regular clothes".

[mamazee]

We're talking about a 2-year-old.  I'd let a 2-year-old wear a raincoat to the store too, and a bathing suit for that matter if the 2-year-old is potty trained.  It just is not a big deal at such a young age.  When I see 2-year-olds wear odd clothes out, like a raincoat if it's sunny, I think they dressed themselves.  If they're wearing footie pjs, I think they're comfortable.  And I think it's pretty adorable, really.

[Ldavis24]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl 

My kid can wear whatever he wants. Dress codes...ALL dress codes are lame and society should bite me.

love it.

Originally Posted by hildare 

yes.  with shoes or boots/whatever.  but my parenting choices tend to run along the lines of "forgodsakesanythingbutscreamingyesyesyes"

and I think we read the same parenting book

[AKislandgirl]

I let my DD wear what she wants. She changes clothes throughout the day anyway. Sometimes its PJ's and sometimes its 2 dresses at once. Whatever. She's asserting her independence in a totally safe way. I love that she wants to dress herself! And she can wear her ensembles where ever we go.

[D_McG]

Originally Posted by Honey693 

Why couldn't she have worn the swimsuit under the jeans?  We've done that before b/c in the summer DD1 hates to take off her swim suit.  It's like she thinks we're going to throw it away if it's not on her or in the washer.

Because I just don't want to deal. Then I'd have to wash it every day and it would get worn out quicker. And by saying 'no, it's for the beach' it's just simpler.

[t2009]

Absolutely. In fact, DS wouldn't leave the house without his monkey pj bottoms today either! Totally not worth the battle. Plus, toddlers make (relatively) so few choices... clothing is the one thing I leave up to my son. I let him pick out his clothes. Apron? OK. Football jersey? OK. Day four of his favorite t-shirt? OK (as long as it's not gross). No coat? OK (though I have it ready for when he realizes it IS actually cold, just like mama said). I always try (usually successfully) to get him to follow my lead, but he ultimately decides what he'll wear.

I understand the point about having a rhythm to the day, but I love lounging in my comfy clothes & as long as I have had my coffee & a bit of fresh air, I have the same rhythm to my day... Same for DS... As long as he sees sunlight in the morning, has breakfast & generally we adhere to his natural rhythm, I don't find that clothes make that big of a difference. But I realize they may for other families.