Shirt problems

luvbug6315

Hi I have a 23 month old daughter who all of a sudden hates to wear her shirts. Getting dressed has become a huge ordeal in the morning. If her shirt sleeves are too short (shrinkage) she pulls at them, if they are too long she tries to take shirt off. Shirts fit in every other way (not to small). I even tried buying a size up which worked ok as long as sleeves aren't to long. My daughter seriously has melt downs. Will start screaming and crying and then wanting to be held.... Won't calm down until we have changed shirts to an acceptable shirt and have had a serious hug for a minimum of 20 minutes. Most of her shirts are from gymboree and are soft cotton and comfy looking. I'm not sure what the problem is all of a sudden but it's beyond frustrating to get her dressed in am. This has been going on for about three weeks. Also I put a short sleeved dress on her for pictures recently and she had a complete and total melt down then too. Is this a normal almost two year old thing or should I be concerned that it is something more? I have looked up info on spd and I don't think she has that... She has no other visible symptoms of sensory problems,

SharonB222

DD is super laid back (takes after DH), but even so she won't wear jeans - "too big" she says.  So if a super laid back kid has issues, I can imagine a regular kid would.  (DS will initiate me on "more normal" I am sure.)  That said, I have a friend whose child has to have clothes on just this way (socks, shirts, shoes, pants - and also has severe eating issues) and a neighbor with a child who at age 12 still can only wear dresses.  They both have been in therapy and the parents have seen improvement as time passes.

MelanieRowan

I think this is totally normal for a toddler. I have read a lot of books for my son who is 13 months old and it says that around 2 years old they start wanting everything to be a certain way and if it isn't they can throw a tantrum. You can try some of the strategies they give you in the book "The Happiest Toddler on the Block". It is helping a lot with DS.

luvbug6315

Update: I have bought her several new 3t shirts (a size up) and have tried doing something fun after getting dressed and the tantrums have stopped! I was getting worried for awhile that something was seriously wrong but maybe it was just her way of telling me her shirts were feeling to small. Thanks for the help ladies.