Three Year Old Who Won't Wear Clothes

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My daughter is a true nudist...or would love to be, anyway! It's not really a problem when we're hanging out at home, but when it's time to go anywhere, I obviouslly have to get her into some kind of clothing. That's the problem. She hates wearing clothes more than anything else! Anything with seams or close-fitting elastic (such as panties) sets her to writhing around on the floor and screaming!Or she just pulls the clothes off immediately.

I feel like I've tried everything, reasoning with her, ingoring it, bribes, threats, letting her choose her clothes, even buying different styles of clothes or letting her wear shorts without panties, but nothing has worked. I keep hoping she'll grow out of it, but it seems to be getting worse. I don't know what I'm going to do in the winter, when she has to wear clothes more often.

Any advice??

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Hutchison on July 14, 2009 at 4:23pm: It may just be a stage, but I have heard of children with sensory disorders - and they just cannot stand having clothes on. There are a couple of books about it Raising a sensory smart childand The Everything parents guide to sensory integration disorder - I would check these out and maybe see a doctor if you feel it is something other than a stage.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Loretta Oliver on July 15, 2009 at 2:05am: Ah, the naked toddler! A friend of mine had a little boy that refused to be clothed, he was naked all the time for about a year and a half. Even in the winter, if he was in the house he was naked, and it was colddddd! He didn't care. The only benefit there was he potty trained really fast and was potty trained well before he turned 3 years old. However, when it was time to go out to the store etc he would get dressed, but as soon as he was at home he would be ripping those clothes off as fast as he could. He would also be found shirtless if he was in a "comfort zone" like grandmas house or a friend's house. He's about 10 now and he still spends most of his at home time in his boxer shorts from what I've heard. At least he's wearing underwear, right?

Like Michelle suggested, if it feels like more than a phase or a quirk there's no harm in talking to your pediatrician. Sensory disorders are more common than a lot of people realize and it could be a sensory related problem if she's going into an all out fit about having to get dressed.

How old is your daughter now? If you think it's just a phase or a quirk and you want to help her outgrow it then you could maybe try making a new daily routine where she gets dressed in the morning and has to stay dressed for X amount of time ... say an hour, before she can do X, like watch a tv program.

I hope you find some peace between the nakedness and the clothing before the chilly weather heads in.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by xelavee on July 15, 2009 at 3:42pm: Love it! I remember it so well. My now 5 year old use to take off all his clothes just as soon as I wasn't looking. It started with the diaper and then when he figured it out, all of his clothes. My neighbor at the time, this really sweet older lady, use to tell me, every time he ran out of the house naked, how he reminded her of the little children in Honduras. The ones she met while doing missionary work. So at the time I thought, well, if we moved to Honduras we would fit right in, wouldn't we? But this, along with all the other crazy things my son has done, was eventually replaced by the next fun memory. In the meantime, it paid to exercise patience because soon, I promise, it will soon be a distant and fun story to tell over and over again during story time. It also helped to set some boundaries. No clothes or doing a streak was okay inside the house, but it was absolutely not okay when going to my mother-in-laws house. ; )) Oh! And he was real easy to potty train, you can imagine why.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ruth Edensor on July 16, 2009 at 1:54am: Hi,

Have you tried rewarding her when she does wear clothes, unlike a bribe which gives the child the power, ie, 'if you wear clothes you can have some sweets', you can randomly praise her for example, by giving her a sticker when you see that she has kept her clothes on for even a short while.

I agree boundaries are good and let her know she cannot do it at grandma's but it's OK at home and to try to encourage this you could use a sticker chart to praise her when she keeps her clothes on,

It's worth a try!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Angela Moore on July 16, 2009 at 4:03am: This is exactly what I was thinking too. I'm really hoping it's a phase for your sake, but this could be also be the issue. My cousin's daughter has this and life got so much easier when she was diagnosed.

Please keep us posted!

Michelle Hutchison said:
It may just be a stage, but I have heard of children with sensory disorders - and they just cannot stand having clothes on. There are a couple of books about it Raising a sensory smart childand The Everything parents guide to sensory integration disorder - I would check these out and maybe see a doctor if you feel it is something other than a stage.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sandra Limon on July 20, 2009 at 2:27pm: Raised by Hippies that later turned Republican...How to explain my formitive years?
Well we didn't much care if we were constantly clothed while at home. That meant all of us.

My three boys had spurts and stages of nudism also and I would just try to balance the time and point out clothing wasn't this issue so much as the timing in which we were choosing to be clothed or unclothed.

But then again, when I was small and clothed, it was only in a leotard, my mothers 1950's petticoats from poodle skirts,a tiara and lucite gemstone heels.I went everywhere just like that. I do remember going to preschool where normal clothing was mandatory and I wasn't thrilled.By first grade I was wearing a Catholic school uniform.

Sometimes it just takes constant repetition of the rules on when being clothed is appropriate and mandatory; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Heather Tucker on July 20, 2009 at 6:42pm: my neighbors daughter went through that stage, she would just toss her clothes off wherever and run around naked. Luckily my kids never went through that.; ▶ Reply to This