Wwyd?

[Suja]

Okay, folks, need some advice. It's cooled down all of a sudden, which means I'm slowly switching Mira to fall/winter clothes. We've run into a problem - she won't wear anything that is brown, black, beige/tan (and variants thereof), gray, navy, etc. So, half the pants I have for her are useless. She has also said no to jeans, although we haven't acctually tried one on yet. I haven't managed to find a way to coax her into it, so, is there a way? I'm assuming that this is a lost cause, right? She's 2 1/2 years old, and extremely opinionated.

[ibisgirldc]

no idea if it would work, but I'd explain to her that the solid-colored pants are just the base on which she can wear any super colorful shoes, socks, shirts and sweaters. And let her pick out what she wants to wear on the rest of her (as long as it's warm enough). Maybe show her pictures in a magazine?

[MomOfAnOnly]

Things that worked for us in the past is finding someone she likes- an aunt, cousin, a friend, a character on tv- and getting her excited about dressing like them. So if they have on jeans, so does she. If they have pink legs, she wears pink leggings. That kind of stuff. But even if she agrees to jeans it never lasts long, especially if we are home. She's just not comfortable in them and doesn't like the keep them on (I'm the same way with jeans though, I love wearing them but I change as soon as we get home).

[dana_renay]

Did she give a reason why those items are unacceptable to her?

My LO is still young yet and I may change my mind, but right now, I don't believe in arguing with kids about clothes. At that age, I might show her some kids clothing websites, or magazines with pictures of kids and talk about what other kids wear, what she wants to wear, etc. I'd see if there was any way to make her current clothes "wearable" in her mind (for example, iron-on appliques to jazz up a plain pair of pants or dyeing them or whatever). I'd keep suggesting the pants occasionally. But if she wouldn't wear them, I think I'd just resign myself to doing laundry more often. From what I've seen, some kids that age would be pretty content to wear the same three outfits all the time anyway.

[Suja]

Did she give a reason why those items are unacceptable to her?

Yeah, she says, and I quote "That's not beautiful, that's yucky". Maybe I'll get some fabric paint and have her help me decorate them or something. The other idea that came to mind is to put a skirt or something on top of it, so it doesn't look like she's wearing some plain color on her bottom half.

I told mom about this, and said I don't know how it is she is related to me, and mom said that I was pretty much the same way at her age. So maybe there is hope for her, and I don't have to put up with 'Ooh, Shiny!' forever.

[dana_renay]

Lol. She likes what she likes! The skirts over pants and fabric paint are good ideas; other possibilities include appliques (iron on patches) and bedazzling. Or buy her purple pants. Whatever works. I have seen some buttons that say "I dressed myself" if you're concerned about how her fashion choices may reflect on you :-)

http://www.zazzle.com/i_dressed_myse...13065803419311

[3andMe]

This is one of the drawbacks of shopping a season or a year ahead and buying things on clearance, unfortunately. Kids all of a sudden decide that orange is totally unacceptable, or jeans are not the thing, or that super cute thing you got last spring in anticipation of winter is not okay at all. On the bright side, this is how I get cute, barely-worn clothes from friends.

[Cosmosmom]

Sounds like it's time to go shopping!

[Jai]

The skirts over the pants is a good idea. Peyton does that a lot and looks totally adorable!

[DucksLikeRain]

We do skirts over jeans, khakis, leggings, etc. I put my foot down on PE days but other than that skirts or jumpers over pants are fair game.

I have one child who will NOT wear jeans. I just wasted $30 on denim for her that in the end she won't wear long enough for school, even though she tried it all on at the store before. I've accepted that as a lost cause and have quit tryin to force it on her since it's a comfort issue and not a perception of beauty issue the way the skirts are.

Oh yeah, when the skirt/dress=beautiful idea started i spent a lot of time looking in magazines with them and making sure they saw that those clothes are not necessary for beauty. I know they have the concept, but both of them still truly prefer dresses which blows my mind because I have always hated them!

[Suja]

Sounds like it's time to go shopping!

But, I hate shopping. That's why I tend to do it online, and shop a season ahead on clearance. I shop for her at stores twice a year, once for summer stuff, once for winter stuff. I do have some sort of 50% off (or maybe it's 20 bucks off) thingy from TCP, and I have to now return a pair of unused black tights, so a trip might be in order.

[Cosmosmom]

Anyone else nearby that would want to go shopping with her? Too bad we don't have teleporters yet....I would totally take her shopping for you.

