Getting toddler dressed & out the door...

[Drewsmom]

peacefully? I have a 4 year old (just turned 4 this Sunday ) and this is a major ordeal every day. I know that it's b/c I have conditioned him to expect this. It goes like this....

Andrew get your shoes on......right now....get your shoes on.....OK I'm leaving ds:"NO!!!!!!!" then he gets his shoes and coat on.

When there's something that he wants to get ready for (ie gym class) he'll do it but usually it's me telling him to come here and I dress him. I feel like he's old enough (and b/c I've seen him do it) to be able to dress himself atleast for the most part.

Are there any cute little tricks or games that you play to get your child into the routine of dressing or getting shoes/coat on to get out the door. Man, I can't wait for summer when it's "get your sandals on" and that's it!

[lilyka]

: if anyone has an answer for this they could write a book and make millions. It is the single most frustrating thing in my life.

One thing that helped us was just accepting th at if they didn't get dressed they were going shoeless and in jammies but when I say we are leaving in 5 minutes I mean it. they both have easy boots and coats that are required if they don't find anything better. But otherwise they are required to dress appropriately for church but otherwise if they look goofey it is them looking goofey and htier business. We don't have a lot of prorblems anymore.

[foreverinbluejeans]

Why not get your child dressed yourself? Don't worry that he will want you to do it forever - I can tell you as the mother of 3 boys that your son will reach an age that he will not want you to be any part of him getting dressed. It seems like getting him dressed would be a lot better than the frustration.

[kavamamakava]

That's how my 4 year old son is. He's almost a month older than yours. He is curently naked and running in circles in the kitchen. He doesn't like to dress himself. He likes to have my help doing it. I don't really think it's because I've conditioned him that way since his sister doesn't like to me to dress her at all. It's just his preference. I figure he'll grow out of it eventually.
When it's time to go somewhere he actually runs away sometimes. So I just get his clothes and socks and shoes and go into the garage and start loading everyone in the car. At some point, he gets very interested and wants to come along too and then he stands in the doorway and goes "But Mommy, I need clothes" (as if I didn't know that. haha). I bring his clothes and help him get dressed and into the car at that point.

I gave up struggling over it long ago. I was too frustrated. It works better this way.

[binxsmom]

i had the same problem with my 4 year old. getting dressed was a constant struggle. same with teeth brushing. i made a list using colorful clip art graphics showing a toothbrush, shirt, pants, socks, shoes, etc. along with the word for each. it worked like a charm.

since then, we have morphed over to a rewards chart. we really use it more as a reminder/check-list. we added bath, getting ready for bed, picking up toys, etc. i LOVE it. let me add that i have a lax attitude about what he wears. if i want him to match, then i lay his clothing out for him. most days, i just let him choose. for several weeks, he preferred a tuxedo shirt which was always hilarious, especially when paired with sweatpants.

fyi, it's a wooden chart (much like the melissa and doug). i got it at target for $10.

[lizamann]

If it works to dress him yourself, that's what I would do.

Can you discuss it with him to see if you can come to a solution? Be sure to talk about it some time OTHER than when you need to get out the door. Maybe he'll have an idea that you never would have thought of (like sleeping in his clothes!) I'm sure he doesn't like the battles, either, and would love to find a way to resolve them.