Tales From the Laundry Basket
Sometimes the problem isn't getting a child to wear their clothes. It's understanding how those clothes actually feel.
For the longest time, I thought my child was just being difficult about clothes.
There. I said it.
Getting dressed could turn an otherwise perfectly normal morning into a negotiation worthy of an international peace summit.
“That one’s itchy.”
“These pants feel funny.”
“I don’t like this.”
“This bit hurts.”
“It’s too hot.”
And the one that used to drive me slightly mad:
“I just CAN’T wear it.”
I'd be standing there looking at a completely normal T-shirt thinking, What could possibly be wrong with this?
It was soft.
It was the right size.
It looked comfortable.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Except I wasn't the one wearing it.
And once I started paying attention to what my child was telling me, rather than concentrating on getting them dressed, I began noticing something.
There was a pattern.
My Child Didn't Hate Clothes. They Hated Certain Clothes.
That was probably my first big realisation.
My child wasn't refusing to wear everything.
There were clothes they would happily pull on without a second thought.
Then there were the others.
The T-shirt that came off almost immediately.
The jumper that was constantly being tugged at around the neck.
The shorts they refused to wear despite insisting they loved them when we bought them.
And certain clothes seemed to trigger the same complaints again and again.
So instead of asking:
“Why are you making such a fuss?”
I started asking:
“What feels uncomfortable?”
The answers were surprisingly specific.
First, I Started Noticing the Tags
I'd never really thought about clothing labels before.
They're just…there.
But imagine having a small piece of stiff fabric rubbing against the same patch of skin at the back of your neck for eight hours.
Once I thought about it that way, I understood.
So I started cutting them out.
Problem solved?
Not quite.
Sometimes I'd leave behind a tiny piece of label that was apparently even more annoying than the original.
Sometimes there would be a rough edge.
Sometimes the label was stitched directly into the seam, so removing it completely meant risking a hole.
I suddenly understood why tagless clothing for kids could make such a difference.
One less thing touching their skin.
One less irritation.
One less potential battle before breakfast.
Then There Were the Seams
This one took me longer to notice.
I'd always thought of seams as something purely functional.
My child clearly had other ideas.
Thick seams.
Rough seams.
Bulky seams underneath arms.
Threads that felt scratchy.
Even perfectly ordinary stitching could apparently feel completely different depending on where it sat against the body.
And that's when I realised something else.
When we describe children's clothing as “soft”, we're usually talking about the fabric.
But children don't only feel the fabric.
They feel everything touching their skin.
The seams.
The stitching.
The labels.
The elastic.
The waistband.
The cuffs.
Suddenly, softness seemed like a much bigger design question.
Waistbands Were Another Clue
There were certain shorts and pants my child would wear happily.
Others were an immediate no.
Again, I started looking for the pattern.
Sometimes the waistband felt too tight.
Sometimes the elastic was quite rigid.
Sometimes it seemed perfectly comfortable while standing but became uncomfortable when sitting, crouching or playing.
And children do rather a lot of sitting, crouching and playing.
I'd been buying according to the size printed on the label.
My child was judging clothing according to an entirely different measurement:
How does this feel when I'm actually being me?
That's a surprisingly useful question.
Temperature Mattered More Than I Realised
Then there was:
“I'm too hot.”
This one was particularly confusing during winter.
How could you possibly be too hot? It's freezing.
Except we'd dressed them for the weather outside.
Then put them in the car.
Turned the heater on.
Walked into a warm shop.
Ran around the playground.
Put a jacket back on.
Took it off again.
For a child who is sensitive to clothing or temperature, those changes can matter.
That's when breathable fabrics and lighter layers started making much more sense to me.
Instead of one thick layer, we began using softer, breathable pieces underneath jumpers and jackets.
Something comfortable against the skin.
Something we could easily layer over.
And something that still felt good if the jumper eventually came off.
It was such a simple change.
But it helped.
Scratchy Fabric Wasn't “A Little Scratchy”
I also had to stop judging clothing using my own skin.
Something that felt perfectly acceptable to me could feel completely different to my child.
And when you think about it, that shouldn't be particularly surprising.
We all have clothing preferences.
I have things in my own wardrobe I avoid because they're uncomfortable.
