Best Way to Encourage Your Child to Self Dress

You’ll want to encourage your child’s every effort at self-dressing, even though it takes much more time and often causes frustra­tion for both of you. Keep yourself busy nearby, and be ready to help out if needed.

• Make button handling easier by sewing large buttons on your child’s clothes wherever possible. Make it easier yet by sewing them on with elastic thread.
• Teach your child to button from the bottom up, to improve the chances of coming out even.

• Tie large buttons or small toys securely to hood strings, to keep them from being pulled out.
• Attach notebook rings or key rings to zipper leads on boots and jackets, to make them more manageable. On boots, the rings can be hooked together for storage.
• Teach your child to pull a zipper away from clothes and skin, to keep it from catching or pinching.
• Help sticky snaps work easier by spraying each side with non­stick vegetable spray.
• Buy pants and skirts with elastic waistbands that are easy to pull on and off. Make sure the elastic isn’t so tight that it makes an imprint on your child’s skin.
• Use a piece of masking tape or adhesive tape (or an indelible marker) to mark the belt hole a child should use.
• Try to find clothing with monograms, appliques, or special designs on the front to help your child tell the front from the back. On homemade items, mark an X on the back with col­ored thread, or add an applique.
• Teach your child to look for the label on the back of under­pants. If there’s no label, indicate the front by sewing on a “belly button” or drawing one with an indelible marker.

Outerwear

• Put a small treat (Raisin, Cheerio) into your children’s hands so they’ll make a fist to push through a sleeve (and be rewarded once the sleeve is on).
• Sew loops of elastic thread inside the cuffs of sweaters, and have your child hook them over thumbs to hold sleeves down while putting on a coat or jacket.
• Use knee-high socks as mittens to make them harder to pull off.
• Clip mittens together with clip clothespins to keep track of them when not in use.
• Attach wet mittens to a hanger with clothespins; hang to dry.

• Put a pair of surgical gloves or dishwashing gloves over regu­lar gloves to keep them dry and warm for an older child.
• Encourage your child to slip one mitten or glove inside the other after taking them off. When you find one, you find the other.
• Hang a snowsuit to dry, or toss it in the dryer. To prevent “fil from clumping, throw a tennis ball or a sneaker into the dryer with it.
• Insulate boots, or make them fit better, by cutting a piece of carpet or Styrofoam (from a food tray) to fit the inside sole.
• Help your toddler put on a jacket or coat independently. Spread the garment on the floor front side up. Have your chile stand at the neck end, bend over, slip arms into the sleeves, and flip the coat over her head. Or have your child lie down on the garment face-up, put arms into the sleeves, and then stand up.

Putting Shoes On

• Put shoes on a squirmy toddler while your child is in the high chair. Or lightly tickle the bottom of your child’s foot; toes will uncurl and shoes will go on smoothly.
• Use mitten clips to attach your baby’s shoes to the pants hem. If shoes are kicked off, they aren’t lost.
• Prevent the tongues of shoes from sliding out of place by cut­ting two small parallel slits in each tongue, a half-inch from the outside edges. Insert the laces through the slits and tie as usual. Many are made that way today.

• put plastic bags over shoes or socks before putting boots on, for ease of entry. The bags will also help keep shoes and socks dry.
• Cover shoes with large woolen socks to keep your child’s feet extra warm and dry inside boots. Buy boots large enough to accommodate the extra layer.