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How can using the five senses help me dress my child?

News Type: Other — Wed Nov 4, 2009 9:05 AM EST

TODAYMoms

From Priscilla Dunstan, author and child development expert

Dressing a toddler is at best a difficult task. They wriggle, they squirm and some children just plain refuse! By using the senses to help not only with what you dress your toddler in but also in how you approach the task, dressing will become a much easier task.

We all have five senses but from birth and onward, we all have a dominant sense which guides how we go about our lives. This dominant sense is like a filter for how we communicate and understand the world around us and in the case of dressing a toddler, it determines how they behave.

The four sensory modes are Tactile (touch); Auditory (sound); Visual (sight); and Taste/Smell. Depending on which dominant sense your little one is, regarding that sense when you are dressing them will make the task a success!

Tactile child
Tactile children will always help you take their clothes off and they love being naked. Movement is their main concern so dressing them in easy-to-move in clothes that are a size larger will help. They will lose patience with clothing that has ornamentation, so plain clothing is best. As to getting them dressed, distraction is the best option.

Distract them through the use of their own body or your own. Can you turn your hand into a duck and put it through the sleeve? Or racing with tactile children works too: How quickly can we get dressed?

Auditory child
Auditory children respond to music; having a favorite "dressing" song that you both enjoy singing will help take the focus off of the pulling on and off clothes. Chatting about the day and singing nursery rhymes also helps. Try to buy tops that don't go over the head: The auditory child's ears are sensitive. They will tend to prefer no-nonsense clothing, however fabrics like taffeta, corduroy and mittens with bells make for fun play clothes. You may also notice that different-soled shoes will charm your auditory toddler into dancing, just to hear the sound.

Visual child
Even as toddlers, visual children start to show preferences for color and combinations. They will begin to form ideas about what they will and will not wear. They won't like to be dirty, so having a spare change of clothes is always handy. Allowing these children to pick out or have a say in what they wear will mean that they will actually help you get them dressed. Of course if they wish to wear their favorite Superman outfit to your friend's wedding, pointing out pictures of what other people will be wearing will help you persuade them to wear more appropriate clothes, to make them "look" nice.

Taste/smell child
Taste/smell children don't like to be hurried. The dressing process will need to be a calm and pleasant experience, so rushing to dress your child isn't a good idea. They will gravitate to clothing that has a personal connection to their lives -- a T-shirt from Disneyland, the jumper granny worked on or jeans just like their big brother. They will tend to have favorites, so buying favorite clothes in twos will help when they want to wear the same outfit day after day. Re-rinsing clothes can help with the sensitivity they often have to detergents when washing their clothes.

Read an excerpt from "Child Sense" here, and find more answers to your questions here.

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Public Discussion (8)

{"commentId":10466738,"authorDomain":"carly-l"}

Carly L

I have a 6 month old that has always been very auditory. For the first 4 months of his life he did a LOT of crying. Now he seems to just yell. Not in an angry or mad sort of way but just to hear himself make noise. What is the best way to help my child express himself? I have been trying to work on baby sign language with him. But do you have any other advice?

{"commentId":10466738,"threadId":"716390","contentId":"3459718","authorDomain":"carly-l"}

1 vote

#1 - Wed Nov 4, 2009 9:54 AM EST

{"commentId":10466835,"authorDomain":"mama0475"}

mama0475

My daughters 2 and 5 year old constantly fight. What should I do to help them not fight as much?

{"commentId":10466835,"threadId":"716390","contentId":"3459718","authorDomain":"mama0475"}

3 votes

#2 - Wed Nov 4, 2009 9:57 AM EST

{"commentId":10466865,"authorDomain":"mercedes2"}

mercedes2

How can we get our 18 month old to stop pulling people's hair? The other day he grabbed his younger sister's hair with both hands and pulled as hard as he could. We have tried everything from taking his favorite toys away from him to smacking his hands but nothing works. Please help!

{"commentId":10466865,"threadId":"716390","contentId":"3459718","authorDomain":"mercedes2"}

1 vote

#3 - Wed Nov 4, 2009 9:58 AM EST

{"commentId":10467187,"authorDomain":"kathy-columbia"}

Kathy Columbia

my grand daughter is in 3rd grade and her mom has been told she is a tactile learning child with inatentive attention deficit disorder. The 2 dr's involved stated that she needs to be retrained on how to think and they are recomending medication. Her grades range from A to D the D being in spelling, is this the way to go with her way of learning?

{"commentId":10467187,"threadId":"716390","contentId":"3459718","authorDomain":"kathy-columbia"}

#4 - Wed Nov 4, 2009 10:10 AM EST

{"commentId":10468369,"authorDomain":"khohensee24"}

khohensee24

I have a 4 year old that still insists on her dad laying with her to put her to sleep and then still a couple of times a night she gets out of her bed and gets her dad to go back and sleep in her bed, How can we remedee this problem?

{"commentId":10468369,"threadId":"716390","contentId":"3459718","authorDomain":"khohensee24"}

#5 - Wed Nov 4, 2009 10:55 AM EST

{"commentId":10468715,"authorDomain":"sandy-28"}

sandy-1451351

My 27 month old grandson spends each day with me and upon transferring him to my daughter he first smiles and then wacks my daughter and sometimes me in the face. This mainly occurs when transferring and putting him in his car seat. we are at a loss how to stop this behavior. My daughter is crushed after not seeing him all day. He is a very busy physical boy and speech is coming but is slow although he is very bright. Any ideas. One Mom thought ignoring rather than reacting is best?

{"commentId":10468715,"threadId":"716390","contentId":"3459718","authorDomain":"sandy-28"}

#6 - Wed Nov 4, 2009 11:05 AM EST

{"commentId":10469576,"authorDomain":"rose-sigala"}

Rose Sigala

I have a 4yr old daughter who is very social and loves school since she was 2. She often imitates her teachers behavior which are very authoritive. She will come home and start getting after us like if she was in school with an agressive voice. Teacher uses happy or sad faces to reward the kids at the end of the day which is what my Karolina does. How can we stop her from being so agressive and authoritive?

{"commentId":10469576,"threadId":"716390","contentId":"3459718","authorDomain":"rose-sigala"}

1 vote

#7 - Wed Nov 4, 2009 11:33 AM EST

{"commentId":10470145,"authorDomain":"WilsonM"}

BettyH-1451499

My 28 month old granson is probably described as tactile, he is extremely fast to pick up new things but he has a short temper and pinches and bites all of us. How should we handle his behaviour, we do not spank and Time Out does not always work.

{"commentId":10470145,"threadId":"716390","contentId":"3459718","authorDomain":"WilsonM"}

#8 - Wed Nov 4, 2009 11:51 AM EST

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