Struggling

by Zoe
(UK)

My little girl is 7 yrs old and has been very particular about clothes since she was two. She used to need to know exactly what she would be wearing for each part of the day in advance, her whole focus of the day was her clothes.

She struggled with bumps in her socks, her hair has to be right/tight, shoes were practically stopping her blood they were so tight, couldn't wear dresses, it had to be leggings, sleeves had to be right, the list went on and on.

As shes got older the issues have continued but this last three weeks we have hit a worse than ever time. I am filled with dread every morning because I anticipate what will happen. She went back to school after easter last week, she had new shoes, which she picked and loved and tried them on but when it come to the day of wearing them she had a major meltdown because they weren't right, she couldn't get them to match on both sides (she means the tightness), her hair which she had stuck to having a pony tail in she suddenly changed to a plait and it has to be so straight that even a millimetre out and she knows, she even uses her fingers to measure around her head to check, if one finger reaches the front of her head before the other she rips the bobble out. These melt downs last around an hour every single morning for the last few weeks. I have had to literally drag her to school but once there shes scared people will see her like that and calms down then copes all day until next morning!

Ive bought more new shoes which are better but still you can see her stressing, measuring, checking her pants don't touch the floor.

She is so limited to clothes she will wear that she literally walks round looking so scruffy, I bought her two pair of new pants and a t-shirt last week and shes already warned me she wont be wearing them, the t-shirt she will but the pants she tried on and said get them off quick.

I'm struggling so bad with the morning melt downs and understanding how she can spend an hour in hysterics kicking and hitting me then switch to a normal child when we reach school?

Im at a loss as to what to do, whether its me being too soft of whether it is a sign of SPD