How to Dress a Squirming Baby

Sometimes this really is a two person job.

Gone are the days when your little darling lay still as you dressed her, cuddled her, and pretended to eat her toes. Now your baby is crawling, and she wants to go! She will squirm, wriggle, roll over, and basically do anything and everything she can to make it impossible to get that diaper fastened, much less to do up the thirty snaps on her adorable jumper.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Baby clothes

1. Bunch the top up so that the neck hole of the shirt, dress, or other top is in your hands like a hoop.

2. Place the hoop over your baby's head and pull down. She will now have the top piece of her garment around her neck.

3. Reach in from the outside through one of the arm holes, grasp her hand, and pull through quickly. This will get her whole arm through in one smooth motion, and by holding her little fingers, you prevent her from grabbing the inside of the sleeve. Repeat with the other arm.

4. Place your baby on her back if she was not already, and fasten the snaps at her crotch, if any. This is a good time to introduce a bottle or a favorite toy to keep her happy in this position.

5. Reach up through the leg hole of tights, leggings or pants, grasp her foot, and pull through. For socks or other leg coverings that also cover the foot, bunch the sock up with your fingers inside like you did with the shirt, line the toe of the sock up with her foot, and then quickly unroll/unbunch the sock up her leg. Repeat on the other side.

Tips & Warnings

• Distraction is your best friend. Do whatever it takes, from silly songs to pictures on the ceiling.

• Have fun. This is probably either entertaining or frustrating. If you make it frustrating, your baby will be upset, too. Make it entertaining and you'll both be smiling by the time she's dressed.