Getting dressed
Here's Betsy of Fluffy Windover's Diary with this week's Toddler Thursday:
At what age can you expect your toddler to dress himself?
Remember Dressy Bessy and Dapper Dan, those dolls from the seventies that taught us all how to get dressed? We really need one of those at our house. Edwin can remove his clothes no problem. But I am still getting him dressed in the morning, and I'm starting to think this is something he can and should be doing for himself. He can put pants on (though he prefers not to), but zippers and snaps really trip him up. And shirts? Forget it. His head gets stuck in the sleeve and then it's a one-way ticket to tantrum town. When I ask him to put his pants on (or brush his hair, or put on his shoes) he usually says, "No, I just want YOU to do it." And of course, since I am wrapped around his chubby little toddler finger, I do.
When we're running late in the morning, it's so much easier for me to just get Edwin dressed myself. This is a trap I think many parents fall into. It's quicker and easier to do things for your toddler than to wait while they struggle with their pants and shoes. Patience is just not something we have tons of when we're running late. But when the new baby gets here in a few months, I'm going to want Edwin to do more things for himself. I see a lot of Velcro and elastic-waist pants in his future.
Comments
This would be a lot more interesting (and relevant) if I actually knew how old Edwin was. I even clicked on the blog, but no obvious mention of his age there either. I know it's just a blog post, but some background to set the stage would really help. Thanks :-)
Posted by: Debra | May 26, 2011 10:53 AM
Debra, Edwin is thirteen.
(Just kidding, he's two and a half.)
Posted by: Betsy | May 26, 2011 11:05 AM
This pretty accurately describes the frenzy of my mornings with a 2 year old. Cries of "help meeeee mommy" interchanged with "noooooo, I wan do it!!!!" at the turn of a dime give me whiplash every day. Needing to leave the house on time in order to make a MARC train to DC that will leave whether or not she or I put her shoes on, lead me to only one option that would preserve both her ability to claim new independence and my patience. I now wake up at 5:15.
Posted by: Claudia | May 26, 2011 11:49 AM
I think patience is the hardest to own and have while you have a toddler running around in the house. It's great to let them do things by the,selves because ultimately that's the only way they will learn!
Posted by: Stephania Andrade | May 26, 2011 8:32 PM
My children were between 18 months and two years old. I am a stay at home mom so we had the luxury of not having to be anywhere by any specific time, but for busy moms I suggest dressing the child when you're in a pinch and then picking a time (any time of day) when you have down time and teaching the child patiently to dress themselves. It should only take three or four times until they get the hang of it. And if it takes longer you just keep picking times when you're not harried and the child will eventually get the hang of it. Good luck!
Posted by: Lisa | May 26, 2011 11:10 PM
I remember lots of elastic and velcro until my boys were around 5 or so...just made it easier for everyone.
Posted by: marylandmom2 | May 27, 2011 10:24 AM
My son just turned four, and he still prefers to have some help, though he can do it himself. My pediatrician made a cute comment about how boys would love to have their mommies dress them forever, while girls are all about doing it themselves. One thing that has worked well is emphasizing that when we don't waste time, there's plenty of time to play. It was a hard lesson to get through at first, but now he's very proud when he doesn't waste time. "Look, mommy! I didn't waste time and I can play with my trains for five minutes!" What worked well was setting a specified time to get ready. (Like fifteen minutes.) No television or toys until it was done. If he fussed and wasted all the time, there was no time to play. If he got it done, there was plenty of time to play. But again, this only worked like the last three months or so; "wasting time" might be too advanced a concept for a two year old, though maybe you can introduce it in pieces? "If you get your pants on, we'll have time to..."
Good luck! 2 - 4 is a challenging gap!
Posted by: Brigid Kemmerer | May 28, 2011 7:08 AM