my DD refuses to get dressed in the morning....

[shishamo]

Now, is this a girl thing? She seems to hate everything in the closet, especially in the morning when I'm trying to get going. She loves to play dress-up in general, just don't like anything in the morning and don't want to pick something to wear, and she end up having a tantrum every morning while I force-dress her. My son never, ever, did this....in fact, he'll be very happy if I dressed him every morning and he can't care less what he is wearing (as long as it's not 'scratchy'...and that's another long story).

Anyone have this problem? Solutions? I can't imagine doing this in September trying to get to preschool on time....not to mention the new baby here.

[mindeva]

My nephew (age 3) did the same thing. My SIL made him pick out/agree to his outfit the night before with no changes the next morning. Worked for them.

[Marisa6826]

I nannied for a 4yo girl that did the same thing.

We picked out clothes the night before. Also, we had a rule, that if she didn't get out of her jammies, she couldn't get out of bed. Not even to get toys.

It worked pretty quickly ;)

The other option is to send her to school in her jammies one day. The peer pressure alone will make her never want to do it again. Kind of mean, but if it is the only alternative to meltdowns every morning, then it's worth it.

-m

[ErinP]

My DD is EXACTLY the same way!!! She just turned three and has been throwing these dressing tantrums since she was about 20 months old. It is getting a little better, but I dread getting her off to preschool this year! There are some rainy days that she's still in her jammies at 11:00 am. (My husband and I both work nights in a restaurant so we don't really get moving til late morning) The ironic thing is that she throws an even bigger fit about what jammies she's going to wear the night before. I think it's just a control issue, because it's not ONE particular piece of clothing- It's whatever I pick out. I've learned to not fight with her, because it makes it worse. I also try to take her shopping and let her pick out special things she'd like to wear and then if she's throwing a fit I'll say "You picked this out special, if you want me to bring it back I will" This usually works! I can't imagine what she'll be like when she's a teenager!