[LanceBabe]

Is the problem the COLORS of the pants or the pants themselves? I have a granddaughter who would wear sleeveless dresses all year long if her mom let her. I also have a niece who wanted to wear dresses all the time, so my sister just made her wear pants or leggings underneath them in the winter. She could take the pants off when she got to school if she wanted to, but she had to have the pants on under the dress if she was outside.

[Babidol]

We do a lot of leggings and bay doll tops. Jeans are not always conducive tot he playground and such. Carter's at Kohls has lots of 2 packs of cotton pants or leggings that aren't priced too bad plus I always have a 15% or 20% off coupon. We also do lots of shiny skirts over leggings. She dresses herself so it's pretty wild most of the time.

[tyvek]

I guess I am a mean mom. We have a ton of hand me downs and it would be so silly to spend more money on clothes and have drawers go unworn. When DD doesn't want to wear something I picked out I let her choose. At some point laundry doesn't get done and we have "the b team" only available for her. I tell her that this is what we have to choose from. And I will make a suggestion about temp to be sure she has on something warm enough. While she might hem and haw at the beginning she always chooses something and we move on with the day.

Good luck!

[tikyg]

Yeah, she says, and I quote "That's not beautiful, that's yucky". Maybe I'll get some fabric paint and have her help me decorate them or something. The other idea that came to mind is to put a skirt or something on top of it, so it doesn't look like she's wearing some plain color on her bottom half.

I told mom about this, and said I don't know how it is she is related to me, and mom said that I was pretty much the same way at her age. So maybe there is hope for her, and I don't have to put up with 'Ooh, Shiny!' forever.

that sounds like my DD...who just started this trend and refusing to wear certain things....so we do lots of pinks...in various shades...and purple and such.....mine also does not like jeans anymore....oyyyy

[futuresoccermom]

I would coax her into wearing the pants (only if its a colour issue, if it was a fabric issue, I wouldn't make her) but yeah! I would if colour was her only issue. I would find the fun in brown pants (look! same colour as your fuzzy brown bear!! aren't they nice?...now which shirt do you want to wear.....)I guess it would bother me if she made the decision that those colours are no good, because that's so silly at that age! I would definitely talk up those colours...

[tapir]

Personally I don't pick that battle. Kids have so much in their lives that is not under their control; why not hand over a little control when it doesn't really matter? I don't care that much if she wears the new grey pants or the old pink ones. They are going to be muddy at the end of the day either way!!!

[TripMomma]

Yeah, she says, and I quote "That's not beautiful, that's yucky". Maybe I'll get some fabric paint and have her help me decorate them or something. The other idea that came to mind is to put a skirt or something on top of it, so it doesn't look like she's wearing some plain color on her bottom half.

I told mom about this, and said I don't know how it is she is related to me, and mom said that I was pretty much the same way at her age. So maybe there is hope for her, and I don't have to put up with 'Ooh, Shiny!' forever.

Didn't read all the response's so sorry if this was mentioned...what about decorating her clothes? Bedazzle or iron on patterns. I know my picky gilrs LOVE little jewels and butterflies and such.

[tikyg]

Personally I don't pick that battle. Kids have so much in their lives that is not under their control; why not hand over a little control when it doesn't really matter? I don't care that much if she wears the new grey pants or the old pink ones. They are going to be muddy at the end of the day either way!!!

this.....i mean...i dont really give my girl choices to much but i take into consideration what she likes when i buy stuff.....and if for some reason i bought something she does not like i do not force her....i don't see how that helps me at all...

[kellyowens]

...I have to laugh because I have a 2.5y/o who has a strong opinion about clothes ! She changes 150x/day, she never wears weather appropriate clothes, and she refuses to coordinate (I buy her clothes as "outfits").

She came in Saturday dressed like this and told me she was ready to go to the baby shower (ETA: it was 60degrees outside...and not raining) :
DSCN7982.jpg

I honestly feel it's not worth the battle and I let her wear what she wants...she's 2, people generally understand .

I would personally not alter the clothes...I'd get something more agreeable to her at a second hand store or something inexpensive like Walmart/Kohls separates until she outgrows the phase . That's what I plan on doing for my DD for her winter clothes...just buy several sets of separates that all match and only have those available so no matter what she matches, it's weather appropriate, and she can still change 150x/day if she wants !

It's always a bummer to have clothes on hand though and not use them but maybe you could donate them to a local foster family...contact DHS and I'm sure they'll give instruction as to how to go about it...just a thought .

[preciousnd98]

We are facing this too. Olivia is obsessed with the Disney princesses and wants to dress like one every day So she has some dresses in various colors - yellow on Belle days, blue on Cinderella days, etc. I bought her some jeggings and various colored leggings and tights and have been able to coax her into those under the dresses. She has some skirts that I can sometimes get on her too. But she is so stubborn so it's tough some days. We just do what we can to find a seasonally appropriate compromise and go with that.

