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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

Dressed for nursery

61 replies

4theanimals · 15/01/2021 08:56

Hi. I have a 3 yr old at nursery and she often comes home with paint/marker pen(?)on her clothes where she’s wiped her hands or leant in it etc. I use stain remover but the paint doesn’t come fully out. The nursery say they use aprons when painting. I’m fed up having to keep buying her new clothes( I use the stained ones for playing out in the garden) . I want her to look smart for nursery but now wandering should I just send her in old clothes which very often get ruined anyway!?
I don’t want her being the unkempt one in class. What do other folk do? TIA

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20viona · 15/01/2021 09:37

Send her in the crappest clothes she owns as long as they fit and are weather appropriate she really doesn't need to be 'smart' for nursery.

RizzleDrizzle · 15/01/2021 09:38

What do you mean smart? What sort of clothes are you sending her in now? Because I think there’s different ways of taking smart. And I think some might be presuming your dressing her as if she’s going out in Sunday best.

Do you mean clean ironed clothes unstained clothes, then there’s two things.
The nursery aren’t going to think she’s unkept if there’s a few little Stains, as long as she’s in clothes that have clearly been washed since they were last worn, she’s had bath shower and is well fed.
How bad are the stains you may have to lower your standards, if any stain means it’s not worn again then yeah that’s the problem. If clothes are really covered in paint, as people have said don’t buy expensive clothes, primark, Asda, Tesco’s Sainsbury’s all do toddler clothes for a few pounds.

If you mean smart as pretty little dresses/skirts and tights, clothes that take hours to iron, then no no kid needs to look smart like that for nursery. Its just not practical, leggings or trackies a teeshirt/polo top and a sweatshirt are excellent nursery clothes. It’s one of the reasons nursery’s are increasingly are having uniforms. If your nursery doesn’t have a uniform maybe you could go to one of the shops mentioned and make up your own sort of nursery clothes following the leggings/tee/sweatshirt formula.

Honestly their not going to think your child s unkempt just because she’s wearing more causal clothes

Libertylevel · 15/01/2021 09:38

My kids always go to nursery in eBay bundle / supermarket clothes. Their nursery sends them back covered in paint and mud and sand every day so I save ‘smart’ clothes for the weekend

whatswithtodaytoday · 15/01/2021 09:39

She does not need to look smart for nursery. No-one cares what she looks like and she'll be a mess within half an hour anyway.

Buy bundles of good quality clothes on eBay if you don't want to buy supermarket stuff.

bananamonkey · 15/01/2021 09:39

We have separate clothes for nursery, usually multi packs of tops and leggings from Sainsbury’s or similar, they’re pretty but practical. They get stained and not everything comes out but I still use them. Nursery make it very clear that we should send them in clothes that are ok to get paint/mud/food on. I would never let her wear her nice clothes as she loves to get stuck in with messy play/jumping in puddles etc.

mabelandivy · 15/01/2021 09:39

I just buy cheap supermarket clothes or bundles from ebay for nursery. Anything decent is for when she's not at nursery.

ImFree2doasiwant · 15/01/2021 09:44

I always think its madness when kids turn up to pre school beautifully dressed. Embrace the mess that they get to do there, so you don't have to do it at home .

I bought a nursery uniform. Joggers, plain t shirts, and school jumpers. Ours is a pre school and have a uniform if you want to use it, so I got the dark green sweatshirts from a supermarket, to match and dark joggers.

Skullcup · 15/01/2021 09:44

I've never sent my kids to school/nursery etc in anything I remotely care about. If it doesn't mysteriously "vanish", then it comes back covered in paint or food.

I buy cheap school uniform and five of everything. I don't care if a jumper gets lost or ruined if it only cost £3. Anything "good" gets kept for home.

As long as your kids aren't going to nursery covered in bodily fluids and are physically clean themselves, I don't think anyone would notice or care.

Thedarknightsaredrawingin · 15/01/2021 09:48

I was once taken aside by nursery manager to ask I send DD in cheaper clothes as staff afraid she gets dirty. I was mortified to explain she was outgrowing them so for example that day she had on a good dress that was now too short with supermarket leggings. It was cheaper to get continued use out of things this way.

burritofan · 15/01/2021 09:48

What everyone else said, though I don’t put her in anything smart at home either! I want her to be comfortable and warm and able to enjoy herself. She comes home looking like a ragamuffin and that’s fine; we send her in clean and clothed and that’s it.

tmh88 · 15/01/2021 09:57

Can you buy dark clothes? I get DS a lot of navy etc for this reason the stains don’t show then.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 15/01/2021 10:02

I have fond memories of the day i arrived to pick up my youngest, to be called aside to be given her dress (preschool uniform, this was the afternoon nursery, when it was just 15hrs). The front was pristine. The back was green. She had been wearing an apron... But had managed to SIT on the paint. Even her hair was green.

