Getting Dressed/shoes on Is a Nightmare

I've found rewards work much better than punishments. If you know you need to leave the house by 8:00, you could be almost ready to go at 7:30 and tell him that if he gets dressed in time you can read a book together before you go. Think of something that will motivate him. (I know it's terrible, but for my son it was Poptarts! I hardly ever allow them, but it makes for a great reward when I'm desperate!)

My son is almost 5, and it was a battle many mornings before preschool. It helped to pick out his clothes the night before. We set them on top of his dresser. He knew he had picked them out, so when I told him it was time to get dressed he would run into his room and get dressed.

One of the dressers is about the same height as a changing table. I usually pick up my 2 year old and have him sit on the dresser. That's when I put on socks and shoes. It's a very manageable height for me.

Good luck!

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This is pretty normal for a 3 year old. He just wants attention and some control.

Do you allow him choices?
Do you want to wear your blue shorts or your red shorts?
Do you want to wear your tennis shoes or your sandals?

Do you ever just tell him "today as a special treat, YOU get to pick what ever you want, because tomorrow we are going to a wedding and you will be wearing your suit.. "(if this is an issue)..

Also having dad dress him may also help.. Dads can talk about how a young man needs to get dressed on his own and know how to dress himself.

When you are folding clothes, have your son, zip the zippers, snap the snaps, button the buttons.. This will help develop his fine motor skills and encourage some independence.

Also we used to do races to see how "fast" we could dress our daughter.

Or races to see how fast our daughter could dress herself..

No threa6ts, no treats for getting dressed. We all get dressed.

I used to do the car seat thing with shoes also. Works great!

I find rewards are best.

I give my 3.5 yr old son the choice of 2 different outfits so he feels he has some control. Then once he is dressed he gets to have his 2 vitamin gummies which he loves.

We have done this since he turned 2 and have never had a problem because each morning he wants to have his gummies (even though they are vitamins).

Good luck.

I have an almost 3 yo boy and a 16 mo old girl, I agree with the other posters on offering choices. I offer a choice of 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, 2 socks, 2 shoes. It gives him a sense of control in an environment where usually he has none. He LOVES choosing and is eager to put on what he picked out. I don't feel this is making him think he is in charge or everything needs to be on his terms. Throughout the day he really has very little control so wherever I can give him some it's great. I also read it is supposed to help them become independent in general

Good luck with the new baby!

Can he dress himself? If so, I would try a sticker chart. Have him pick out the stickers at the store or pick some that you know he will love. You can make a chart by just drawing a big balloon on a piece of paper and let him put stickers on the balloon. Or you can google free sticker charts and print one. Make it as easy as possible for him with elastic waist pants/shorts, Velcro shoes, etc. You could also set a timer and make a game of it. I would have him get dressed as soon as possible after getting up so you aren't rushing at the last minute. Something else I did was let our son watch a show if he was ready early. It was always educational like the baby Einstein DVDs. That made it easier for me to get ready, too.

We went through a similar phase with my 3yr old boy. He has to choose what he wants to wear, otherwise he won't wear it. So we negotiate, among 2-3 weather-appropriate options.
It also helped to put some iron-on appliques of his favorite characters to a few tshirts, as he always wanted to wear the same tshirt! Now we have more options ;-)
I lay out a few options on his bed, and tell him to let me know when he has decided, then I leave the room.
No arguments, no need for punishments.

i was having constant struggles with my three year old about getting dressed until as of late. I started having her pick out her clothes at night as part of the bedtime routine. Then in the morning she is excited to put on the outfit that she picked out. It has only been two weeks so maybe it will wear off but it has really saved my mornings. Also, i think that some of my daughter's fights were not about the actual getting dressed but wanting to stay home an snuggle instead of going to the sitters. So if you can address the base issue everything might resolve itself.

i give my soon to be 3 year old jobs to do, like " can you pick out which shoes you want to wear and bring them to me?" and we made a fun little saying to get his shirt off " arms to the sky!" and he puts his arms up as we both giggle and say it. I have a soon to be 1 yr old daughter also, so usually the get your shoes part of it is while I'm getting his sisters shoes/socks on etc. So i would try to make him feel helpful and independent. they like that, and so do we ( to a degree ! ) good luck with the one on the way, its a whole new world once the 2nd arrives :)

Oh J. - what a phase. We have been through it - in fact there may be an old post from me if you look in my questions/answers. We went through nearly 2 years it seemed of fighting/screaming/crying/bribing/etc. in the mornings to get my son dressed. We tried everything from rewards to punishments. I was told by so many people to give choices however my son didn't care - AT ALL. I'd try to get him to pick out clothes the night before - didn't work - and even if he did happen to pick out his clothes he'd not want to wear them come morning anyway. My son is now 4.5 and once his language skill got much better we'd pick out the weeks worth of outfits over the weekend while I was putting away laundry and picking out my work outfits for the week......it's not foolproof and many days he wants to wear the same thing over and over but it's gotten better.......I'm sorry, I'm not full of tips to help but just a supportive post that I know - all to well - what you are going through and the frustration and other emotions that go with it. This too shall pass but it may take a little time. If you do have a chance check out my old post - it is in much greater detail than I have provided here. Good luck to you!

take him shopping to get a pair of crocs in a color of his choice. You can buy some of those doo-dads that decorate his shoes, but only add them when he has been helpful for the day, or something like that. The punishment is losing his precious shoes if he does not get dressed or cooperate. You must try to pretend that you don;t care if he leaves the house naked or not. Sounds like he needs to be helpful, do things that he normally wouldn't (ex. Can you go upstairs and get X for me? I just had knee surgery, and can not do much right now. I am asking the kids to get or do little things, and they just feel soooo grown-up. Of course I praise them up and down for how much help they have been and they get all puffed up. HTH, the more you can have him help with the baby, the better. Emphasize how big he is, and what he is able to do, rather than what he is still too little to do. They can be big helpers running for diapers or wipes or a cloth or paper towel...