How to Teach Toddlers to Dress Themselves

Between the ages of 2 and 3, many toddlers are ready to start dressing themselves, or at least attempting to dress themselves. Buttons, zippers, snaps and even hook-and-loop straps will still be mainly your responsibility for a while longer, but getting your little one in on the process helps empower her to begin caring for her needs in other ways. Fine motor skills are developing for both boys and girls, so choose the right kind of clothing to give them a head start.

Instructions

    • 1

      Choose stretchy waist bands for pants. Give your child pants with stretchy waist bands to encourage her to put them on herself. Start by opening the waist band wide and letting her step in as she holds on to your shoulder. Then leave the pants down around the ankles or knees and have her pull them the rest of the way up. Learning to pull pants down is actually easier than pulling them up, so having her practice pulling down her pants first may help her make the connection with how to pull them up. Stretchy waist bands make this easy to do, especially if she is in the middle of potty training.

    • 2

      Buy larger clothing. Buying larger clothing gives toddlers more room for error while still letting them get their clothes on. Large armholes and wide sleeves let kids slide little hands in without having to be exactly in the middle. Many toddlers are fearful of having something over their eyes, and large neck holes help them get the job done quickly without feeling constricted.

    • 3

      Buy shirts with printing on the front. Getting a shirt on the right way can be a challenge even to older kids. Buying shirts with printing or favorite characters on the front helps them understand the concept of front and back.

    • 4

      Start with the last step first. Talking your child through each step of putting on an article of clothing and then letting her do the last step on her own helps her understand the entire process. For example, show and tell your child how to turn her shorts the right way, then hold the shorts and tell her to put in one foot at a time, then let her pull the shorts the rest of the way up. As she gets better at the last step, add the second step and finally the first.

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