My advice... Make a nursery uniform. Dark joggers/leggings/shorts. Plain t-shirts and jumpers. Only use for nursery.

KipperTheFrog · 15/01/2021 10:07

This is why I was glad when DD2’s nursery had a uniform! She wears her uniform t shirt and jumper which have stains on them with a pair of plain leggings and joggers. Nothing that matters if it gets stained, and will just be worn to nursery with the stains still on!
DD1’s nursery didn’t have a uniform, so I just had a pack of cheap plain T-shirt’s and joggers for her to only wear to nursery. Again, she wore them to nursery with the stains on! As long as they were clean, I didn’t bother about paint that wouldn’t come off because they’d only get more paint on.

Ifancysomecake · 15/01/2021 10:11

Stick to darker colours and send her in ones you don't mind getting dirty. Have a draw just for nursery clothes. People won't judge what a child is wearing. I have a 4 year old and she is the same at pre school. Always comes back stained ha ha. She is a mucky child and loves exploring especially in the mud 🤣I have also worked with children for years and as much as we try and keep them clean and covered in aprons they still get dirty etc. Xx

Almostslimjim · 15/01/2021 10:13

We have nursery clothes and home clothes. Nursery clothes are pre-stained, sometimes with hoes in or thinning knees. I do not see the point in sending my kids in nice new clothes to get them stained and dirty! We leave the nice clothes for home.

Same with DS who is in infants, I can afford to buy him new shirts, but they'll just get pen on them like all the rest!

schmockdown · 15/01/2021 10:14

I had a 'uniform' for nursery. 5x leggings or shorts and 5x tops from Sainsburys or similar. When they were really trashed they got replaced and they were only worn for nursery.

Being smart for nursery is really not necessary.

Snowvid19 · 15/01/2021 10:15

I never send DS to nursery in ‘nice’ clothes (although tbh he doesn’t have many!). He mostly wears hand me down or charity shop tracksuit bottoms and T-shirts. He’s clean and presentable but not smart. They spend a lot of time outside so he’s mostly in a splash suit anyway!

If you’re worried about stains, choose dark colours.

FightingWithTheWind · 15/01/2021 10:19

I had designated nursery clothes, mostly cheap t-shirts and leggings that she could play in easily and it wasn't a disaster if they got stained.

lemorella · 15/01/2021 10:22

Set aside some nursery outfits you don't mind being marked.

I very quickly learned that nursery is not a place for dressing up and I actually love the fact that nursery do all the arty messy things I don't have the patience for. I think it's a sign of a fun filled day.

RoseMartha · 15/01/2021 10:23

I used to send my kids in old clothes to nursery. Things I didnt mind getting ruined.

bruffin · 15/01/2021 10:28

I had a DD exactly the same, so i do understand. The nursery said that they never had a child like her for making a mess.
However there was no way was i going to send her in new clothes. They did have a uniform of red sweatshirts but they were covered in black paint most days, where she had wiped her hands on it. I offered to send in an old shirt to cover her painting, but they said it wasnt necessary as they used aprons etc, so god knows how she did it.

Just send her in the stained clothes, nobody will care

F1rstt1imer · 15/01/2021 10:37

I send my DD in her oldest clothes to nursery. It makes me happy when she comes home grubby after messy play as I know that she loves it based on the photos/videos that we get on tapestry, and selfishly means I get to do less messy stuff at home and don’t have to clean up afterwards!

Rainb0wDrops · 15/01/2021 10:45

Absolutely send her in the paint stained clothes. As long as they are clean (albeit marked with paint/pen) at the start of the day I wouldn't worry.
Having said that I sometimes send mine in with breakfast down her top and I've not had any comments!

AmoElCafe · 15/01/2021 10:47

I’m baffled as to why a child needs to look smart for nursery?
Clean and appropriately dressed for the weather and activities is what is needed.

dannydyerismydad · 15/01/2021 11:22

I work in a nursery. We can tell the difference between stained clothes that have been washed but the stain remains and a child wearing dirty clothes that are rarely washed.

It's fine to keep using the stained clothes. Most of our activities are messy and a lot of time is spent outdoors too.

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