Increasing Dressing Independence
Children’s ability to dress independently is actually much more challenging than one might think. According to the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics, most children will start helping you dress them by 18 months old by pushing their arms through their sleeves for example, begin taking clothing off independently by 30 months, like a jacket or loose pants, and putting those same items on around 3 years of age (Zubler et al., 2022). However, dressing independently requires skills that for many children, especially those with disabilities or sensory processing differences, may require more practice. Even something as simple as your child being delivered via C-section may have an impact on reaching the milestone of dressing independently (Chojnacki et al., 2019). Dressing requires pinch and grip strength, bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination, stability, and of course the flexibility and strength of a variety of muscles. Independent dressing also requires cognitive skills- adequate body awareness and thoughtful planning and execution of motor skills (Schaaf et al., 2014). If your child struggles with the fine motor area of dressing (hooking buttons, zipping zippers, tying shoes) it would be helpful to work on those skills both inside and outside of dressing activities. Allowing your child to do things such as grasping a water bottle, playing with beads or making bracelets, scooping ingredients while baking, or sorting games with smaller items will help with fine motor skills in a fun way. Additionally, allowing them to practice dressing throughout the day rather than just once in the morning is a great strategy, as repetition in multiple different environments will help these skills stick. They can dress (and undress) at the beginning and end of the day, put on and take off shoes and socks throughout the day, and practice with lower body clothing anytime they use the bathroom. Another great strategy to have them practice is through the use of dolls (or stuffed animals). This allows the child to practice the skills needed to dress independently without the stress of practicing on themselves. For more general tips on dressing independently see the graphic below!
If they need a bit more help, that’s okay too! Below are a few strategies on how to adapt their surroundings to assist them a bit more in dressing independently.
Of course, it is always a great idea to practice dressing through games- this way your child can practice dressing without even knowing it. Some fun games to do this include using stretchy looped material (bracelets, pre-wrap athletic tape) and making a game out of putting in on different parts of their bodies. “How many loops can you get on your feet?” or “How high up can you pull this loop”. These strategies help with the motions of putting a sock on or pulling their pants up. Perhaps if they struggle to reach their arms when putting on or taking off a shirt you can make a game of putting stickers on their shoulders and seeing how many they can take off with their opposite hand. Siblings can be included in these games too- they serve as great role models and learning opportunities (Dowling, 2014). These are small ways you can make practicing independent dressing fun!
If you aren’t sure whether your child is meeting certain milestones like dressing, the CDC provides a milestone checklist. With your patience and encouragement, your child can become more independent in dressing- with these strategies they can get there a bit sooner! Even so, it is important to remember that these skills will take time. Don’t give up!
References
Center for Disease Control. (n.d.). Milestone moments checklist. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/LTSAE-Checklist_COMPLIANT_30MCorrection_508.pdf
Chojnacki, M. R., Holscher, H. D., Balbinot, A. R., Raine, L. B., Biggan, J. R., Walk, A. M., Kramer, A. F., Cohen, N. J., Hillman, C. H., & Khan, N. A. (2019). Relations between mode of birth delivery and timing of developmental milestones and adiposity in preadolescence: A retrospective study. Early human development (129) 52–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2018.12.021
Dowling, M. (2014). Young children's personal, social and emotional development. SAGE Publishing.
Schaaf, R.C., Benevides, T., Mailloux, Z., Faller, P., Hunt, J., vanHooydonk, E., Freeman, R., Leiby, B., Sendecki, J., & Kelly, D. (2014). An intervention for sensory difficulties in children with Autism: A randomized trial. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (44) 1493–1506 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1983-8
Zubler, J.M., Wiggins, L.D., Macias, M.M., Whitaker, T.M., Shaw, J.S., Squires, J.K., Pajek, J.A., Wolf, R.B., Slaughter, K.S., Broughton, A.S., Gerndt, K.L., Mlodoch, B.J., & Lipkin, P.H. (2022) Evidence-informed milestones for developmental surveillance tools. American Academy of Pediatrics(149) 3. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-052138