Hi. My 4 yo daughter was diagnosed with SPD earlier this year. She is sensory defensive, especially tactile. Parenting a sensory child is hard! I'm learning as we go along, but there are days when I feel so lost. I'm sad and angry for my darling child who has to deal with issues that make normal, everyday activities almost unbearable. Toughest for her right now is getting dressed. Any kind of seam or fabric that isn't really soft bothers her to the point of complete meltdown. I would love to connect with other parents of little ones who struggle with this disorder, learn from them and share the challenges of parenting a sensory child.
My four year old daughter was the same way... Was still only wearing sleeveless tank sundress in September so there was no fabric on her arms or legs. It was beginning to get cold so the meltdowns started up again but anyway that is when I started OT with her. Within 4 sessions she could wear pants and long sleeves. No jeans only tight leggings but I'll take it! I found that her meltdowns were mostly anxiety that I would force her to wear things that bother her .. Now that she knows I won't force her and we will wait until we find the right clothes then she doesn't have the anxiety. Also i have worked on getting her to use words (instead of meltdowns) to explain what bothers her. Like I had no idea that something touching her belly button was a trigger until she finally was able to actually explain that to me. She has other daily struggles mostly with sensory craving constant jumping, climbing, hanging etc and other issues have cropped up... But for now the clothes issue seems ok
Thank you for your message. Your experience seems so similar to ours. I'm grateful for the insight, particularly around the anxiety of being forced to wear something uncomfortable. We're heading into winter now and even I feel anxious about my daughter wearing warm clothes! I'm going to try to get my daughter to talk more about what she's experiencing. We're als doing OT which has made a huge difference.