Age of self dressing

[SarahBear]

When did your kids dress themselves? I don't remember exact numbers for Violet, but remember her undressing before 2 and taking herself to the toilet independently sometime before her third round of toilet training which would place her somewhere around 2... For pants and shirt at least. Underwear took longer. I don't know when she was completely independent, but I can't imagine I was doing much helping much past 3. Leo on the other hand just turned 3 and can take his pants, shoes, and socks off, but always tries to pull his arms through the neck hole instead of the bottom of the shirt when taking it off. He does not, however try to dress himself. He has tried to put pants on a coupe times, but I don't think he has tried putting a shirt on. I'm not worried; it just comes down to him not having shown an interest in figuring it out yet. But when did your kids start dressing themselves?

Edit: I do think he is about to develop this skill. He has been putting his own boots on and he seems to be developing an interest in putting his own pants on.

 

[CRWx]

My DD is just two and can put her shoes on/off, take everything off and tries really hard to dress herself, she sometimes gets the wrong hole though and needs a bit of guidance! I think she’ll figure it out pretty soon!

I work with children and some of the 3 year olds still struggle with dressing/undressing though, don’t think there is a typical age, per say.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Mine were 3ish.

 

[AngelUK]

Mine have been able to do it from 3 but they refuse most of the time. Partly cause they are lazy and partly cause they like us taking care of them. For the latter reason I still like doing it for them too. They grow up so fast anyway But they have to get undressed and dressed at school for PE and swimming anyway so it isn't as if they don't get practice elsewhere.

 

[misspriss]

ODS is 5, DD is almost 3.

ODS can dress himself fine, and has been able to for some time, I wish I remember when. he occasionally puts his boxer briefs on backwards (they have no fly, so the "pouch" and the two back seams look really similar, and of course they are tagless....) and sometimes struggles to snap his jeans, but otherwise he's pretty independent.

DD, although being 2 years younger, is almost as good. She struggles with the physical ability sometimes, and if something goes wrong (like her shirt gets twisted) she lacks the ability to resolve the issue in the moment. She does pretty good with panties and pants though. I figure she will master the skill sometime in her 3rd year.

DD can almost take herself to the potty, but we unfortunately have a tall toilet and she has trouble getting on and off. I need to find a better stool, the one we have is just a wee bit short. She can wipe herself and get her clothes up and down.

YDS is just an expert at removing his clothes, mostly socks - but the outfit he is in today he loves to pull is arm out the neck hole.

 

[SarahBear]

None of my kids clothes have snaps and Violet still sometimes gets her underwear backwards although she's getting better with that. As for wiping, that's a whole other story! Violet still has trouble with folding and ripping the toilet paper in an effective and efficient manner and it was probably within the last year that she seemed to really be able to effectively wipe poop. I don't even have Leo try wiping yet and he doesn't try on his own. I think his physical body awareness is better than Violet's, so hopefully he figures out how to wipe faster than Violet did.

As for helping because they like to be taken care of, I still occasionally help Violet get dressed for that reason, but she's very capable! I think Leo's three year old "me do it" attitude will get him dressing himself very soon!

 

[misspriss]

None of my kids clothes have snaps and Violet still sometimes gets her underwear backwards although she's getting better with that. As for wiping, that's a whole other story! Violet still has trouble with folding and ripping the toilet paper in an effective and efficient manner and it was probably within the last year that she seemed to really be able to effectively wipe poop. I don't even have Leo try wiping yet and he doesn't try on his own. I think his physical body awareness is better than Violet's, so hopefully he figures out how to wipe faster than Violet did.

As for helping because they like to be taken care of, I still occasionally help Violet get dressed for that reason, but she's very capable! I think Leo's three year old "me do it" attitude will get him dressing himself very soon!

Oh gosh I meant pee! Neither of my children wipe poop yet. Working with ODS on that.

DD had trouble with only wanting to use a scrap of paper. At least it isn't overuse...

 

[AngelUK]

Yeah mine need help wiping after pooing as well cause they don't do it at all thoroughly but have been wiping after peeing since about 3 1/2. They don't use too much paper either.

 

[bdb84]

My just turned 3yo still needs help taking off, and putting on, her shirt, but can do the rest. I figure by about 3.5 she'll have the hang of it.

 

[minties]

Emma can put on her own oantay and shoes at 20 months, but nothing goes on very well to the top half of her body! She still tries though.

 

[sequeena]

We'll I guess there's no point in me answering this question but Thomas has been able to take his coat and shoes off since he turned 6. He can bow zip up his coat 80% of the time and we're spending this school holiday practicing dressing himself completely.

 

[Rainbow82]

C is three next month and can undress himself pretty well. He has been taking off and putting in his shoes since maybe 16/17 months in the car but rarely bothers to take them off in his own any more let alone put them on, it’s like once he mastered the skill he decided it want that important after all and got lazy lol. He’s just learnt to take his trousers and pants down fast enough to use the potty and can pull pants up but if he has trousers and pants on he tends to try and pull the trousers up without pulling up his pants. He definitely can’t put a top on by himself but if you put it over his head he can do the rest in his own. He can’t do up buttons or zips yet but can undo zips.
Similar to Leo I think his “I do it!” Attitude means he’ll probably master it all soon. He’s in that stage where he doesn’t want help but has a tantrum every time he can’t do it yet still won’t accept help!

 

[jessmke]

My DD has been able to dress and undress herself fully for quite a while, I don't remember exactly when she started doing it but it was before she turned 2 years old. Occasionally she gets things on backwards or her shirt is inside out, but she can always get it on her body. She can do socks and shoes as well, but maybe 25% of the time her shoes are on the wrong feet. We potty trained when she was about 26 months old and right from the beginning of potty training she could undress to go to the bathroom, wipe herself (for pees only) and then pull up her panties and then her pants which has been super helpful because when she has to go she can just do it all by herself.

 

[Eleanor ace]

I guess around 2 for my girls, maybe more like 3 for my DS. DD2 is 2.5yrs, she can dress herself except for doing zips and buttons on stiffer clothing (she can button her cardigans but not trousers).
She can wipe herself fine whereas DD1 still doesn't wipe properly as she insists on using the tiniest pinch of tissue for a wee (she'll use enough tissue for a poo weirdly) and sometimes ends up sore.

 

[pa2k84]

Just before 3 DS2 pretty much self sufficient with clothing, shoes and coats. Only thing he can't do is socks, i have told him will have to practise and learn before he starts school, his attitude is "its fine i will do it when at school but not going to try now"

 

[Scout]

At nearly 5, I still get the occasional screaming because Aliyah is stuck in her shirt. Some of her pull on t shirts are fitted and tighter, and she can't get them over her head. She's fine with pants and panties, socks and shoes (not tying laces), and most other shirts, but I don't really remember when she first became able. And we struggle with wiping after poos as well. She knows how much toilet tissue to take off the roll (she was taking way too much to begin with), but she still wants to hand it to me to wipe her.

 

[_Meep_]

Mine's been doing shoes and socks off for about a year and a half but has only just started putting her shoes on. She claims she can't put her socks on. She has been able to undress herself for about a year but only started dressing herself in the last 6-8 months or so.