Helping the kids be happy in their clothes

Did you have one of those kids who wanted to spend their whole childhood.. umm... naked? Or did they insist on being wrapped up completely even on the hottest of days?  Maybe now they seem to be constantly fidgeting and fiddling with their clothes.  It might not just be a desire to be feral or ants in their pants, with my lot it's far more likely to be the way their clothes feel.

Both my boys are autistic and both of them are fussy about their clothes. Autism can affect the sensory system so that sensations can either seem dulled, amplified or oddly even both. It's the reason Anthony covers his ears when the vacuum cleaner is on or David has the iPad at maximum volume all the time.

When it comes to the sense of touch it's a similar story.  The boys can be very sensitive
to fabrics, seams, texture and even the smell of their clothes. Tags can feel like someone has put a sprig of holly down your neck or the baubles from fuzzed clothes feel like little scratches all over over tummy.  Some days David will pull at his cuffs and sleeves because the seams are irritating him and on others Anthony twists his clothes so the creases feel right. Along with their little sister they both also have eczema too.

If my boys are thinking about their clothes and feeling uncomfortable then they aren't thinking about what they are meant to be doing in class, at home, at the dinner table or even about feeling comfortable enough to have fun.  Here's a few things we've found that have helped us with their skin and their clothes.

Bathing
At the moment nightly bathing is part of our bedtime routine and breaking this routine would be a very bad idea for us.  However, you don't need to bathe your kid every night. Go with what works for you. If you are like us or however often you bathe your kids, the skin copes better with a bath that's lukewarm.  If I'm sharing the bath with the kids, I'll go at the tap end and add a bit more hot in my end of the bath before I jump in if I want a warmer bath.

Soaps
We try and use natural and chemical free soaps and try and do this at the end of the bath so the kids aren't soaking their skin in the soap.  Scrubbing will only irritate the skin so we try to avoid this too. A foaming soap can work well for this and again Jane needs to wash her hair with shampoo we try and use something natural. If we can we'll also try and rinse off any soap with new water before getting out the bath.

Drying the kids
Towels are really just to prevent a chill.  We try to add our unscented balm or emollient where it's needed after a the kids wriggle or shake.

If you kids eczema or dry skin is bad, red, multicoloured, itchy or hurts in anyway, then go to a medical professional for advice.

Clothes
When you are buying clothes have a look at the seams at tags on the inside. If these seem to really annoy your kids we've bought some flat seam or seam free items.  Underwear in particular can be more comfortable when there are seam free.

Cotton seems to work best for our boys.  Anthony wears a long sleeve school shirt for most of the year. Despite this cuffs often getting dirty at school, the shirt acts as a barrier between his skin and his school jumper.

Some patterned tops have an impact on the inside of the fabric creating extra seams - have a look inside before you buy to see what's going to be against your kids skin.

Clothes care
Have a look at how easy it will be to remove the labels  and what they are like.  The plastic type labels are still quite rough even when they are cut off and I have to unstitch any like these.

When washing your clothes, try not to add an irritants back into them when they are in the machine. Use a non-bio natural washing liquid or powder.  We've been using Ecover recently.  Make sure any scent is good for your kids.  Our one is lavender and sandlewood and that's liked by our boys.  An extra or long rinse cycle will also help keep the clothes irritant free. My favourite brand is Surcare, it’s the best for sensitive skin in my opinion.

What other ideas do you have for kids who don't like the way their clothes feel?  How do you help take care of their skin?