Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy clothing sensitivity - help!

DS4 has an extreme sensitivity to wet clothes. Even a drop of water on his clothes will cause him to scream "shirt wet! or pants wet! sock wet!" and then remove the offending article of clothing. However, he is fine if he gets wet while swimming or if just his skin gets wet. I guess it's just the feeling of wet clothes on his skin that bothers him. Swimsuit material must not feel the same, i guess...

He also has an aversion to shorts and short sleeves (he will only wear long sleeved shirts and pants that go below the knees). This of course provides more area for dripping water on. But he is fine if he's in his underwear (after removing his wet clothes, and if the underpants aren't wet too!). (All or nothing, I guess.)

The problem is that he will freak out and take his clothes off no matter where we are - in a restaurant, at a crowded outdoor festival. It's hard to not be irritated with him when he has these freak outs, but i'm trying to accept that he has a true sensitivity and trying to come up with a solution.
My thought is to require him to carry his own replacement clothing with him in a backpack if he's going to continue with this behavior (but of course he refuses to wear a backpack).

Any ideas? Anyone else have a kid like this? Since it's summer, and there are things such as sprinklers and lakes and hoses and snow cones and drippy popsicles, this has become almost daily occurrence. aargh!

St. Paulie,
Yes, we have had the same issue. It is better now that DS is 9 but still can become a problem at times.

At your son's age, I just packed the spares in the car so if we needed them I could get them. However, the biggest thing that worked was to spill water on my pants and get exceited about the SCIENCE of evaporation. After doing this periodically over a couple weeks, DS started to look at his spots and watch the evaporation. This worked for minor spills. Major ones required the change of clothes for a couple more years. In fact, I still keep a spare set in the car for emergencies.

I hope this helps because I do understand your frustration! Few people understand the screaming stripping child in the restaurant! In restaurants we go outside if the weather permits until he is comfortable in his clothes. Sensory issues are real!

Thanks elh - the science bit is a great tip. I'll try that. (In fact, I think actually explaining the science of what happens to body systems when someone gets hit by a car is the only thing that sunk in for DS4, who still thinks he's invincible. So we'll give science of evaporation a try.)

I know in my heart that DS4's sensory issues are real, but i'm still irritated! I try to keep a calm face now, but it's hard. I'm glad to hear that your DS9 is better. There is hope!

st. pauli girl, sounds like he can't help it. btdt ourselves. My advice - either leave an extra set of clothes in the car as elh suggested or pack the extra set of clothes in YOUR bag. He is not doing this on purpose. As our OT explained to us, some of these sensory issues are equivalent to fingernails scraping a chalkboard for these kids. Just realize that it is the way it is for now, and that it will most likely get better, as it has for our DS. (Still doesn't like wet clothes, but they don't have to be changed immediately, and sometimes they're even tolerated.)

Thanks questions. I'm trying hard to accept that this he is not doing it on purpose. It's harder still for DH. I'll just keep packing extra clothes in my bag, and try not to get irritated. I'm glad it's getting better for your DS too!

The funny thing is that our DS is the opposite of yours - hates long sleeves and pants and loves shorts and short-sleeved t-shirts. At least you don't have to worry about that much sunblock... And DS doesn't wear socks, sweaters or sweatshirts - ever! We've finally accepted it. Plenty of adults don't wear socks, but it makes for some stinky shoes. We like summer b/c he wears sandals for that reason.

St. Paulie,
The mantra for both DH and I is asynchronous development

When one or the other of us is getting ticked off by DS's behaviors, the other usually only has to make eye contact and say AD time to get the other to take a few deep breaths. It did take my husband a while to accept the sensory issues. The biggest help was having both of us sit down and make a list of the things that make us uncomfortable. Then we pulled out the sensory profile list from our son's evaluation and it was sort of an WOW moment. DH realized that he has some sensory issues too that impact how he behaves today. That has made him more tolerant of DS's. I already knew most of mine. But then again, I'm the researcher of the family

I hope using science helps!

Can you talk to him when he's not freaking out and formulate a plan for what to do next time his clothes get wet? For my kids, this can help them stop panicking and behave better in public.

You could explain that you realize he needs to change as soon as possible, but he can't strip in public. So you will go back the car or the restroom and change there. If his clothes get wet, instead of screaming and stripping he can tell you calmly that he needs to change his shirt.

For DD, this worked pretty well. Now that she is older, I have just put her in charge of the whole thing. She can bring spare clothes in the car. Wet clothes go on the drying rack in the garage when we get home. Transferring the work and annoyance of dealing with the clothes to her has made her more tolerant of a little dampness

I didn't realize this was a sensory issue, but we've dealt with/continue to deal with this at our house too. My dd5 used to have the same problem with clothes getting wet. Now, she will take her clothes off at the drop of a hat at home (not in public anymore, thank goodness) and just wear underpants. We've always had the underwear rule (started as a diaper rule) in our house. As long as it's just family, dd doesn't have to wear clothes. If anybody else comes along, she has to put something on. In her defense, tags sometimes cause irritation on her back that leads to excema, so I know her tag issues are legitimate too.

Oh, and I keep spare clothes in the car for both her and DS8.

I'm sorry there are others who have had to deal with this, but I'm also sort of glad we're not the only ones! Thanks everyone for the advice.

keet - the tags issue reminds me that I had to cut out all of DS's tags a couple years ago - he would scream "too itchy!" He also wouldn't wear shirts with snaps at the neck, which made things quite difficult because he has such a ginormous head! He occasionally complains of these too things, but for the most part he's not too bugged by them. I guess that means i should be hopefull that this too shall pass.

I have talked to DS4 about the whole issue when he's not freaking out, but he's a rather stubborn child, and he just says, "I'll still just take off all my clothes if they get wet!" I tried the evaporation experiment, and he said, "the water will still evaporate when my clothes are off." I guess we'll have to keep working.

I have also tried freaking out myself when I spill something on myself, but he just thinks that's funny...

I guess I'll be lugging the spare clothes around for a few years.