The Independence of Getting Dressed

One of the most time consuming tasks of parenting can be dressing and undressing your little ones. Eventually they learn to dress themselves, and what a difference this makes!  You can encourage them to learn to dress by making it as easy for them as possible.  Deciding what to wear is an important part of the 'independence' of learning to dress.  Clearly you want them to make the 'right' choice so that they don't wear mismatched clothes, so leave out a choice of outfits that they can put on in the morning, any combination of which will match.  Make sure that the clothes are loose fitting, or at the very least, not tight.  Make sure that you are on hand to offer help, but let them try for as long as they want before you intervene.  Getting dressed requires a huge amount to learn, but with practice, it comes.  Give your kids plenty of praise when they succeed, and just for trying - it's in your interests and theirs that they learn to dress as soon as they are ready for it!  What age should you start encouraging them?  They should be able to start putting on easy garments as they approach 3 years old, older siblings may even help to start the process sooner as younger ones will aspire to the independence that their older siblings enjoy!