# taking clothes off of dolls?



## allye (Dec 14, 2006)

Every single doll my DD has (she's four!) she takes the clothes off of it - you name it, Dora, Baby Bratz, she strips them? What is up with that? Is it just a phase?


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## fek&fuzz (Jun 19, 2005)

My niece is 2. One night she brought me all these dolls that have about 6 items of clothing each so that I could dress them. I figured then she'd play with them. Nope, she just took all their clothes off and then left them on the floor.

My sister said all the dolls at her house are naked.


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## VaDoula (Jan 18, 2007)

Why not? Maybe it is the same thing as take things out of the box and put things back in the box. Seems silly to us (adults) but they are fascinated.


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## lanamommyphd07 (Feb 14, 2007)

totally normal. and sometimes a real challenge. Typically they can't get the clothes back on so well (always asking for help) but they can get them off, so I see it as empowering. The kids in my office always check to see if they have panties on.


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## vac70 (Jan 6, 2007)

Most of the dolls in our home are naked. 3yo takes them off all the time. 6yo puts them back on when she plays with them.


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## Greensleeves (Aug 4, 2004)

None of the dolls in our house have worn clothes since my dd was 18 months.


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## Jessy1019 (Aug 6, 2006)

Our dolls have been naked since . . . ummm, since we got them? Rylie strips them almost immediately. The only ones who get clothes are barbies, but not always. A naked "Meredith" and "Derek" (formerly barbie and ken) are sitting in my bathtub right now.


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## KaraBoo (Nov 22, 2001)

I honestly don't think it's out of a wish to see the dolls naked. I think it's a tactile/learning thing. Totally normal.


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## babygirl24 (Jun 29, 2004)

Ours were naked ever since she could take them off until the last couple months or so (3 1/2 ish) she is now dressing them.


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## cottonwood (Nov 20, 2001)

_Typically they can't get the clothes back on so well (always asking for help) but they can get them off, so I see it as empowering._

I hadn't thought of that! Makes sense.

My daughter loves play-acting with dolls. It's her primary play activity. All of her dolls are naked. Her dolls are of the Groovy Girls/ Manhatten Toys variety, so even when their clothes aren't on they're not totally naked. So for her it really just seems as simple as that she just doesn't have any interest in the "dress-up" part of playing with dolls. She doesn't ever do dress-up for herself, either, which is perhaps telling, and until last year (she's five) she didn't wear clothes except to stay warm or to go out. I think up until a certain age, clothes just seem irrelevant. It's only recently that she's begun to develop a sense of modesty, but apparently her dolls haven't yet.


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## LoveBeads (Jul 8, 2002)

My DD does it and I remember clearly doing it myself.


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## AbbieB (Mar 21, 2006)

I noticed my DD's doll's clothes coming off when DD started getting interested in dressing herself. She would strip them down and then ask me to dress them again only to start the process again.

I think it's kind of like the way she takes everything apart. She's just manipulating her toys and taking things off/apart is the easiest thing so the first thing kids do.

DD is not so interested in human dolls, just stuffed animals, but mostly the ones that have human shaped bodies. The only doll DD has that has clothes is Maisy Mouse. She has been renamed naked Maisy







. The doll has a belly button and DD thinks this is really funny.


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## sunflwrmoonbeam (Oct 9, 2006)

I know I did that when I was a kid. I really enjoyed changing the doll's clothes and hair, but sometimes I'd forget to redress them when I was done. At the age of 6 I had a box full of mostly naked barbies.

i wouldn't worry about it.


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## ani'smommy (Nov 29, 2005)

DD does this all the time. Of course, she takes her own clothes off at every opportunity as well, so it's no surprise. She's 2.


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## allye (Dec 14, 2006)

oh right on thanks mamas! I wasn't sure if this was normal or not


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## amyb15 (Jan 10, 2007)

It's a phase... they like to dress/undress things. If this were a son, on the other hand...


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## AbbieB (Mar 21, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *amyb15* 
It's a phase... they like to dress/undress things. If this were a son, on the other hand...

Why would it make any difference if a boy was doing this?


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## guestmama9906 (Feb 12, 2003)

Absolutely normal!!!
It does make you feel a little sad inside though to see those naked little dolls just laying on the floor, doesn't it??


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## 2swangirls (Feb 13, 2006)

My dd did this too. I asked her about it once when she was 4, she told me that way the dolls are always ready to take a bath with her.


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## emmasmommy (Feb 26, 2004)

Most of the dolls in our house are naked too. DD 4.5 can undress them, but is still learning to dress them and needs help most of the time. If the dolls are dressed, they are usually wearing something that is actually meant for a different doll, and is either too big or too small. (DD likes her dolls to have different clothes, and figures they should all be able to share their clothes).


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## Neth Naneth (Aug 11, 2006)

You know when I was a kid and my baby brother did this, I asked my mom and she said it was because it was easier to take clothes off.


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## kkeris (Oct 15, 2005)

I wouldnt be bothered about this, either its easier to get clothing articles off than ON, or its just a phase or something.


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## gaialice (Jan 4, 2005)

Funny, all the dolls in our house are naked, too, except one which has a very beautiful embroidered dress. It was given to dd1 as a present. DD1 does not play with dolls. So dd2 asked if she could play with the doll. DD1 said she could, but she made dd2 promise she would not undress her. So a few days later DD2 asked to take the doll to pre-K (they attend the same pre-K, but different classes) and she said OK. So DD2 started to play with the doll and a little friend of hers came up and said "That just CAN'T be your doll. It's got dresses on! Did you steal it from your sister?" I thought that was funny, but dd2 did not think so....


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## DharmaDisciple (Feb 7, 2002)

Imagine when I walked in dd' bedroom after a friend had played round and her friend had undresses EVERY Sylvanian family figure







: ( there were about 50 little critters). They are still in a box waiting to be dressed when I can find which critter wears which outfit, that involves cross checking them against a S. Families poster...not my idea of a fun way to spend a couple of hours


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## formerluddite (Nov 16, 2006)

well, now i've read everyone's responses, and i can't remember how old your dc is. (or what gender, either







).

dd1 finally started dressing dolls at almost 5. but only "special" dolls (usually "chicky," her favorite for 2 years now, a singing easter stuffed duckling who wears bunny slippers). chicky mostly wears groovy girl clothes, and the groovy girls lay naked and scattered after their clothes have been harvested. she started stripping them off as soon as she could, maybe at a year or so. thankfully there were less dolls then. we'd find them face down with their pants around their ankles, looking like something from CSI.

dd2 has enjoyed the rich array of dolls to strip: beanie kids, groovies, kelly dolls, and her favorite: polly pocket. she's been taking their clothes off since she was one or so, too. lately she's been bringing them to me to get dressed, but only so she can strip them again.


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