I used to see 3-year olds around town dressed in wild combinations of stripes, gingham, rainbow tights and superhero capes. I wondered when my baby would look that creative and charming.*
Then it dawned on me and I began to create wild combinations and increase the creativity in my infant’s wardrobe. If your baby is grabbing, he can help pick out his own clothes, just like a willful preschooler.
We start at the bottom and work up:
- Let the baby “choose” from two or three pairs of socks. The idea is that whichever ones he touches (grabbing or sucking is ok too), he wears. You might need to hold them close to his hand if he’s not flapping or waving his hands about.
- Now allow him to pick from two shirts.
- Let him pick pants, hats, and any other accessories.
Now you can brag that baby picked out his own clothes. 
Good mommy.
* Now that Holden is pushing six, he doesn’t like to be quite as wild in the fashion arena, he prefers sweats every day. Oh well.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
my almost four year old only wants to wear grey sweat pants. and grey tshirts. and grey sweatshirts. and grey socks. is it my fault for buying so many things in such a boring color?
Jackie, my son is the same way! It’s either all gray (yesterday) or all brown (most days). I converged on a wardrobe of brown and orange because they hide dirt so well and his hobbies are digging and dumping dirt. When he does the all-brown thing, we tell him he looks like a vanilla bean.
All that said, he asked for a pink tiara to wear at his birthday party, so maybe he does have a little flair.
It is routine for my child to pick out the socks. Sometimes one is blue and the other is white. When you go to storytime, you can see who has the same routine as you in the morning! It is just precious!
I have a 15 month old and she has been picking out her outfits since she was about 9 months. She is extremely independent and opinionated. Even before she could walk she was choosing her clothes and if you wanted her to wear something else, look out! Ever since about January (when she was about 11 months) it has been tu-tus and “pree-pree” (plastic beaded necklaces) every day. She also carries a purse and wear a tiara most days. It cracks me up, but most people don’t believe that children start to dress themselves until they are 2 or 3, they don’t think that a 1 year old is insisting on her own outfits
ha! i love this, we are definately doing this tomorrow
When it comes to school, my 5yo always wants to pick his own underwear (God forbid he not wear the same pair every day…and yes, I do a TON of laundry, lol). He also is refusing to wear his new Lightning McQueen sneakers. He picked them out himself at the store, and his old ones are Lightning McQueen, but I think they don’t have that “comfy, beat-up” feel. His preferred attire at home is as little as possible – at this very moment, he’s very happily playing with his trains while buck naked! (he sometimes hides his clothes if we’ve already done the “you have to wear SOMETHING” game, lol)
Now, I’m off to try to wrangle some underwear onto him.
My daughter, 20 months, has been picking out her own clothes for a few months now. She doesn’t pick them out every day, but there are certainly days when she cares very deeply about what she’s going to wear. If you try to get her to wear something else, well… you didn’t need that eye anyway, right? She also has a MAJOR affinity for shoes. We have a wonderful collection of hand-me-down shoes and typically go through three or four pairs a day. I joke with DH that we need to start a shoe fund now for when she becomes a teenager…
My four-year-old son still likes to have me pick out his clothes; but his three-year-old sister must change outfits at least three times a day. Hopefully neither of them will have the taste I had as a six year old. Striped shirt and plaid pants!
Hi! This post made me laugh because the other day I left my 14-month-old Harper in his crib while I took a shower. I had him freshly dressed with a onesie, pants, and socks on. When I came in a half hour later, he had nothing but the onesie on. His pants and socks had been tossed around the room. It cracked me up. I guess he didn’t feel like wearing pants! Babies do the funniest things.