Wont get undressed

[Theriault]

My 21 month old son has recently become attached to his clothes, he gets really upset when we take off his sweatshirt or whatever the item of clothing is and cries until we put it back on him. Is this normal?

[MrsCheeks]

Yes it is! He is probably becoming more aware of things around him and that sometimes clothes "disappear" into the wash. He loves the sweatshirt and doesnt want it to go away ... bear in mind he is too young to grasp the concept that things may go but they DO come back smelling lovely and clean. As he gets older he will realise that they DO come back but then again he will realise that sometimes they dont when he outgrows them!! Catch 22 sadly. My son loved his thick woolly jacket so much that he cried for a week when I got rid of it ... he had had it since he was just 18mths old and he was 3 and a half when I got rid as it was far too small. He didnt understand that ... just that Mummy was a mean old bag for taking his favourite jacket off him lol.

[FP]

My son refused to travel in his pushchair from about 2 and walked everywhere! However, the day we sold the pushchair he got so upset. On another occasion we bought him a new mattress and his dad took him to the local tip to dump the old one. Son came back in tears - apparently he almost dived in after the mattress. For about a week afterwards he asked if we could go back for it and when it rained and he thought that the mattress was getting wet he was devastated!

[Theriault]

Thanks so much for your answers MrsCheeks and FakePlastic, now I feel a little more relieved to know that other children have gone through the same thing!

[Josyjo]

In my experience, no kid is 'normal'! Mine aint!!! Perhaps you could try replacing his current favourite with something else, and then distraction to remove the current? I find that sometimes to ignore/pretend that something is happening can do the trick... But he's 'normal'... :-)

[zgma]

Yes, my 2 year old is the same way... sometimes he gets frantic when we try to take off his socks (screams "socks on!" over and over until they go back on or we distract him), and sometimes he absolutely refuses clothes (screams "jaybird!" until we can distract him). I find that singing silly songs will really disrupt whatever obsessions are going on most times. Or tickling, or some other distraction that he can't resist. Also, if you find that it's as Mrs Cheeks says, that he doesn't know it will come back, you could have him help with the laundry, and talk to him about the process of it a lot.

[Rock Mommy]

I totally sympathise with you. My 3 year old daughter is obsessed with summer dresses and sandals. Never mind that it�s cold and rainy outside, the only clothes she wants to wear are summer ones. I have been forced to surreptitiously remove items from her wardrobe and drawers and pack them away. I can only do this a few items at a time so as not to arouse suspicion � honestly, the things we have to do ��..

[nrmatth]

i think showing him the laundry process is a wonderful idea. and easy for him to help you do too. if he just wants to always have clothes on then have him pick out his jammies and help you put them on. and vice versa in the morning. if he picks them out before he gets undressed and is not in the nude for as long maybe he'll be more comfortable. plus if he has a certain article he likes a lot maybe you could get him a robe to wear while your washing clothes so he knows it's not permanent and he'll have his favorite thing to put on when it's done. but be prepared to show him some of the washer's different cycles and distract him at times, since laundry is not the fastest process.