Encouraging Independence When It Comes To Getting Dressed
Being able to dress yourself and be ready for the day is a vital skill for independence. This skill does not come easily and during a busy day, it’s hard to be patient while your child goes through the trial and error. As an Occupational Therapist, it is one of my favorite skills to work on but as a working and busy mom of two, even I have a hard time fitting it in. So how do we help our little ones become more independent with such a challenging, multi-step task?
The first thing we need to do is recognize how complicated this really is! Then there are three things to ask ourselves:
When should my child be able to start helping with dressing and undressing?
When will I have the time to sit with my child so they can learn?
How do I help them?
Question #1, when should we start?
Around age one, children start to participate in self-care skills and become more coordinated in doing so. Therefore, this is a perfect time to start having your child participate in getting themselves undressed – getting undressed is the right place to start. As a busy parent, it’s hard to know when in the day you can incorporate this skill – between feeding/cooking, changing dirty diapers, washing dishes, doing laundry, etc. Making this activity functional and fit into a routine is helpful to keep up and build upon dressing independence.
Start simple, children learn to take off their socks and can help with pulling their shirt on or off overhead, at an early age (around 12 months). At this point, children are more coordinated and begin to be able to follow directions.
Question #2, when do I find the time?
Mornings are tough. I am not a morning person but after becoming a mom, I didn’t have a choice. I needed to get my child ready and dressed so that we both could get out the door on time – me to work and her to daycare. But at the end of the day, after dinner and before bath when the day is settling down was a great time to work on this.
Question #3, how do I help?
A simple place to begin is with taking off their socks and pulling off a shirt over their head. So before bath, you are helping with getting undressed and after bath, you are encouraging your child to put on their shirt.
So in one night, you have already worked on getting undressed and dressed. Your child will not be independent from day one, but over time, your assistance should decrease, and your child will be doing more. You may even see that they would like to be more independent and start to help with putting on their pants.
Not every night will go as planned and there will be some frustrating nights along the way. Just remember to try to keep your instructions clear, concise, and consistent to help your child learn and grow.
Dressing is a foundation for learning left and right coordination, more controlled hand skills, crossing midline, and postural control. If you notice that after a month of practice each night that your child is still having difficulty, you may want to inquire about Occupational Therapy services.