nursery keep losing clothes

[MrsHardy1]

Ds has been at nursery for 3 weeks and has lost 2 jumpers and his coat.All have had his name on. It's a pre-school attached to a primary, so has a uniform. The jumpers are £10 each. He's been sent out in other children's coats twice, so my guess is someone else has worn ds's coat home. I've waited 2 days to see if a parent returned it.

I know nursery staff are busy but I cant afford to replace clothes weekly. Aibu to not buy another jumper? Even then, will still have an issue with his coat as he has to take one in for outside play. I have mentioned it several times but just get "it's not here" and a smile!

[piccadillyline]

I'd say YANBU. Have you tried talking to the manager rather than a member of staff?

[smellyboot]

It does happen but that amount is sloppy. We always found that stuff came back about a week later when people did their laundry and found stuff that wasn't actually theirs... The coat unless a logo one should be there

[smellyboot]

Our nursery has 90 kids. Jumpers and cardi normally come back eventually if named. Our issue was other parents just grabbing stuff then only realising days later that it wasn't theirs, hence waiting until everyone did weekend laundry first. Coats were normally left in playground and found in lost property box. Imagine 90 3-4 year olds having a great time playing outside in warm weather ... Clothes and coats everywhere. Kids having grey time bu no idea where they discarded stuff

[timeisnotaline]

That amount does sound sloppy. I'd send him in a non uniform coat until it comes back, at that age it's the job of staff to keep track (if named)

[MrsHardy1]

30-35 children, 5 members of staff. No manager but I have spoken to his key worker, who just says they haven't got it but will let me know if it turns up. With the jumper, they mixed up and sent him home in the wrong jumper. It was 2 sizes too big and I only noticed after taking the coat off. The other one just vanished. I returned the jumper but didn't get one back.

Today they have also lost the jacket I sent him in instead of a school jumper! Never thought nursery would be so expensive. There's been a trip, a costume day, baking, school photos and now new clothes needed every week. And we're only 3 weeks in

[smellyboot]

Make sure you label everything very obviously. I iron on labels and make sure they are very visible.

[leelu66]

Could you label in his name on the front. That way another parent can't really use it for their child and will be more likely to be returned after a mix-up?

[TiggyD]

I work in a nursery with a uniform. That means 40 identical coats and jumpers every day. Children aren't stuffing them into boxes or hiding them in bushes. Parents are taking stuff home that doesn't belong to them, then the other parents who are down an item blame the nursery. What can the nursery do? Frisk every parent when they leave?

Label well and maybe sew a bit of coloured ribbon onto the inside of it to make it really obvious.

[insancerre]

Timeisnotaline
Their job is to look after the children, not their clothing

With the best will in the world, in a busy nursery environment, its just not possible to keep track of numerous items of clothing
Children should be taught to take some responsibility for their belongings, and know where they should go if they take jumpers and coats off.
Parents also need to ensure items are labelled but sometimes parents are guilty of taking the wrong items home and sometimes they never return them
Op, does the nursery use a text service to communicate with parents? They could send a text to everyone asking them to check their children's coats\ jumpers. Some children are collected by different adults and they don't always know which coat or jumper belongs to the child. Sometimes belongings are left by children on the floor and then put on any peg. Its no hard to see how items get lost.

[Blondeshavemorefun]

Are they all named?

I would organise a class list if there isn't one and then email all parents and say what is missing and can they all check

Does sound a bit slack of the nursery tbh. It's a lot of stuff to lose in 3 weeks

[timeisnotaline]

Insancerre i am thinking of my 1 year old son at nursery - he is obviously completely unable to keep track of his own clothing so it really is the staffs job! It gets harder when they can take off their own clothes I understand, but just as they seem to keep the toys meticulously organised they don't let clothes lie around. We were missing a dummy and the staff returned it a week or so later, I was rather impressed.

[workplacewoe]

Make sure you sew / iron name labels prominently so they're visible at a glance when picked up, rather than written on the wash label (i.e put on neckline of jumper). If DS can't read his name, some companies add a little symbol (car, football, animal etc.) next to the name, which should help him to recognise his own things.

[whatawhoppa]

after a big saga where my dd came home in a coat like hers but a smaller size, we wentthrough a week of passing messages through the school to try and retrieve coat. it was a generic school coat, not expensive etc. but it was clean and looked after. dd came home in smallersize of same coat which had seen better days and had matted furry hood. so I sent that coat back in to be returned to the right owner. anyway the child who went home in it, well, her mother sent back the same coat only this time 2sizes bigger which must have been her older sisters. it was full of bird shit up the sleeve and was clearly well worn. teacher kept her eye out for two week incase she came wearing it but no joy. it had her name in it but inside.
I told her if she was that hard up to steal a 4 year olds then she could have it.
I then went to a uniform shop and had her name embroidered onto the front of her new coat and along the cuff, and on her cardigans on the chest bit, it cost me £3. woman said it is very hard to unpick the stitching even for a professional. money well spent

[smellyboot]

Don't compare a school nursery to a baby nursery where children are in smaller groups and the staff role is different. In baby nursery everyone has different clothes and items. In school nursery you can end up with up to 90 kids in uniform. Stuff ends up on the wrong peg. Some parents label everything really visibly and some just don't. Some parents check an item is theirs before they scoop it up and others don't. Some are in a rush and just take what's on the peg. 3-4 year olds are being taught how to look after their items, but some don't grasp it very quick and leave stuff every where.
Some DC are collected by childminders and grandparents, who again, will just take what they see on the peg etc
Name name name. And don't buy expensive stuff for school if you can avoid it... It's worse in reception and yr1 often before the DC get a bit older

[Karen19882016]

just knock the price off your fees. im sure he will come home in his clothes then.

[Oldraver]

Now this is why I dont think uniform for nursery or infants is a good idea

As a PP said they are all in identical clothing that a young child doesn't recognise the labels in

When DS was in pre-school in his own clothes they never got mixed up

[gingerbiscuits]

2 jumpers, a coat & a jacket in 3 weeks is outrageous! It's not that hard to keep track of named clothing for only 30 kids with 5 adults on duty!! And as for shrugging their shoulders & just telling you they don't have it? That's simply not good enough! And I say all this as a Primary School Teacher!! You need to let them know how annoyed you are & ask them what steps they are taking to find the coat/jacket especially. I'd certainly refuse to buy another uniform jumper until at least 1 of the others is found.

[Ericaequites]

Buy high quality woven name tapes. Sew one into neckline of upper garments such as coats and jumpers, or into waist line of joggers, shorts, trousers, skirts, and such. Sew a second label to the seam allowance halfway down the sleeve, pant leg, or into the lower hem. Label shoes as well with those picture mirror image label to help put shoes on the right feet.
I did this for my mother’s clothes at two nursing homes, but nothing was lost but a few knickers with incontience. Mother had the same sense of responsibility as a four year old.

[Hankunamatata]

I sharpie right across the collar of jumpers at the back so very visible. I only wash weekends so probably be at least a week until I noticed. Dh has also been guilty of having another kids coat in his car and not realising for a couple of weeks.

[Hankunamatata]

Coats I buy viable colours at that age. So dc had brought red coat, mac style from decathlon. Iv found bright colour coats with patterns go missing a lot less

[DrManhattan]

Zombie 🧟‍♂️

[Hankunamatata]

Ugh ZOMBIE