Is Your Kid a Fussy Dresser? 11 Ways to Ease the Drama

Limit the options

Most children that struggle with choosing clothes to wear are actually kids that are sensitive to the clothing itself. Whether it be texture, color, or the way it fits, clothing can elicit all kinds of responses from children, and most often they’re negative. Avoiding a sense of overwhelm is often the safest bet to stop a battle before it begins, suggests Barbara Greenberg, PhD, a clinical psychologist specializing in parenting and teens, as well as co-author of Teenage as a Second Language. “When you give kids too many choices, especially those that are sensitive in some way to begin with, it makes the entire process more stressful for both parent and child,” she tells Reader’s Digest. Dr. Greenberg suggests giving a child two outfit options to choose from, making the decision much easier for the child, and avoiding a circumstance in which the child loses focus and becomes frustrated.