Monday, June 11, 2012

My Toddler Refuses to Get Dressed

Oh Whoop Whoop.  You are such a workout, my strong little boy.
Dressing you has never been...easy.  But lately you have been taking it to the limits.
I'm tired of running around, chasing you, trying to catch you.  I'm tired of you telling me that you'll stand up to get dressed only to have you dash off again.  I'm exhausted trying to hold you down for a diaper, a tshirt, some shorts.
I don't bother getting
dressed myself until I'm done with you because I'm just going to be a hot, sweaty mess either way.  Might as well do it in as little clothing as possible.

I've tried to play games, I've tried having you pick out your own clothes (you have no interest) or getting dressed yourself (you had an interest but no longer).
What you prefer is to go naked.
I get that, really I do.  My mom said I was impossible to get dressed at this age and all I wanted to do was streak around naked.  But we lived on a farm deep in the countryside, not smack in the middle of Manhattan with about 12,000 people within a 2 block radius of us at any given moment.
Going out naked is not really an option.

Little Dude, I would even let you go out in chonies (undies) if you were fully potty trained.  I'm pretty sure I could convince you to put on clothes once we got downstairs.  Maybe.  Eh, maybe not.
And speaking of the potty....you are doing great!  This past week you have suddenly developed an interest and you are rocking the pee pee on the potty.  Go, you.

But now, all you want is to be naked and if I propose a diaper...you know, so we can get dressed and actually leave the house and go DO something--even when it's something you really, really want to go--you go completely beserko at the suggestion of putting a diaper on.
You love the sandpit.  You really want to go.  And...you've informed me you'll go in the sand naked and barefoot.
Ah, not in New York City you won't.  Sorry.
OK, barefoot.

It's because of Costa Rica, isn't it?  I embraced my inner hippy to the max and let you roam wild.  You were naked as often as you wanted.  On the beach, in the house, playing in the sand, yes--even riding in the bike seat.  It was so easier to just let you pee in the wilds of nature (well, maybe not the house or the bike seat) than to fit you to get a diaper on.
And now that it's warm out, you must be thinking "Hey, it's warm!  I get to go naked!"
That must be it.
We might have to just go back to Costa Rica, huh?

Any suggestions on how to get my (almost) 2.5 year old dressed and diapered?  Oh, and he won't wear anything with buttons.  And sometimes he'll throw a quite spectacular fit if I'm wearing a shirt with buttons.
Life is never boring around here.

7 comments:

Casey said...

We lost the ability to put a diaper on Riley at that age so we switched to seventh generation training diapers that she can pull on/off by herself. It was something new and awesome.

And what about dresses? Wearing a light summer dress in July feels amazing. :)

K J and the kids said...

I have a nearly 4 year old who did this. He was out back naked as a jay bird just before bedtime jumping on the trampoline. I don't know that there is a cure for it.
What I would say....and what I wish I could tell myself over the last 3 years is....it's all good. Let that inner hippy self just let him be. Keep him safe and know that he'll wear pants to kindergarten :) ha ha
AND. I suggest maybe trying pull ups. They are different. You could tell him that they are a transition before big boy underwear :)
That he hates diapers is such a great step towards potty training.

Oh and I tried duct taping their diapers on. THEN I tried taping them on backwards. One would untape the other and the other would return the favor. It was insane.
And NEVER cool with poopy diapers either.
urgh.

Good luck. Now that this is a phase and not that your child is trying to put you in the crazy farm.

Marcia (123 blog) said...

We have the same thing going on with Connor! I need to blog about it :)

but nothing is really working consistently - I just pull something out of my bag of tricks and hope for the best. other than that, he gets a talk and he either agrees to get dressed or I wrestle him and dress him and he cries.......... but it's winter, I am not swayed by the tears!

nutella said...

I was gonna suggest dresses too. A little sleeveless a line sun dress is hardly any clothing at all. I've often thought that the girls in Curly's class potty trained early because they wore such easy clothing (dresses or tunics with leggings).

Next in Line said...

Toddlers! Oy. They are little monkeys. The biggest struggle we had was toothbrushing. After trying everything including letting her brush my teeth first we started letting her watch a sesame street video on youtube. Worked like a charm and the clips are just a few minutes long. Would that work for him?

cat said...

Oh they do throw you a curve ball around every corner. First, maybe make sure he is not tactile defensive. See if some clothes are worse/better than others. Take tags out of clothes and try again?

As to shoes , well my 7 year old at times still feruse to wear shoes, but we do live in Africa and are not knows to be great wearers of shoes. But at the moment it is freezing and still, every chance she gets will be shoes off. (and no, she does nto have tactile issues)

Anonymous said...

I have the biggest boner from their sexy asses hanging out