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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

A crucial decision I need urgent help with......

99 replies

cantpooinpeace · 26/08/2011 21:49

Iron on or stitch in school name labels - advice from MN Jury please :)

OP posts:
DancesWithWolefCubs · 26/08/2011 22:13

I sew on too. I like sewing them on Blush

Eddas · 26/08/2011 22:15

oh and as someone's already said (i think) the sew-ins can be re-used so ou need to buy less of them. I wish i'd worked that out before buying loads for each dc

fedupofnamechanging · 26/08/2011 22:17

I have 3 dc at school and dc4 is about to start in September and have found that when children accidentally take home the wrong sweatshirts (and kids don't do it on purpose - one jumper looks much the same as another to them), some parents see that your one is in better condition than the one their child started with, so they cut the labels out and keep yours.

If you've labelled it in a cuff or in the hem, then you can ask the teacher to check (and tell your child where you have written their name) and you stand more chance of getting it back. It's still not guaranteed though.

I used to get really upset when brand new clothes went missing, because it means that someone standing next to me in the playground has actively stolen from me, but I've calmed down a bit now Smile. I always know when my dc come home wearing someone else's stuff, so I find it hard to believe the other parent just hasn't noticed.

I would also advise that you don't send expensive coats/trainers to school. Buy a cheaper ones for school, because even if they don't go missing they will spend hours left on cloakroom floors or used as makeshift goalposts at play time.

triskaidekaphile · 26/08/2011 22:17

Press studs? What are they, hula?

Original poster
cantpooinpeace · 26/08/2011 22:18

Good coat advice Karma :)

OP posts:
vincentvangogh · 26/08/2011 22:18

sew on. The irony ones always fall off in the end.

bonkers20 · 26/08/2011 22:20

Sew on of course! It was a real milestone for me, I felt just like my Mum!

I just like the look of Cash's labels and the knowledge that they'll never come off.

nickschick · 26/08/2011 22:23

I used to sew ours in -one in a nirmal place and in a heavier/expensive item in a concealed place too ......I also used to sew a small strip of contrasting thread on the back of the neck of sweaters so I could spot ours if they were 'lost' thieved.

I am a swot with nothing better to do but now I H.E and nobody pinches ds sweater ....and eldest ds is at uni and refuses labelling.

Original poster
cantpooinpeace · 26/08/2011 22:25

Oooh I admire your work nickschick!

OP posts:
Carrotsandcelery · 26/08/2011 22:25

Karma that is good advice.

After having loads of PE tshirts stolen from ds I now write his name in permanent marker on his sleeve. I know a few people who do the same.

nickschick · 26/08/2011 22:27

I only sewed our 'distinctive' surname in tho never the first name therefore allowing uniform to be passed down Grin.

The thread on the back of the neck came to me in a lightbulb moment when id bought the 5th jumper in as many months.

Original poster
cantpooinpeace · 26/08/2011 22:29

Brilliant work Nick, I'll use that and pass it on to others as my own work :).

OP posts:
Hulababy · 26/08/2011 22:29

Not press studs really - little plastic fasteners you press together and snap spiky end off, like these :www.labels4kids.com/product/45/press_and_click_fasteners

thefirstMrsDeVere · 26/08/2011 22:31

Biro.

thefirstMrsDeVere · 26/08/2011 22:32

I always did the surname too Nicks

Only complication is that our surname can also be a first name so has caused some confusion over the years.

Carrotsandcelery · 26/08/2011 22:33

Yes, surname only works fine as long as you don't have the same surname as anyone else.

nickschick · 26/08/2011 22:33

cantpoo if it stops the pinching of sweaters feel free Grin.

fedupofnamechanging · 26/08/2011 22:35

You can tell I've had 3 boys Grin.

DD's nursery teacher advises that you write your child's name on the inside of their shoes, because little children spend a lot of time with their shoes off and they just leave them wherever they happen to have taken them off and there are 20 pairs of similar looking shoes to identify at home time!

thefirstMrsDeVere · 26/08/2011 22:36

yyyy about the writing in the arm, on the cuff etc.

Got to the point where I used to write DD and DS1's names down the whole length of the inside of the arms of their jumpers.

Amazingly they stopped losing jumpers. I knew the family who were nicking them. Bloody brass necked bastards.

Carrotsandcelery · 26/08/2011 22:39

And names clearly inside each gym shoe too.

(Can you tell I have had to hunt the school for gym kit on more than one occasion?)

triskaidekaphile · 26/08/2011 22:42

Thanks, Hula. Those look great.

rednose · 26/08/2011 22:52

Bollocks- Ive just purchased 100 iron on labels..should have checked on here first. Spot the idiotic first time mum

Ilythia · 26/08/2011 22:52

I write on the labels but sew in as well. I bought labels that sai d
DD1 surname DD2

so I just fold or cut the name not needed and the same label works for both.

zipzap · 26/08/2011 23:03

I've got sew in labels for ds1 but with "ds1name ds2name surname" so that I can either just sew the whole lot in or fold one of the names away when stitching in. There's also a train icon to help ds1 find it more easily (ds2 not started school yet)

Mind you - ds1 is about to go into year 2 and I still haven't actually sewn any in, just used fabric markers Grin, occasionally refreshing if they look a bit faded. I keep one in the car (and an ordinary sharpie) for any last minute labelling needed and one at the top of ds1's wardrobe (too far up for him to spot it and have never let on that it is there otherwise it would be in his penpot!) as well as one on the window sill near where I put the boys clothes out in the morning so there is always one handy when needed.

I also second writing names in different places so you can tell when looking through the cloakroom regardless of anybody pinching things. With the white polo shirts they need to wear, I've also got in the habit of writing the name on the seam of the back of the collar to help so it is easy for ds1 to see as well as on the label (typically in the side seam).

I'd also always label both shoes or wellies in a pair - can't imagine doing just one but ds1 came home without wellies one day because he'd realised that what he thought were his weren't as they didn't have his name in. There were actually 3 of them that had identical wellies, and all 3 had got mixed up. Meant that DS didn't have wellies at school for several days (in the snow so when you needed them and couldn't even buy any more in the shops as they were all sold out). Mum of the boy who had taken ds's wellies cornered me to ask for her son's wellies before she gave ds his back Shock and didn't want to give them back when I couldn't give her son his back as ds had had the other pair and that little boy had got the other ones. When I pointed out that they were definitely my son's wellies as his name was written in them in big letters and could she not just intercept the other mum to show/ask about the name of her son's wellies, she said that she had only labelled one of them, thinking it was enough to label 'the pair' rather than each one which seemed a bit Hmm.

Was very miffed that she even dared think that she could hold onto ds's wellies until the other ones came back to school though Angry

EndoplasmicReticulum · 26/08/2011 23:18

OK, so accepting that there are phantom jumper-stealers at school, and they cut the labels out - if you sew a little bit of different coloured thread on the back of the jumper - do you not have to go around inspecting all the children wearing the jumpers?

I'm still more tempted to blame son 2's scattiness for lost jumpers, they're probably under a bush in the playground, as his brother has never permanently lost one.

Maybe I just don't want to believe someone would steal another child's jumper!

Perhaps I should just pre-fade and stain them, so nobody is interested.

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