7 year old daughter wont wear certain clothes, says her legs itch and pushes socks down

by helen s
(england)

My 7 year old daughter wont wear jeans or tights. She will only wear leggings that are several sizes too big so they dont rub, but wont pull them up over her tummy as it feels funny. She has dyslexia and sleep problems. Do you think that she may have a sensory problem?




She had grommits in her ears when she was 3 1/2. She hates to brush her hair and her teeth. I am struggling to dress her as she will want to look like her friends but when we get the clothes home she wont wear them. When she was 4 i got her and her brother some jelli bath and just touching it with her hands made her wretch but i didnt think anything of it at the time.



Comments for 7 year old daughter wont wear certain clothes, says her legs itch and pushes socks down

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Dec 22, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		My twin toddler boys have clothing issues
by: Anonymous

Both toddler boys have pant issues. One wants rubberbands on the legs of his pants. He fears he will trip and fall. Grated when he was 18mo to 2 he did fall down like other toddlers but he feels that the rubberbands will prevent this from happening. My husband feel this must stop. It is winter time and people are asking Q. My other son will not wear pant with the ankle touching his shoes or feet. He thinks his pants are falling down. He now walks around joyfully in " flood" or Capri style pants. And he hates when his Cotton shirts stretch. One day while driving on the car je broke down and cried and wanted the shirt his twin brother pull him down and stretched out the neck OFF! I had to stop the car and made them switch shirts... It worked!!! I have no idea if this is a medical issue or just poor clothing manufacturing... Poor kids got oi hard... I remember wearing dresses in the 70's that were made of fiberglass... If not but it felt like glass on my skin and I always had rashes to prove that those cloths were not safe for little skin.
Oct 22, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Sounds like my DD- Tactile Defensiveness
by: DebbieKinIL

Sounds like my DD- she is tactile defensive- certain clothes- hurt her- Look at the symptoms of tactile defensiveness on the left menu bar. If you can ask your doctor for a prescription to an Occupation Therapist who can evaluate sensory processing disorder- (call and look around for a good OT who can do this)
For dressing ask her where the clothes "hurt" her and feel strange. Explain to her that she is very sensitive in these areas and that she sometimes feels her clothes too intensely and you will work with her to find clothing that she can wear.

My DD is very sensitive around her waist, she wears yoga pants that come very high- when she was around 7 she pulled every pair of pants up almost to under her arms. For clothes we do habitation- going a longer and longer periods of wearing new clothes, and a BIG reward when she can wear something new. She must wear the item with tags for 3 times, about 20-30 minutes each. If she can not desensitize to the new clothes- they go back to the store. I can not tell you how many times I have taken all the clothes she tried on and said that that were wearable back.

Also being distracted while getting dressed helps. How about trying layers or leotard under the clothes? My DD wore leotard under her clothes. We only hang to dry all clothes- never put them into the dryer- this seemed to help.

Brushing can help and jumping in place and doing major motor body movements- like walking, bouncing on a trampoline or big ball, riding bikes, running-etc can reset the sensory child- Our OT recommended this kind of activity for 10 minutes every 2-3 hours. You be the judge for the length. Be flexible- some days your DD will need to just relax in her "comfy" clothe whatever she can tolerate- like nightgowns and or PJ's- My DD would come home from school and immediately change into a dress that did not touch her waist. She jumped and played and learned to reset herself. Sometimes she put on her nightgown and I knew that it was a tough day for her.
Oct 21, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Tactile defensiveness
by: Vicky . Hampshire uk

Hi,my 7 year old daughter has had issues for the last few years with clothing ,in particular the seams in socks. And your comments raised similarities with our situation . I am struggling to get her into jeans now it's got cold but we have a found a less stress free way of getting dressed is to plan the night before what she wants to wear and to get her to chat or sing or read a book when we put socks / trousers on as it distracts her from the irritation she gets when putting clothes on. I have only recently discovered spd and have now spoken to my G P who typically has never heard of the condition but is looking into it with colleagues more familiar in these fields .as a family we have found this to be a roller coaster ride with good and bad days but at least with this sight there is more support out there .

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