7 tips to teach children how to dress

Teaching your child how to dress from an early age is one of the important things you should do to help your baby develop independence and confidence. In addition, when your child knows how to dress himself, you will also save a lot of time doing other things.

Every morning you wake up, you have to do a lot of work, including preparing breakfast, arranging housework, just feeding your child, and dressing for your child. Do you hope your baby can dress him up to help you to be less strenuous but still do not know how to teach him? If you are still confused in teaching your children how to dress,  aFamilyToday Health invites you to follow these shares.  

Why should you teach your child how to dress?

For adults, dressing is "as easy as candy", but teaching children this skill is not at all easy. However, you should still teach children how to get dressed early because this can help your child develop many skills such as:

Fine motor skills: When learning how to tie shoelaces and button  

Gross motor skills: When balancing on one leg to put on pants

Cognitive skill: When remembering the order in which clothes are to be worn

Language skills : Remember the names of different clothes.

Teach children how to dress according to age

If you are wondering at what age to teach your child how to dress, then ignore this thought. Instead of focusing on a moment to teach your child, take it as a process and teach your child one step at a time from a young age. However, in the process of teaching new steps, you need to have patience:

When the child was 1 year old

Can raise hands when wearing a shirt and know how to put feet in shoes

Learn to take off your socks (socks) and shoes yourself

Hands can be run through sleeves and legs through pants

When the child was 2 years old

Loose sweaters or coats can be removed

Can help you pull your pants down

When the child was 2.5 years old

Can take off the elastic pants

Try to learn how to put on your socks

Can manually open large buttons

When the child was 3 years old

Can take off your shirt

Can wear the t-shirt yourself with your support

You can wear shoes by yourself, but you can get your feet wrong

A zipper can be used

When the child was 4 years old

Can strap on shoes

Can use a zipper

Can wear socks on their own without assistance

Can recognize the front and back of clothes

When a child is 4.5 years old:  Can dress himself with your support

When a child is 5 years old: Can dress himself without support

How to teach children how to dress?

Teaching children how to dress requires great patience from their parents. Although it can sometimes be frustrating to see your baby wearing shoes take 5 minutes, don't be too disappointed because he has learned to do it. For simplicity, you can try some of the following tips:  

1. Teach your child how to undress before teaching them how to get dressed

It is usually easier to take off your clothes than to put them on. So, if you want your child to know how to get dressed, first teach your child to undress. Whenever your child comes home from school, encourage them to take off their shoes and socks. When taking a bath, let your child undress.

2. Start with stretch pants, loose pants

At the beginning of teaching your child, you should choose loose pants and pants because these pants are very simple and easy to wear.

First, you should just turn the baby over, hold the back of the pants, drop 2 legs, then put each leg into each leg and pull the pants up when the two legs are finished. If your baby finds it difficult, you can provide the first 3 steps and ask him to pull his pants up. Gradually, you let your baby put on his pants without any more support. 

3. Instruct your child to sit down while wearing clothes and shoes

This is especially helpful when children are just starting to learn how to put on pants, socks and shoes on their own. The reason is that at this time, children only need to focus on wearing pants and do not need to worry about balance.

4. Teach your child to put their hands on their sleeves

For T-shirts:  You teach your child to turn the shirt over, put the collar over his head, then put each hand on the sleeve and pull the shirt down to the body.

For button-up shirts:  You teach children to turn the shirt, put their hands on each shirt, button the shirt from top to bottom in equal order. At first, the child may have the misaligned button, but be patient to help him and guide him on how to do it right.

5. Put your child's clothes in order

You should put your child's clothes in order so that they can easily discern which circumstances they should wear. For example, in the morning of school, you will take your uniform to wear. When I go to sleep, I will take the pajamas to wear.  

6. Clearly distinguish the front, back, left and right sides of clothes

You can teach your child to distinguish the front and back based on the clothing labels. Usually, the label will be attached right above the collar on the back. With pants, lanyards or zipper will be on the front, while square pockets will be on the back.  

7. Teach children to wear shoes

Teaching your child to wear shoes is also one of the important things you need to do. First, you can let your child try on loafers, sandals, and sock with straps that are easy to wear. Only the baby put the shoes in the right direction, put the toes in first, then the heels.

If you are having trouble teaching your child to wear shoes, please refer to the article Training for children to wear shoes is not too difficult .

How to teach a toddler to dress up?

First, you will need the advice of an expert. This not only helps with dressing, but also assists the child's development in other areas. However, for children with developmental delay , you need to use a variety of methods but the most important thing is patience.

Teaching your child to dress can be very beneficial. In addition to helping you save time, teaching your children how to dress also helps children develop confidence and independence.