Do you let your LOs (preschoolers) dress themselves?

JillRock96 · April 2012

Ava is in a super independent phase right now. She loves to pick her clothes out the night before and hang them on the knobs of her dresser. In the morning, she is very proud of getting herself dressed all by herself. Sometimes we squabble over what is weather-appropriate, but other than that, I let her wear what she wants.

My DH's cousin's wife (whom we are close to and spend a lot of time with) makes comments about this all.the.time. I don't understand what her deal is! She has twins exactly Ava's age. We went there for a family party on Saturday, and Ava was SO proud of the outfit she had picked out. It matched well enough and was perfectly appropriate for the day. She picked out her own accessories, too -- a headband with a flower and a fruit loop necklace she had made at school (lol). We walked in to the party, and the cousin's wife says, "Ava, did you dress yourself? You are lucky you don' t live in my house! I tell my kids that until they buy their own clothes, I get to pick them out." I just laughed and shrugged it off, but Ava looked at me like she was doing something wrong.

Mouseygail · April 2012

wow..that woman is a biatch and should be ashamed of herself!!! wtf? Self expression is something that I want to be sure to encourage! Who cares if little kids don't match (but kudos to Ava for putting together a great outfit! and i loved her outfit you posted on FB today!)

DS doesn't remotely care about what he wears yet...but when he does, he will be allowed to choose what he wants to wear (as long as they are weather appropriate and at least mostly clean Stick out tongue )

PhillySue · April 2012

Yes for the most part we let Katie dress herself. I also have to provide some weather guidance since she would wear a dress and tights no matter what the weather is. If she wants to add on on accessory of a tutu and necklace I say go for it. It is almost easier getting her dressed for a party because she will always be willing to wear something "fancy". I can see in some situtations mom wanting to pick out clothes but for a regular day I say give them some independence.

muppet.fan · April 2012

Yep, Elizabeth likes to pick out her own clothes. For daycare/preschool during the week, it usually works best if I pull out a couple options and she chooses from those. Otherwise, she'll pick fleece when it's 75 out or short sleeves when it's 40.

But on weekends, she usually wears whatever she chooses. Since she has to wear closed-toe sneakers all week at school, on the weekends she usually picks her rain boots or her new strappy purple dress sandals. It's quite a look when she pairs those with socks and jeans!

KYRN · April 2012

Mark doesn't usually care much but if he does I try to go with it. He wears his rain boots a lot and that's fine with me (they're bright yellow). Our biggest disagreement was him wanting to wear his big brother shirt (it has a bulldozer on it) for the second time to school the week Claire was born. I fought him on it b/c it was dirty but eventually I gave in.

Other than that he doesn't have much opinion, I let him pick his underwear if he wants.

DeputiesWife · April 2012

Heck yes I let her dress herself. She loves it. She doesnt match, but she thinks she does and she is so very proud of herself. The smile on her face of success makes it worth while. She puts strips with stripes becuse they're the same pattern, or flowers with flowers, or a black and white flower dress with a zebra print skirt because they're black nd white. I think she looks adorable.

I sometimes pick out her clothes and lay them out and she will grab those and get dressed herself also.

I dont think that comment do your daughter was called for -- perhaps she could have said that to you. my DD would look at me like that too, like what does she mean?

dana316 · April 2012

I don't let Caroline pick out her own clothes...simply because she's shown no interest. If she had, I would probably let her do it some, but not all the time.

For instance, I want her dressed my way for church, and for day school. She can dress her way for pretty much everything else, as far as I'm concerned, when she starts showing interest.

Now, her shoes, OTOH, she can be pretty particular about. She LOVES shoes, and has her favorites...and lately, her favorite has been a pair of boots that she love love loves and wants to wear them everywhere. I've let her, for the most part...she's gone to my mother's in the short sleeve shirts, knit shorts and brown boots. Super cute ;-)

UsedToBeGoldie · April 2012

i let my 5yo pick out his own shirts on most days- unless its photo day or something. I always tell him if he needs short or long sleeves - and he knows which drawers to go to.

With the twins- one of them has suddenly gotten into picking out his own clothes- so i'll give him a choice of 2 things- and let him pick. Grayson could not care less about what he's wearing

EmilyAnne · April 2012

If I remember correctly, isn't this the same cousin who makes snarky comments about your girls all the time? She obviously has jealousy issues on top of being a beotch.

Maybe it's boys, but Conor isn't really into picking out his clothes. He'd wear his pj's 24/7 if I'd let him. I give him choices, sweatpants or jeans. Uggh, boys clothes are so boring! Then let him pick out a shirt. Or I'll pick two that go with his pant choice and let him choose. He'll dress himself though.

alchris · April 2012

I pick out Kira's clothes for school, but that's just 3 hours 3 mornings a week. As soon as she gets home she changes into what she wants and on other days she wears what she wants. At those times I warn her if she'll be too cold and often she says she doesn't care -- OK, whatever! ;-) So we have both extremes. Choosing her shoes and headband is all her too -- she's had a thing for headbands these last few months.

keg · April 2012

My girls have been picking out their clothes for quite a while, and with them, it often looks like they have gotten themselves dressed. :-) I see nothing wrong with it! Thankfully, one girls saves her most creative outfits for bedtime (she has a footed zip up sleeper with a pair of pajama pants on over it. I will say they are both purple, so she matches. Oh, and she's into wearing two pairs of underwear at a time, and I don't see a real reason to argue. :-)

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