5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

Roman just turned 5 and does not dress himself. He CAN do it but I guess is lazy (or smart enough to know I'm going to do it in a rush). Do/did your 5 yr olds dress themselves?

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

Some days yes, some days no...it depends on her mood

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

They both did it in Pre-K, but mostly because they wanted to wear what they wanted to wear. I remember Robbie would sometimes insist that I dress him in kindergarten and it was generally just laziness.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

My son could dress himself before he was 5 and did he? not often...he is lazy. He is 6 tomorrow and still prefers that I dress him but I try to force the issue most days. He knows the drill and has to dress himself but somedays I just can't be bothered with arguing and I help him out.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

Yes but when they were 5, if I wanted them out of the house I helped. Since the slacker of the group wakes up really hungry, I imposed a "you need to be fully dressed before you eat" rule to prompt him more.

As for the clothing combination, seeing what they pick out...I still layout clothes the night before.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

Can they? Yes
DO they? Not all the time.
Sometimes I make them, other times I dress them since I just can't wait the 15 minutes and the whining and maoning about it.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

Yes, he dresses independently 90% of the time. Once in a great while I'll help if we're in a huge hurry, but usually we're not.

He usually picks the outfit too, although I do have ultimate veto power.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

DD is 4, and she dresses herself almost all the time (unless it's a specific occasion where we want her to wear something in particular). I'm pretty sure DS did as well.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

yes starting around age 3. I wouldn't do it for him anymore. Leave the clothes there and walk away.

Oops, did you mean pick out their own clothes and dress themselves? In that case no. I pick out the clothes and leave them on the chair

Message edited 1/31/2011 11:45:28 AM.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

Damien is 7 and if he will get away with it he has me dress him. The days my Mom puts him on the bus he dresses himself! I already have a Mama's boy on my hands. Jaidy is 4 and dresses herself, has been since she was 2 1/2. I always thought it was because she is a girl.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

DD has been dressing herself for a long time but when she's feeling lazy or needy she asks me to help her and I do.

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DS has been dressing himself since he's 3.5'ish...

I still pick his clothes for him though ...Sometimes on week-ends I let him pick his own stuff but I am having a hard time giving up the control there

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

I think my kids were about 3 when they started dressing themselves independently.

But I DO lay out their clothes for them, or else they would wear God knows what and never change their underwear.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

My son is almost 5 and dresses himself every day. Sometimes he needs help with his snap or button. He has been doing this since he was around 3.5. I do pick out his clothes most days, but allow him to on weekends.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

Posted by joenick

I think my kids were about 3 when they started dressing themselves independently.

But I DO lay out their clothes for them, or else they would wear God knows what and never change their underwear.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

When SD was 5 she did dress herself...it took a little, but she did. It always went faster if someone picked out her clothes for her, because if they didn't it was more than likely you'd have to go back with her to help her pick out an outfit that matched

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

DD is 4 1/2 and dresses herself for the most part. I still have to "fix" her socks and button her jeans.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

Benjamin is now 5.5 and he dresses himself completely. He will also help the little one who is 3.5 whenever she needs help. Actually, come to think of it, my 3.5 year old dresses herself complitely as well, except for buttoning the coat and her winter boots. She scares me, that one! She is like 3 going on 35!

With Benjamin, it took a little doing and only really started about 3-4 months ago. Before that he would always need my help with something. Now he knows that's what he has to do and I praise the shYt out of him when he does!

Laziness definitely does place a factor here- when he realized that it's just somethign that he HAS to do things got better and of course, the fact that I praise him like crazy when he does everything himself helps as well!

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

DD is 5 and I have one of these hanging closet organizers that have a space for each day of the week. We pick out her clothes on Sunday (letting her have SOME control over what she can wear) and this way all she has to do is wake up, do her morning routine and then get herself ready for school. She watches the news in the morning (yes she is a bit of a strange duck LOL) and when the clock on the television says 7:30 she knows she has to start getting ready.
I think that hanging organizer really made it super easy for her to be independent in the morning letting me tend to her baby sister.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

I pick out the clothes but my 5yr dresses himself.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

Sydney drives me crazy when she says she cant dress her self. She totally can and doesnt want to.

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Aly can dress herself. shes been able to since 3.5 or so...does she...well, thats a different story...she gets lazy and whiny and asks me too, and usually we are in a rush so I just do it. She most definately is able to...with the exception of jeans buttons.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

DS could, but like others have said, was lazy and we were in a hurry.

In October his Kindergarten teacher called saying that we need to help him become more independent and follow directions etc...since then he has dressed himself every day with no problems. Once we started to enforce it, he was a pro.


We also usually pick out his clothes, otherwise he would go out without underwear most days, I think.

Re: 5 yr olds.... dressing independently?

He can do it but he doesn't do it and prefers me to do it. I need to "motivate" him with stickers or the responsibility board we have.