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I'm curious about this too! My 2.5 year old will tell me she likes things in catalogs but other the closest we get is her preferring to wear certain types of clothes when she gets dressed so I tend to stock up on that type of clothing (twirly dresses and tutus- which thrills me!) My two girls will be almost 3 years apart so I'm curious how long I get to put them in matching outfits!

If we are out shopping specifically for their clothes then yes. Both girls (3.5 and 2) have picked their own shirts, pajamas and dresses. Not all of them but they both definitely have opinions and clear likes and dislikes. At 3.5 and I'm almost afraid to go shopping without her opinion now, I think there might be backlash

DS1 - yes. Since about age 3, I tend to take him shopping with me when I'm looking for his clothes, and let him pick them out (with guidelines). He's now 6, and we have it down to a science. We just did some spring shopping at a local store - all I had to say was "try to find 3 pairs of shorts and 1-2 tee shirts." He also found a bowtie and a pair of swim trunks I agreed to buy. If he can't find what he needs, then we go to another store. He definitely has favorite brands/styles. It also keeps him from whining when we're shopping because he's invested in what we're doing. He also loves to help pick out clothes for DS2, who is really too young to show much interest.

@Mrs. Sunshine: Yeah, I'm awful though and can't turn off my bargain hunting gene - when there are such great end-of-season sales, I'm going to buy ahead! Luckily they older one at least is consistent, so if she says she likes it now, she's likely to like it in a few months. The middle one can be persuaded into liking things, still...and if all else fails, I can try to get the baby to wear it in the future, haha. It's the blessing/curse of having three the same sex pretty close together.

@SugarplumsMom: Don't get me wrong, a lot of it is about comfort. Around age 3 she started refusing to wear jeans (and at 4.5, jeggings count as jeans too), and prefers to wear tights with dresses/tutus - leggings when I make her b/c it's too cold for sweater tights. From there it moved on to what she liked the look of - generally pink, doggies, and a bit of bling wins her heart, but every now and then she surprises me (and she doesn't like a cute Gap dog shirt I got her, for no apparent reason).

At 4 I got some input but lots of time he would change his mind later on. At 5 now I choose but run it by him (online). I dislike taking them to stores because inevitably they pick things that are bad quality/ugly/expensive so I prefer to filter options.

I've given up with my 3.5 year old. I have her look at what I'm ordering online before I place the order, then when it arrives I have her again look at it and say if she will wear it or not. Then I still don't remove the tags until she is actually wearing it. Even with all that, about half of the clothes that fit her have been worn for only a few hours before she decided she won't wear them again.

She wears the same handful of dresses and tights these days. She won't even wear leggings under a dress anymore. It's so frustrating. But we have had battles over leggings vs tights and I have given up. She wins.

So I would say you have gotten off easy so far!!

Aww, I would probably buy it, I am a sucker when my kid suggests that he might be interested in something. And who cares if it isn't practical...if 99% of stuff, is you're allowed to have a little fun too sometimes.

@kodybear: my daughter also likes "pretty" clothes (dresses, tights, tutus), and started having an opinion around 2! If it's pink, she'll usually wear it. But I've had a number of incidents where I buy something and my kid won't wear it, so it feels like wasting. If I'm online shopping I will usually give them 2-3 choices (like if it's a t-shirt with a different print/color). I don't often take them shopping, but I do let them choose if we go somewhere.

I love this thread! I've been curious about this ... our 3.25 year old hasn't expressed any specific interest in clothing yet. I was wondering when it would happen.

@caterw: omg her idea of matching is amazing. Like red and white striped Christmas shirt with flowered pants with some maroon in them- they match, see? Red and red? (Back when she actually wore pants. Ever.)