A waistband that digs in.
A shirt that feels too stiff.
A jumper that's annoyingly itchy.
Shoes that technically fit but somehow never feel quite right.
The difference is that as adults, we're usually allowed to simply choose something else.
Children don't always have that control.
I Started Wondering About Sensory Issues With Clothing
Like many parents, I eventually found myself searching online.
Why does my child refuse to wear certain clothes?
Why does my child hate clothing tags?
Child sensitive to clothing.
Sensory issues with clothing.
And I discovered just how many families experience some version of the same thing.
Some children simply have strong clothing preferences.
Others may experience heightened sensitivity to touch, texture, pressure or temperature.
Sensory sensitivities can also be experienced by some children with autism, ADHD and sensory processing differences.
And sometimes a child just really, really hates scratchy T-shirts.
Not every clothing preference needs a label or a diagnosis.
But every child deserves to have their discomfort taken seriously.
That distinction changed the way I approached getting dressed.
I Stopped Trying to Win
This was probably the biggest change.
Getting dressed had somehow become a contest.
I'd bought the clothes.
They fitted.
They looked nice.
We needed to leave the house.
Therefore, in my mind, my child needed to wear them.
Except nobody was actually winning.
So I tried something different.
Instead of fighting the behaviour, I started changing the clothing.
I looked for softer fabrics.
Stretch rather than restriction.
Gentler seams.
Breathable layers.
Waistbands that moved with them.
And wherever possible, no internal tags at all.
Slowly, our wardrobe started changing.
And something else changed with it.
Our mornings.
The Clothes They Choose Tell Me Something
These days, I pay attention to the clothes that keep appearing in the laundry basket.
You know the ones.
Washed.
Worn.
Washed.
Worn again.
Meanwhile, half the wardrobe remains beautifully folded and completely ignored.
I used to find that frustrating.
Now I see it as information.
Children tend to return to the clothes in which they feel comfortable.
The favourite T-shirt.
The incredibly soft shorts.
The top they want to sleep in.
The clothes they ask for while they're still drying.
Those choices are telling us something.
So instead of wondering why my child wants to wear the same things again and again, I've started asking myself:
What is it about these clothes that feels right?
And then I look for more of that.
When Your Child Refuses to Wear Clothes, Start With Comfort
I don't pretend to have solved every getting-dressed battle.
We're still a family.
There are still mornings.
There are still opinions.
Very strong opinions.
But I've stopped assuming that refusing clothes automatically means difficult behaviour.
Now I look for the reason.
Is something scratching?
Is there a tag rubbing against their skin?
Is a seam uncomfortable?
Does the waistband feel restrictive?
Are they getting too warm?
Is the fabric rough against sensitive skin?
Can they move freely?
Sometimes there isn't an obvious answer.
But sometimes there is.
And occasionally, something as simple as changing a T-shirt can change the entire morning.
I Was Looking at the Behaviour. My Child Was Feeling the Clothes.
That's probably the biggest lesson I've learned.
What looked like fussiness from the outside didn't necessarily feel that way from the inside.
I could see a perfectly ordinary T-shirt.
My child could feel the tag.
I could see a pair of shorts in the correct size.
My child could feel the waistband.
I could see a warm jumper.
My child could feel the scratchy fabric and the heat underneath it.
Once I started seeing clothing from their perspective, choosing what went into their wardrobe became easier.
Softness mattered.
Breathability mattered.
Stretch mattered.
Gentle construction mattered.
And removing unnecessary sources of irritation mattered.
Because getting dressed shouldn't be about teaching children to tolerate uncomfortable clothes.
Sometimes, it's about finding clothes comfortable enough that they can forget they're wearing them.
And get on with the far more important business of being kids.
A Note From Baby Todd & Co.
At Baby Todd & Co., these are exactly the kinds of details we think about when designing clothing for children.
That's why our clothing combines ultra-soft fabrics, gentle seams, breathable four-way stretch and a 100% tagless design, with options created specifically with sensitive skin, eczema and sensory sensitivities in mind.
Because sometimes better days really do start with more comfortable clothes.
They're simply the ones that feel the best.
Tales From the Laundry Basket is our series of fictionalised parent stories inspired by the everyday experiences, questions and clothing challenges shared by families.