Dressing your little girl or boy can be pure joy--or pure hell. Moms know that kids all have their individual clothing quirks. While some of the quirks may be somewhat innocent and avoidable, others may lead to screaming fits whenever it's time to get dressed in the morning.

Some screaming toddlers may get labelled as simply "bratty" because of this. However, as a parent or caregiver it's important to know that your child may not be reacting out of pure spite: young children's skin is particularly sensitive, more so than adults' skin. What may feel perfectly fine to your skin can be distressing to your infant's. While many children outgrow this, some do not. As one of those who still struggles with finding clothing that my skin can tolerate, I understand the frustration of this problem. Here are several tips to keep in mind when buying and caring for your child's clothing:

1) Prevention is the best cure: wash your child's new clothes before you dress your child in them. The chemical residue that usually remains on new clothing can be a severe irritant to children's skin.

2) Choose your detergent carefully: avoid laundry detergents, fabric softeners, or other laundry products with added scents. While that lavender detergent may smell great, the extra chemicals it has can cause rashes or other allergic reactions for your little one. The safest choices are "hypo-allergenic" detergents like Tide Free. Be sure to remember to wash items like your child's sheets in these safe detergents as well.

3) Avoid metal: allergies to the metal nickel are fairly common, even in adults. Unfortunately, many infant and toddler clothing have nickel snaps or zippers. These can leave round, red marks on your child's skin that are as painful as they appear. Even if your child's skin doesn't show these signs of an allergic reaction, try to avoid clothing with shiny snaps in areas that touch your baby's skin. Look for alternatives like buttons or snaps that have a protective layer of cloth between them and your child's skin: some clothes are designed with a flap of cloth that covers snaps. If your daughter has pierced ears, look for gold or white gold earrings. While silver is less likely to cause irritation than nickel is, some children's skin still can't tolerate it. Newly-pierced ears are especially important, because irritation there can lead to infection.

4) Think "soft" before "cute": even though embroidery or lace may look adorable, it may feel too rough for your daughter's skin to tolerate. Another no-no especially common in girl's clothing: tight elastic. Ruffled sleeves on dresses often are designed with elastic at the ends of the sleeves that can cut into your daughter's arm, leaving grooves in the skin. Another "cute" culprit: sashes on dresses. Since they don't often appear on women's clothing, we forget how those big bows can make sitting in a chair uncomfortable. Do you remember the feeling of those huge lumps shoving into your back when you leaned against a hard-backed chair as a child? While these won't harm your daughter's skin, they will make long periods of sitting hard to handle for both of you. And girl's clothes aren't the only ones to look twice at: boy's dress shirts, with the cute neckties, may be too tight around the neck for your son to smile in.

5) Pay a little extra for good cotton: 100% knit cotton is worth paying a little more for. Not all cotton is created equal: your starched blouse or shirt may be cotton, but chances are you don't sleep in it. Thermal cotton can also be scratchier than you'd expect. Feel both sides of the piece of clothing, and rub it against the inside of your arm (this area is more sensitive than other areas of your skin). Keep in mind, also, that the lower quality knits are much more likely to lose their softness after a few washes. Try to save money in other areas of your baby budget so that you can afford a few t-shirts from brands like Hanna Andersson or Gymboree. Their knits will survive endless washes and make great hand-me-downs if you have more than one child. I have two younger sisters, and many of our Hanna clothes outlived all three of us.

6) Have fun! Take a break from the blah neutrals of the adult fashion world and take advantage of the joys of bright colors. There's a reason that everything from children's toys to their toothpaste are designed with bold, primary colors: kids love them. While you might not want to buy a pair of chunky red sandals decorated with pink and orange flowers for yourself, chances are your daughter will want to wear them every day. To make shopping easier, you might want to choose one bright color (royal blue, eggplant) that your child especially likes and make that your staple color for that particular season. From there, it's easy to choose other colors to mix and match. Depending on your child's hair color and skin tone, you might want to throw in some more toned-down colors, like a creamy white. Some children, however, look best colors that are all saturated. A quick rule of thumb is that if your child's skin is very fair or very dark, she or he will look best in brighter colors. No matter what, though, be sure to include bright, fun colors. It will make the mornings less of a hassle for both you and your child.