Sock issues...... @@

[Ginger]

My ds7 stopped wearing socks about 5 months ago. He said they bother him too much...etc. Before this he has never had a problem with his socks--wore them fine for 7 years. Oh, I would say that maybe starting a year ago, he did get quiet picky on the sock that he did wear, and would only wear one kind.

So I finally let the sock thing go.....it is very stinky...we are fortunate that most days he can just wear his Crocs. He only has to wear his stinky shoes about once a week for organized sports.

But now we've hit another problem...he has stopped wearing his underwear! About a month ago he started complaining about them. I tried to buy different kinds, but no luck. Now he is going without!

He never appeared to have sensory issues before. Is that what this probably is...or is it just a phase? And if it is sensory related...what can they do about it? We just finished our 6 months of vision therapy a few months ago and the thought of having to go to OT now is just bewildering.

Any other suggestions?

[mooooom]

I have one son who will only wear socks with no seams at then end - the ones with the gray toes and heels. My dd has worn bikini underwear since ehe was in underwear (NOT easy to find - she can't stand things around her waist and neither can I. All of us immediately cut the labels out of things before wearing them - makes it really hard if you can't remember what size they're wearing.

 

As for underwear - maybe if you try a larger size, boxers rolled down - do they make bikini underwear for boys? See if he can tell you where they bother him, maybe you can find something to work around it, or can cut out an offending part?. One of my friends takes my dds hand me down underwear - her dd will only wear old pairs that are very worn in.

 

I really do think it is common and that once you get used to it, it is a normal thing to just select clothing that is your "style".

[mchel210]

We can only buy one brand of socks for my dd at dillards. They are ankle high and the seams are pretty flat. NO other socks will do. As for panties, for our dd, we only can buy hanes. They have these panties for girls that have no seams either. They dont have them for boys. I would say try the target brand. They have a few that are super soft combed cotton that have almost no seams. OR make your own. I made my diapers for my dd and they had been very easy to sew. You can make a loose top on your boys undies...and make them all one piece. Granted...you wont be able to make the front part unless you just cut a gap and over lap the fabric, but you cant sew it anywhere but the waist. Believe it or not...you can pick a fabric that is soft...and just make a one piece undie very simple. It sounds like a lot...but it really is simple.

 

OR...You just dont allow for the fight. I MAKE my dd wear her panties regardless if she wants too. That is how I ended up with the only brand now that she will wear. As far as shoes, we dont use fake material...only leather open shoes...We buy most of our shoes from Columbia as we live in south florida. They are all leather shoes and dont allow the wetness to remain in the shoes.

 

When we do wear sneakers....I insist on socks and could care less if she doesnt like them. Some days my dd will scream the entire car trip...BUT...it always ends.

 

My son seems to have outgrown the issues fully. He is 12. Now he uses the hanes socks and undies.

 

He had sensory integration...The drs. said you rub the seams over and over really hard that bother them and that helps...Or use that plastic brush and brush their skin hard everyday several times to lessen the sensations and help them adjust. They sell a specific brush for that...I think you can buy it online too.

 

I wish I could offer more help. That is all we do.

GOod luck,

Michelle

[Pam H]

Ginger,

 

For the socks, we turn any inside out. How can the socks bother him more than the shoe? Maybe you could draw his attention to the fact that the shoe is more aggravating than the sock? Maybe not, you might wind up with no shoes either. :001_huh:

 

I have no help about the uns part. But the same question, how can his jeans/pants feel better against his skin than softer underwear?

[MicheleB]

My 7yo and 9yo sons both detest socks. We just bought some new ones they said they like.... we'll see how that goes. I think it's that even if the sock shifts just a little bit in their shoes, they can't stand that feeling of it being "unequal."

 

As for the undies, my 7yo prefers no undies as well lately. Not sure why about that either.....

[Greta Lea]

My 10 1/2yo ds has ADD an my 14yo ds has Asperger syndrome.

 

They've never had an issue with socks, but they have with the undies. When both of them were around 7yo, they began wearing their undies backwards. Then about a year later, they stopped wearing them. I guess it was about a year after that, they both switched to boxers. They both still wear boxers.

 

It's odd that they both did this same thing and followed the same pattern, but 3 years apart!

 

Both have had times when they would wear nothing but short sleeves also. My 14yo even went through a stage where he only wanted to wear long sleeved shirts with the sleeves pushed(crammed) up under his arm.

 

Life is just too short, so we go with the flow on this! As long as they look clean and tidy, I go with whatever they need to do to feel comfortable.

 

Oh, and they've both had OT for sensory issues. For the money I paid for that therapy, I really saw very little results.

 

Greta:)

[Ginger]

All right...so maybe it is just an age thing...hopefully he'll grow out of it.

I'll look for the socks at Dillards. He has boxers here that he sleeps in, but doesn't want to wear them with clothes. Maybe I should take him undie shopping and let him pick some out.

[mull-berry-ish]

The only time we have had trouble with socks is when the boys are leaving one size and going up to the next. Men's sock sizes are: Medium: fits men's shoe 4-8, Large: fits men's shoe 8-10, XLarge: fits men's shoe 10-13. So you can see that a size 8 foot would fit differently into a medium as would in a large. When my sons go from size to size and have their odd inbetween, we sometimes switch to women's socks. Mostly the anklets or no-shows.

 

As far as underwear ... my one son wears boxers and the other ones wears the Wal-Mart brand, George, that are boxer briefs. And, now that I think about it, it is usually when we are inbetween sizes.

 

A funny ... my nephew's first-grade teacher sent a note home about the possibiliby of him having pinworms since he was always "digging." My sister checked into it and realized that his underwear was significantly undersized. I guess well-endowed boys, even little ones, need the appropriate room. She ended up getting underwear four sizes bigger!!! We still chuckle about that one.

 

Another thing to consider: the leg openings on men's regular briefs, if too tight, can lead to varicose viens later. I would definitely take him with me to pick out underwear. Lot's of designs and colors to choose from in boxers. Make special note of the different waist bands.

 

 

[Book Crazy]

My son went through the same thing, not wearing socks as he said they bothered him.

 

We bought some seemless ones, in the next size up to what he was wearing. He now does not have a problem with socks.

 

We found that he has really wide feet and that the socks for his shoe size were too tight for his wide feet.

 

It's now just getting him to wear shoes and socks thats the problem. We live on FL, and he wear sandles 90% of the time.

 

Most of the time he would rather stay home than go out if it means he has to wear socks and shoes.

[Nan in Mass]

My son did rubber boots in winter and leather fisherman's sandles the rest of the time. He refused to wear socks or underware. The boots and sandals both did fine with no socks. Now, at 13, he seems to be outgrowing it. He wears smart wool socks, which are nicely fitted, when he has to, and is willing to wear other shoes, although he still wants those sandals for everyday wear. He still wants button-down-the-front shirts, preferably flannel long-sleeved (perhaps because they are loose and don't rub anywhere). For years, he would only wear pants that I made out of good quality thin cotton. I made them like sweatpants, at first just to keep him from being sunburned when we were sailing, but they were so comfortable that he insisted on them until he was about 10 and began wanting to look like other boys. I've just gone along with it and now I'm glad I didn't fuss. As far as I know, he doesn't have sensory integration issues or anything, but he's pretty high strung, so maybe he's boarderline or something.

HTH

-Nan