Do you dress your 4 year old?

[MNORBURY]

Hi :wave:, Hope you don't mind me popping over here from baby club asking this but my friend is having a bit of a bad time with her 4 year olds teacher. The latest is she should let him dress himself in the morning to gain independence.

My friend is now doubting everything she does as she thought it was normal to still dress them at that age plus she says she hasn't got the time in the morning for him to dress himself. So as the title says do you dress your 4 year old or do they dress their self. Thankyou

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

My daughter CAN do it but she gets help from the teacher as she just takes AGES. She is one of many in her class the same I dont think its a huge problem at 4 x

I must admit I do it in the morning as it just takes so long otherwise x

 

[~KACI~]

Kieran dresses himself

 

[mommyof3co]

I have a 3 and 5yr old. My 5yr old obviously can fully dress himself without any help, tying shoes and all, even fix his hair. My 3yr old needs a bit of help with buttons and zippers still, occasionally will put something on backwards but for the most part can do it on his own. BUT I still dress all 3 of them most of the time, especially in the mornings when getting ready for school, they are tired and it is just easier to do it really quickly myself

 

[mummy3]

My son is 3 in january and can dress himself, although very slowly. My daughter is 6 and has been able to fully dress herself since 3, at 4 I would defo have her dress herself and expect her to be ready on time, shoes on, laces tied everything on right way round, hair brushed etc.

Every child is different, but I would say at 4 it would be a good idea to let him dress himself, even if having to get up earlier, have to learn sometime

 

[massacubano]

Yes, at that age my kids could dress themselves. However choice of clothing would obviously be by an adult unless I wanted my DD to be in her halloween outfit in December

 

[Scally]

i used to teach 4-5 year olds before i became a stay at home mum- i wouldnt expect a 4 year old to dress themselves, lovely if they could though, would make PE easier! But by the end of the reception year i would want most of the class to change independently for PE x

 

[smelly07]

My eldest LO started dressing herself at 4 x I know when they start school its a big thing for them to be able to change independently not so much in reception(age 4/5) they will help them if need be although will encourage them being independent but by age 5/6 (year one) with no help at all so i think its beneficial for the child's sake to start letting him learn to get dressed independently now. X

 

[hopeandpray]

From when I helped out with 4/5 year olds a few could get dressed completely by themselves, most took a long time and needed help with laces and zippers and some could not do a thing. I would say it's worth giving him the time to dress himself at least every now and then so he can start to get the hang of it, although of course like everything else things go a lot slower when they want to do things their way

 

[3rdtimelucky]

I still dressed my first child when she was 4 just because I had the time to and it was easy. But I think the more children you have the younger they get at dressing themselves because I just dont have the time! haha

My second girl was dressing herself by the age of 3. They obviously both dress themselves now every morning, but the 6 year old still needs help with collars and shoelaces and even which shoe goes on which foot, she is always putting her shoes on the wrong feet, and has often come out of school with her shoes on the wrong feet after PE...

 

[sabby52]

Dec just turned 3 and he can dress himself but I still do it because he is still very slow at it !! lol

 

[MissMummyMoo]

Caitlin is 4 and can dress herself but it takes her about half an hour in between watching TV

She can dress herself as I say but if we're in a rush I will do it xx

 

[mamalove]

My daughter is 3 years and 3 months old and she dresses herself most the time,she even helps me dress the twins if we're going somewhere (coats etc) she can do zips and buttons and has been doing it for a good few months now.
If we're in a hurry though i'll do it,but most of the time she does it

 

[coccyx]

She can , but not always keen!

 

[Wife2prince]

My daugther CAN do it, but she takes a lifetime and a half so I help her to speed up the process.

 

[Louise23]

My 5yr old completely dressed herself and brushes her own hair. although I put her bobbles in.
My 2nd is 3.5 and she can dress herself.. she can do her buttons but sometimes misses one out so they're done up 'wonkily' and i'll help her. She does most of it herself though. she can put on her shoes as they're just a velcro strap and she can put on her coat altho i fassten it. i dont expect her to do it herself and will always help/do it if she asks but she likes to do it herself. so i leave her with it. Makes things easier for me as i only have to dress 2 and check one Lazy mum i know and then do 3xhair.. coats gloves etcetc befor egetting out for school on a weekend my 5 yr old even choses what she wears.. she doesnt do too bad now.. I remember about a year ago she chose a lil pair of shorts a jumper and wellies but now she does v.good.

 

[freckleonear]

My nearly 3 year old can dress himself, although very slowly and with some prompting. I think it's important to give them the opportunity to practice but obviously it's not practical to do it all the time. My friend's 4 year old needed help dressing for PE when he started school so it was something the teacher asked them to work on with him.

 

[dormiles]

Anna still needed some help when she was 4, she started dressing up on her own about 5. But her main problem was being lazy, not unable to do it.

 

[magicvw]

My 4.5 year old can dress herself with no problem at all if she's in the mood for dressing herself. She somtimes changes 3 or 4 times a day and can do zips and buttons slowly but surely. However, getting ready for kindergarten (they start school late here) somehow she completely loses that ability and I have to dress her. I think it's because I dress her brother and she wants the attention. I'm not bothered - it's quicker (and more appropriate) if I do it - but she is quite good at picking the right kind of clothes too! x

 

[Feltzy]

Evie's 3 1/2 and she's been able to dress herself for around 6 months. She still needs help doing/undoing buttons, taking tops off (although she can put them on) and putting her socks on but other than that she does it herself.