What to Do When Your Toddler Doesn’t Want to Wear Clothes

A lot of time and energy goes into clothing your toddler.

From choosing colors, to outgrowing their clothes every 20 minutes, new parents have their plates full with keeping their toddlers clean, comfortable and clothed.

So what do you do when all your toddler doesn’t want to wear clothes at all?

How do you deal with a toddler who just wants to be naked?

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At about 12 to 18 months, your baby will most likely want to run around the house naked.

This is completely normal, and actually could help a little bit with potty training.

Obviously it can be a bit of an issue when trying to introduce social norms.

And of course, you don’t want a naked toddler running around when you have people over for coffee or lunch. Yikes. lol

So what do you do when your toddler doesn’t want to wear clothes?

The best thing to do is not discourage this behavior entirely.

Set limits about where and when your toddler can be naked and enforce them.

It’s tedious, but repeatedly re-dressing your toddler may be the best way to get the message across.

Keep an especially close eye on your toddler in public. Not just because they might strip down, but because you don’t want to lose expensive things like shoes or jackets.

Allow some naked time

Setting a “naked time” where your toddler is free to roam around the house for an hour or so a day is a good way to set limits on acceptable behavior.

Make sure it’s a time when you can be around to monitor them very closely and make sure that they don’t hurt their more exposed areas.

Also, it’s probably best if naked time is when your house doesn’t see a lot of traffic.

Your toddler may be comfortable with their naked time, but friends and neighbors may not be. lol

Making play dates for right before or after naked time can be a good way to demonstrate the difference between private time and public time.

And it lets them start making their own boundaries in their mind.

Make getting dressed fun

Have fun while getting dressed, and stress the importance of where and when it is okay to take off your clothes.

This way your toddler begins to understand how grown-ups wear appropriate clothes every day.

(note: if your husband sits around in his boxers all day in your house, don’t use him as an example. lol)

Use your little one’s newfound freedom to encourage them to choose their own clothes. Let your toddler dress herself as much as possible.

So hopefully she might like to get dressed as much as she enjoys taking her clothes off.

I like to give Toot a couple of weather appropriate outfit options rather than just letting her dig through her dresser.

It’s much easier for a toddler to decide if they only have two or three choices. Too many options can be overwhelming.

I also try to buy her some gender neutral clothes because she doesn’t always want to be girly.

Giving your toddler options lets them feel like they have more control over their lives.

Not having any control makes them want to do anything that feels like it’s their choice… like take all of their clothes off.

Keep the discipline clothing related

The most important thing to remember is not to let your discipline about clothing become about your child’s body.

It’s easy to make your child feel ashamed of their naked body, even if that’s not what you intended to do.

This kind of discomfort can go a long way in determining how your child feels about their body in the long term even into adulthood.

I know that sounds scary. You don’t want to scar them for life. Just do your best.

Keeping the focus on the clothes and not their body can be easier than you think.

Remind your toddler that we keep our clothes on around other people. That is the rule.

Also explain weather and socially appropriate clothes.

It’s okay to wear a swim suit in the summer to the pool. It’s not okay to wear a swim suit in the winter or to a wedding.

Is this a sensory problem?

One reason your toddler might be taking their clothes off or refusing to wear clothes is because they don’t like the texture or there’s something bothering them.

My daughter doesn’t like tags. She hates them. I have to cut off the tags on most of her clothes or buy shirts and pants with printed on labels instead of dangling tags.

Look at which clothes are being tossed on the floor. What do they have in common?

Is it just shirts and not pants?

Do they have scratchy tags?

Are they a certain type of fabric?

Does the inside have something like the back of a decal that feels weird?

If you can figure out a similarity, you might just need to avoid buying those types of clothes or alter them to work for your toddler.

Another thing you can try is switching to a gentle laundry detergent. It might be what’s causing your toddler to rip off their clothes.

There’s one brand of laundry detergent that I’m allergic to but only slightly. Just enough to make me uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, I don’t know which brand. lol So I just keep buying Tide because I know it’s fine.

Does your toddler run around naked?

Let me know in the comments below.

This time in their life is a lot about exploration. So it’s important to let them figure out some stuff on their own. Set some boundaries, but allow them to do their thing.

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