At this age, your child can eat, walk, talk, and is potty trained to be deemed self-sufficient in basic functional tasks. Self-dressing requires both motor and cognitive skills. Your child should be able to lift his arms and legs in coordinated motions to get into shirt sleeves and pant legs, and be able to do balancing to remove his shoes and trousers. Your child should be able to use the zippers, buttons, buckles and laces and follow the sequence of putting on the clothing and understand how clothing varies according to seasons. He will however still need your help to decide on what to wear.
What you need to know
Learning this skill is a slow process but you can start training him as early as 18 months to 2 years of age. Put on his clothing the same way every day depending on the type of clothing. For example, if it is a shirt, he will pull it over his head first and then put his arms through the sleeves. Let the child try the steps by himself, help him when he is stuck and let him perform small steps. Be patient and allow room for mistakes.
You can also encourage him to practice the steps on a special toy with buttons, zips, and laces. By four years of age, he should be able to wear and remove simple clothing on himself.