[raspberry]

not sure how you feel about consignment shops, but that is an option for a new winter wardrobe for Mira. It does involve shopping though. You could always dress her in the dark.

I remember being 4 years old and refusing all jeans and pants of any kind. It had to be a dress.all.the.time.

[Suja]

Maybe I should be thankful she doesn't know about Disney princesses, and isn't refusing to wear pants entirely. She helped me pick out some fabric paint, bling, and appliques. I'm going to do one, see if that makes a difference, and go from there. There isn't any point to shopping clearance and getting really good quality clothes for a really good price if she isn't going to wear any of it.

[TripMomma]

Maybe I should be thankful she doesn't know about Disney princesses, and isn't refusing to wear pants entirely. She helped me pick out some fabric paint, bling, and appliques. I'm going to do one, see if that makes a difference, and go from there. There isn't any point to shopping clearance and getting really good quality clothes for a really good price if she isn't going to wear any of it.

Cool...I think this will probably go over well, I know my girls would love it

[Mynar]

I guess I'm the mean mom with Tyvek here. I'm the mom, it's my money getting spent on clothes - if jeans are what is in your closet, jeans is what you are wearing. Especially at 2.5 - if you are having that battle now, what are you going to be doing when she's 12.5? Each child has X number of shirts/pants/skirts/dresses/etc. in their closet for each season - you pick from that or I pick for you. Simple as that. I take into consideration their likes and dislikes when shopping, (for instance Athena trends towards girlier clothes than Jasmine, so I look for frillier tops or already bedazzled jeans for her) but it ultimately comes down to what I'm willing to spend the money on.

[kellyowens]

I guess I'm the mean mom with Tyvek here. I'm the mom, it's my money getting spent on clothes - if jeans are what is in your closet, jeans is what you are wearing. Especially at 2.5 - if you are having that battle now, what are you going to be doing when she's 12.5? Each child has X number of shirts/pants/skirts/dresses/etc. in their closet for each season - you pick from that or I pick for you. Simple as that. I take into consideration their likes and dislikes when shopping, (for instance Athena trends towards girlier clothes than Jasmine, so I look for frillier tops or already bedazzled jeans for her) but it ultimately comes down to what I'm willing to spend the money on.

That's how I used to be with my first bunch of kiddos and it worked well but I have so many other things on my plate now that the 2yr old's clothes seem *really* unimportant...I make sure she has clean, nice clothes in her drawer to choose from and then let her decide . I'm just thrilled she has no problem with me helping her put them on the right way...lol, I'm all about celebrating the little things !

A child who is expressive about her clothing opinions at 2yrs isn't necessarily going to grow into a screaming, rebellious 12yr old . I think it has more to do with how the issue is approached. I LOVE that Suja is using the situation to create a fun opportunity for both of them! Rather than butting heads with mom "winning" and DD "losing", Suja has wisely made it a win/win...I love that! Obviously, it's not going to be like that every time but how nice to work towards an atmosphere of "peace" rather than preparing for battle !

Honestly, years ago, I wouldn't have understood at all and my advice would be to make the child wear them and let her scream about it (eek!) but now that I'm in the situation, yeah, that's not what I would suggest !

[Suja]

I take into consideration their likes and dislikes when shopping, (for instance Athena trends towards girlier clothes than Jasmine, so I look for frillier tops or already bedazzled jeans for her) but it ultimately comes down to what I'm willing to spend the money on.

My question is what you would do. It's not that she's refusing to wear everything, just some things in muted/dark/earth tone colors. She happily wears pink/purple/green etc. For instance, she absolutely refused to wear her black pants on Monday, and was willing to go to school without pants on (it was cold too). Now, what I'm doing is to pick things out the night before (it suddenly got colder this week, so her closet still has her summer clothes, not her fall/winter ones), talk it up a bit if necessary, and we haven't had any issues in the morning. Granted, the outfits have had something to keep her thinking it's cute.

[sunkiss]

My 3-1/2 yr old doesn't really care what his clothes look like, or what color they are, but all summer he has worn shorts and short-sleeved shirts. The past 2 days I tried to put pants on him and he begged for shorts. Not sure how we'll deal with it just yet...it's still 70's and he'll be ok in shorts, so I just gave in. This is my first experience with clothing pickiness from him, so I'll have to check back more on this thread for ideas!

[hotpinkmomma0811]

If you don't like to shop and she has plenty of clothes to fit her I would tell her she'd have to wear what she has I guess that might sound harsh but, clothes are expensive.