Sock and Long Sleeves Issue

Honestly, my advice is to let it go. I have a 5 year old daughter who wants very specific outfits to wear..maybe only 4 of the 10 she owns, and at first, I fought it. I wanted her to be warmer or not wear the same thing twice in a week etc..but really..who cares. She knows if she is cold, or uncomfortable at 7 and should be given the right to make that decision. If she does not want socks..fine. I wont wear jackets either..ever. I feel a bit clausterphobic I guess. Try getting her some shoes that dont require socks. You could try turing them inside out of course, and I have seen some on the internet that have no seams at all, which is worth a shot, but really, give her back the control on this one. Maybe she will get a blister and understand for herself why you want her to wear socks..or maybe she will be extra cold on the play ground one day, and understand why she should at least take her bigger jacket to school..even if she does not wear it. This is just not one of those battles I would fight at this point. If it becomes more serious, or her sesitivities become worse, have her checked, but for now I say, ride it out. ~A.~

I don't know if this will be helpful, but is it possible to wear the socks inside out if they're not the designed ones where the threads would show? I wonder if the lines would not be felt as much if they were facing the shoe. I'd check the shoe size - that's a good idea also.

Re. the coat thing - if you've ever watched the movie "A Christmas Story" where the mom dresses the kid in so much winter clothes he can't move - she may feel constricted in the big coat. I come from PA where we get a lot of snow and MUCH colder weather for longer. If she's not outside for very long periods of time, a more lightweight but warm coat may be perfectly fine. Gloves/hat are probably more helpful as the main part of the body probably stays warmer.

Good luck!

As far as the socks go, is it possible that her shoes are too tight? I remember having issues with this as a child and as first I blamed the socks (because that's what digs into your feet when you're wearing shoes) but then I was measured for new shoes and found that the ones I wore were too tight.

I can also understand the no big jackets thing - I hate having the feeling that I don't have a full range of motion with my arms/upper body. If she won't wear heavy coats when it's really cold outside, what about making sure she wears a knit hat, scarf, & gloves?

This sounds like Sensory Integration Disorder. You could get her evaluated for Occupational Therapy. I had a foster child who had this and my son has it, doesn't like shoes or socks. There is things you can do to make it better. With our foster child, the therapist recommended brushing with a special plastic brush. You did have to do it quite a bit, however it did seem to help. I would check with your school and see if she could get evaluated by an OT Therapist. If you don't make any progress, go outside the school and seek a private therapist. There are some that will come to your home and some you have to go to them.

Check out the book "The Out of Sync Child". This might help you. You also research more info online and in the library.

Hope this helps!

I don't automatically think your daughter has some issue. It could simply be personal preference.

I don't care for long sleeved shirts and Never a big coat. I don't like feeling bulky. I wear lightweight fabric shirts and I'll layer if I need to. As for socks, I just like good cotton socks.

My 14 yr old is much like me...she had to wear her cheer outfit today and went to school with a light cheer jacket over her uniform. She rarely wears long sleeve and NO big coat either. She does have her favorite socks that are for cheer and once I learned that this was her favorite, I stocked up. Her favorite are not all cotton. They are some special fiber, non swest or something like that, very low cut and very soft for her cheer shoes. Other than that, she still wears her flip flops to school as does a lot of kids.

I also noticed.....there are very few kids wearing big coats at middle school. Room temp in classrooms vary, no room to put them in the lockers and just bulky.

Before you concern yourself that your daughter has some illness, think about personal preferences. I hate it when the first thing to everyone's mind is some disorder with a child.

I agree that it really sounds like a sensory issue and if you find the right help she will learn to cope with it and it will get better. Hang in there it is a learning process!!

My daughter does the samething. With her socks she complains about her socks. I bought cotten socks that do not have anytype of stings or liner. That helped. Her coats she complains she is hot and the are very uncomfortable. I make her at least wear a jacket of her choice but bring her heavy coat. once she feels it is cold she will take her jacket off and wear her coat. I also explained to her she only has to wear the coat while she is outside and that helped. And I just let her wear short sleeves it is no point of argue over that. If she is cold she has a jacket in her backpack.

take her to the doctor-- does she have dry skin in those areas maybe it is itchy scratchy? or sensory issues...

It sounds like she might have sensory integration disorder- my niece has it. The socks, tags on clothes, anything like that would set my niece off. I know that my brother and sister in law turned her socks inside out (so the line was on the outside) and that helped a lot. I'm not sure what they did about everything else. Sorry- I hope that, at least, helped a little!

Hi S.,

I know EXACTLY how frustrating this is. My son is/was the same EXACT way when it comes to socks and clothing on his arms. At first I fought about it....like what is the big deal? But after him getting really upset on numerous occasions I realized it REALLY must bother him. I have bought and donated more socks than you can imagine. I finally had to start buying girl socks because they don't have the terry cloth material inside. I suggest you don't fight her on it. Go buy lots of different socks, find the ones she can tolerate and move on. I try to think of it like someone forcing me to wear uncomfortable underwear...no thanks. I do think my son has that sensory disorder like someone mentioned because he can't stand certain fabrics and tags drive him nuts. Anyway, good luck...I feel your pain.

N.