5 year old dressing himself?

Katie - posted on 01/29/2011

my sons been dressing himself since he was about 3!

Angie - posted on 01/29/2011

Give him a choice of 2 outfits and let him pick the one he likes. Or..... don't worry about it, there will be much bigger battles to fight later. My daughters were picking out their clothes by 3 but my son was 10 before he cared what he wore. My 18 year old has a style all his own now and I think it's kinda nice that he doesn't follow the rules that society has set for him. He doesn't drink do, drugs or have sex so I think this is a great outlet for him...

Cheryl - posted on 01/29/2011

My boys started around age 3. Funny though, now that my son is 5 and in school, he suddenly needs my help to get dressed :) I have always hung their clothes as matching outfits in their closets (mainly because Daddy can't match either). Maybe if you did something similar, he could have the freedom he's looking for and you could have the peace of mind you need :) If not, I say they're kids so let them be kids. I once took my boys shopping dressed as Spiderman and Wolverine....hey, it's the one time in their lives when people won't think they're crazy for dressing silly :)

Rowena - posted on 01/29/2011

My son is nearly 5 and Ive been encouraging him to dress himself ever since he started school. Hes always been very determined to choose what he wanted to wear (even though most of it wasnt my choice!) I let him wear what he wants to wear as long as its appropriate for the weather (i.e no shorts when its snowing!) He seems very happy with me doing this as I feel he feels alot more independant. He will often put vests on inside-out and I dont correct him because he feels happy that hes done it all himself. People hardly ever see his vests anyway so what does it matter? Its better to let them choose themselves than mollycoddle them for years. Its all about teaching them independance xxx

Alisha - posted on 01/28/2011

My girls are 4 and 3. and they dress themselves for the most part. I would say my oldest are 3 and my youngest daughter around 2.5. They wanted to so i would let them. . and yes they do look funny. . . lol my oldest has to dress herselve almost always now. . . i would dress them if we were going out but now she doesn't always wanna wear what i pick out. . which i just learnt (vary sad) as she is getting older and being her OWN LIL PERSON :( i find it kinda sad but what can i do. . (tear tear) hope this helps

Susie - posted on 01/28/2011

I know this can do your head in!.Girls start even earlier,doing this,than the boys do,unfortunately.Your son,is showing independance,which is great! The hint that I passed on to my son,when he wished to dress himself,was about colour co-ordination and trying to pick tops and bottoms,that had some similar colours in.Once he got a hang of that,he would dress himself,choose all of his own clothes and look presentable,at the same time.

Doreen - posted on 01/28/2011

A man that is so sweet - "move over mom I am taking charge"... a man has to be a man :) I say let him do his thing, but I understand that sometimes it just isn't "appropriate" the combination the child chose.... I had a similar problem and took the 2/3/4 even 5 item out (I was ok with) and let them choose between those. They want to be in charge.... let them but YOU set what is ok for today. Even if it is a range of 5 outfits, just lay it out and let them choose. I have great respect for the mothers who let their children be and are able to put their own "pride" aside. Your child isn't blind and will soon learn if you support him/her what is and isn't appropriate and when & how. Guide them. Good Luck!!!

Alma - posted on 01/28/2011

I always set out a couple of outfits that will go together the night before and let them decide in the morning which one they think they want to wear. Mine are 5 and 4 and in pre-k and kindergarten.

Rosie - posted on 01/28/2011

Perhaps select 2 or 3 outfits each day and lay them out for him and then let him choose which one...

Tammy - posted on 01/28/2011

My son has been dressing himself since he was 5 or 6. My oldest daughter (12) I still have to lay out her clothes for her! lol! Then my youngest girl has been dressing herself since she was 3. I decided the argument wasn't worth it. As long as the clothes were appropriate for the weather, she could wear whatever she wanted. There were some interesting choices for sure. This made her happy though! She's now 9, and making better choices. I agree with Shereese, it's not worth the battle at my house.

Shereese - posted on 01/27/2011

I have a few suggestions: you could pick out a couple of outfits and offer him a choice, OR you can suggest he pick a piece and you pick the other ensuring he matches, OR you can just let him pick and write the teacher a note giving her a heads-up on what's going on so you can feel a little better. I have four children and I've used all above mentioned ideas. But from one mother to another I'd say, don't worry about it. He'll learn to coordinate soon enough. I don't think it's worth the battle!

MARTHA DRUENETTA - posted on 01/27/2011

I let mines start at two. Place the outfit out for them (two) they will think they made a good desciison. Make sure both outfits, can be interchangeable. It works.

Sherri - posted on 01/27/2011

Picking out their own clothes for school not until 3rd grade or about 9yrs old, but even then they had to be approved by me first.



Even now my oldest is 14 and middle one is 12 and their school clothes must be approved by me to make sure they are acceptable. On weekends they can wear whatever they want.



My 4 yr old gets no say.

Megan - posted on 01/27/2011

thanks all of yall for the posts. logan is sure he can dress himself. so im gonna start letting him do it. i will hold back and just help im in needed. hes such a good kid just trying to find his "independence"

Sylvia - posted on 01/27/2011

I think DD was dressing herself without my help by the time she was about two and a half -- certainly by the time she was three. And she was picking out what she wanted to wear even before that.

She came up with some pretty bizarre outfits (for example, for a while she took the view that anything with stripes matches anything else with stripes), but unless it was, like, photo day at daycare or something, I didn't intervene. She was only going to come home covered in marker, poster paint, bits of playdough, and playground dirt anyway.

Jennifer - posted on 01/27/2011

My wanted to choose his own clothes around 4 or 5. For me, I was honest with him. I told him that people choose shirts and pants that match. Big tip I gave him, everything matches jeans (easy with boys :). Other than that he asked if some colors go together and he began to figure out what looked good together a while. It was a learning experience and bringing me pants and a shirt and asking if they go together or match didn't destroy his independence, it helped build it.

In the beginning, when he was 4 or 5, there were a few days were he was sure he looked awesome and what else could I do but smile and say "yep, you look great." It's okay to let one go every once and a while. I think most people understand, but wouldn't it be great to have stickers that said "I dressed myself today!" :)

One more thing:
Now that my son is 7, sometimes he still has questions, especially after we shop for new clothes. He wants to look "cool" and I respect that. So I feel like he has never felt like I've made him feel like he can't do it on his own... I think he has always felt like I've helped him, but not done it for him.

Gena - posted on 01/27/2011

My boys were both 5 & I started letting them dress themselves. They would usually pick out a shirt & I would say oh see how this has blue in it, well blues goes with blue jeans or see this has grey in it that goes with black. They really started to pay attention to what they were wearing & tried to match. When every they did it right I made sure to tell them how nice they looked. Sometimes they looked tacky I would try nicely to see if I could get them to put on something different. I didin't want to hurt their feelings & usally they would change. Other times we just went with whatever they had on. Also if you really aren't comfortable with it, you can pick out say 2 or 3 outfits & let him pick which one he wants to wear,that way he is still being a big boy & choosing. PS: as long as they are clean that's the most important thing :)

Lissa - posted on 01/27/2011

As soon as they could they could put their own trousers and t-shirts on by 2 underpants and socks took a little longer to get the hang of. They could do buttons and zips by 4. He want's some independence here, let him have it you can always let him do it for himself then tidy him up a little if his shirt is hanging out etc.