Toddler hates clothes!

[LeaPea]

I don't know what to do! My toddler hates wearing all clothes and shoes. We have tried letting her pick out clothes, putting clothes on once we reach our destination, and giving her choices as to which outfits she wants to wear. We end up with a toddler screaming, "No clothes!" I feel like a prisoner. I can't leave the house with a naked or half dressed kid! If I tell her we can't go somewhere if she doesn't wear clothes, she doesn't seem to mind, or she will just continue crying. If we are able to get clothes on her, she is fine wearing them.

Does anyone else have a toddler who hates clothes?

[sk8boarder15]

My son has recently gotten really picky saying his clothes "Hurt" I figured out that is was mostly tags that were the problem and we have been doing mostly tagless clothes and its better. But there are still times he'll just started screaming that his clothes hurt and ripping them off. :/ Luckily its never happened when we;ve been out. But at home hes usually naked or just in a shirt. 

I'm really hoping he just grows out of this phase. 

[pickle18]

YES!!!  This has been happening TONS lately - I'll even tell him repeatedly, "If we don't put your clothes on, we can't go to the playground!"  He doesn't mind.   He'd rather not go.  I know he knows what I'm saying, because previously, he'd grab a diaper and shoes to get ready to roll, super excited.  Now, I'll even say, "You don't want to go? (no) You want to stay here? (yes)"

If he stops struggling and screaming long enough to get him dressed (he really has hurt himself!), he sometimes will snap out of it.  Other times, he cries and cries, tugging his clothes and yelling, "OFF!"

I've tried letting him pick his clothes and this *sometimes* works - if he picks the shirt (which can take a looong time - if I point things out, he vetoes it all), and I let him put it on all by himself, he is more accommodating with pants, shoes, etc.

I've noticed he likes his clothes a size or two big...that seems to help a bit (he has NO patience for things that aren't loose and on/off quickly).  Lots of soft cotton, but we still have issues.

[Snapdragon]

have you tried dressing them in just cotton for a while? I know I have a particular aversion to synthetic fabrics- they make me itchy! I like to wear mostly cotton and as I result I dress my toddler in mostly cotton clothes- no synthetic. perhaps your toddler is having an itchy reaction to clothes?

you could also try ecover natural fabric softener to make the clothes softer.

see if there are some areas that are particularly bothering them- like tight waistbands or somehting- to see if there is anything you can do to make them mor e comfortable.

maybe there is something else I didn't mention - something baout why the toddler feels uncomfortable in the clothes.

[Snapdragon]

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[Lulu0910]

No worries I'm going through the same thing.  My DS is 25MO and he HATES wearing pants and underwear.  Screams bloody murder when we put his pajamas on.  In fact it's a kicking, hitting and screaming battle that leaves my DH and I with the short end of the stick.  What we started doing is time outs based on the behavior i.e kicking, hitting.  That seems to be working. 

[ilovetchotchkes]

With my 2 year old we have the rule: you can be naked in the house or in the yard, but if we go off the property, you have to be dressed. Hes' ok with it because the second he gets home sometimes, the clothes come off. I have pictures of him raiding the tomato patch totally naked. :) 

[sk8boarder15]

Originally Posted by Lulu0910 

No worries I'm going through the same thing.  My DS is 25MO and he HATES wearing pants and underwear.  Screams bloody murder when we put his pajamas on.  In fact it's a kicking, hitting and screaming battle that leaves my DH and I with the short end of the stick.  What we started doing is time outs based on the behavior i.e kicking, hitting.  That seems to be working. 

This could be my house. My son (also 25mo) will scream I WANT TO BE NAKED! And start ripping his pants off. 0.0  

Once they come off to go potty, they don't go back on. The only thing he will put his pants on for is to ride his bike. And even then he whines a lot while he is riding. Today they got a TINY big wet and he started yelling "PANTS OFF!" oy! 

[luckiest]

DS (23mo) hates clothes too.  He's totally naked when we're at home, we gave up on pajamas months ago because he would get so worked up and it would take forever to calm him down enough to sleep.  

We rarely, rarely leave the house with him in full dress.  Since he's in the Boba whenever we run errands like the grocery store, no one can tell that he's only wearing underwear.  If we're going to the park or someplace where he really does need to be dressed, it's easier (for whatever reason) if he gets in the stroller or car seat FIRST, then I put undies and pants on him.  He'll lift up his bum so I can shimmy them onto him.  With shirts though, it's a battle no matter what.  

I don't think that with him it's sensory...first, all of his clothes are cotton and none have tags, but also once they're on, he'll fight just as hard to keep them on.  He'll let me take off his pants and undies if he has to pee, but shirt and shoes - once they're on, they stay on.  We don't do regular baths, so once he's in a shirt, he'll wear it for several days.  Shoes I have to take off when he's asleep.  Too gross?  Whatever man, it avoids the conflict.

Fortunately we live in Texas, so it's still very warm and we don't get many days where he would need to be bundled.

[pickle18]

Originally Posted by luckiest 

Too gross?  Whatever man, it avoids the conflict.

We are the same way (shocker, right? ) - the less clothes and fewer baths we can possibly get away with, the better.  In fact, my sister said she was hanging out with a cousin who is 6 months older than DS - she couldn't figure out why he looked so different...then she realized he was wearing pants (hahaha).  We go through the spring and summer completely pants-less (cloth diapers seem more like clothes to me...), but now it's getting too chilly (sigh).

I did notice some success putting them on in the car, like you mentioned.  Maybe it's not sensory - especially since your lil guy likes to keep them on - maybe it's a transition thing?