After you read this brief story about my experience this morning and if you have a child who has sensory issues and doesn’t like to wear socks, clothes, shoes, etc. please leave me a comment with any tips on how to handle this type of issue. Thank you!
We were in a hurry to get the kids ready for summer camp this morning and Miss M didn’t like the socks she was wearing for camp. She told us this after she was situated in the car, ready to go, which itself took way too long. Miss M was squeamish in her car seat because her socks were so uncomfortable.
Madelyn has had an aversion to socks ever since we put socks on her for the first time. As a baby she would rub her feet together to get the socks off. Now, she says that the seam hurts her. We even buy seamless socks like these. I never understood why, but after researching the Internet about children with sensory issues, I found that it is very possible that even the seam of a sock can hurt her foot. I found a lot of websites like these here and here on which mothers talk to other mothers about this phenomenon and how socks can actually ‘hurt’ a child.
Madelyn’s dad got very aggravated because he and the kids were already in the car, ready to pull out of the driveway when this drama happened. I was trying to help when I asked if he had any other socks with him or if he knew where some other socks might be and he said “no” as he huffed and puffed while dealing with Madelyn.
I ran inside the house to get her a new pair of socks, came out and handed my husband the socks and I quietly said “these were in her drawer”. I swear I didn’t mean anything by it except for stating a pure fact. The socks were in her drawer.’ His reply was “was it really necessary to tell me that”? Kind of startled, I said “no, but I sure didn’t mean anything bad by it”. I hugged and kissed the kids goodbye and they drove off.
So now I’m thinking of ways we can avoid this situation in the future. One solution would be for Madelyn to pick out her outfit the night before camp or school and wear the complete outfit so she can make sure it’s comfortable. Have her wear the outfit around the house for 30 minutes or so. Then she would know before the day of, if the outfit is comfortable or not, and we wouldn’t have to spend 30 minutes changing socks, shoes, and shorts because there is something wrong with what she’s wearing.
My daughter does not have ‘official’ sensory issues but she has had an issue with socks, shoes, and pants since she was a baby. She is 6 years old now. She prefers to wear dresses and sandals all the time so she doesn’t have to deal with socks, shoes, pants, or shorts.
Jake has always hated to wear socks unless they are on inside out. That is the only way he can wear them without really bothering him.
We tried the inside out trick. It didn’t work. Her feet seem to be super sensitive and can feel just about anything. It’s strange how she can run around the yard without shoes on but socks bother her. Hm..
So, I don’t have any tips, but I do remember feeling the same way as a child. I would wear dresses and those jelly shoes all the time. I eventually outgrew it but it drove my mother nuts!!!
I loved jelly shoes! I don’t recall thinking that socks hurt my feet though so this is new to me. Sebastian didn’t have this issue either.