Running around in your birthday suit may not be something that you find very appealing, especially in public areas, but your toddler may not find anything wrong with the idea! Around this age, you may begin to notice your toddler shedding their clothes – in and out of the house! While being naked in the confines of your own home is perfectly fine, undressing in public areas is not. Reactions from other moms and public indecency may be enough to turn your face red as a tomato as your toddler begins to strip nude. You may wonder, what is the sudden fascination with getting naked?

Around this age, toddlers are beginning to understand how to dress and undress themselves. You may also be dressing them in certain outfits that they may find discomforting or itchy. Instead of vocalizing how they feel they immediately strip out of the get-up. To the toddlers, undressing themselves from the article of clothing that is irritating to them is the simplest and easiest way to rid them of it. Your toddler may also be confused as to why they are allowed to be completely undressed at home while in public areas it is frowned upon. They are still too young to understand between socially acceptable and unacceptable behavior in the private and public areas of life.

As a parent there are many tactics that you can take in order to help your child become aware of what behavior is appropriate within different settings. You must explain to your toddler that, while at home it is ok for them to be nude, in public it is not. Explain to them that their body is private and for their eyes only. If your toddler still undresses in public you can opt for articles of clothing that are more difficult to take off, like a shirt with buttons on the back.

Another great way to prevent public dress malfunctions is to give your child designated times where they are allowed to be nude in the house. This could be right before or after a bath to make things easier for you as well. Allowing your child to have naked time will give them the freedom to be unclothed and will help make public undressing much less likely to happen. Teaching your toddler the difference between appropriate home behavior and public behavior, as well as helping them manage their personal free will should help you deal with this new obsession with undressing themselves.