Stupidity of white polo shirt for infant school children

[Newbie887]

Been up since 5am despite it being a Sunday and am already on 2nd load of panic washing before Monday morning.

This has sparked intense fury at all my kids uniform consisting of a white polo shirt, despite them all being in infant school still. Who on Earth thought it was a good idea to force 4-7 year olds to wear pure white on a daily basis?? All their shirts bought in Sept are completely trashed and stained. Wouldn’t it be more logical to make the uniform a navy or bottle green shirt?? And is a white shirt standard in most primary schools or is there’s an anomaly??

the school they were at before had light yellow shirts so no better. In fact almost worse as they went discoloured really easily.

refuse to replace shirts as they still fit and we are only in January. School will have to put up with looking at my trampy kids instead. Hopefully they will smell that they are in fact clean 😂

My daughter's preschool is light blue polo. She had got paint stains all over most of them that don't come out. I just send her in them anyways, I'm not buying more for the same to happen unless she needs them because they're too small.

Pinafores are much easier than trousers for the variety of shape, but typically no waist young kids.

From my DD I get the impression that really pulled in trousers aren't comfy (if not pulled in they fall down. Skirts are less annoying because they don't have baggy fabric needing to gather in for a crotch seam.

I also find the dresses far better than trousers, dd finds them more comfortable and they protect her polos from some stains too. I wouldn't be happy if joggers were school uniform as I think they look scruffy and should only be worn for sport, if at all. I also find it really difficult to get ones for dd that don't slip down when she runs about or sits.

There's also an art to tying the strings of joggers so that they stay up, but so that you don't get them in a knot when you go to take them off in a hurry. I've certainly been swearing at the "bow" when I've pulled the wrong string, or had to retie part way around a run. Most kids are not tying shoe laces at 5 so very much doubt jogger strings are within most reception kids' skill sets...

Joggers that would fit DD's waist would be Capri or above the knee...

My son wears joggers every day. What other types of trousers even exist for primary age?

Still think onsies would be the best option for everyone, boys and girls

What’s impractical about skirts and dresses? They’re easier than trousers (which girls can also wear if they wish- but look around most choose skirts!)

They ride up, flap in the mud, get caught in stuff, your knees get scuffed, legs get scratched on your bike or when walking through undergrowth:

Speaking as someone who destroyed entire wardrobes of silly, frilly dresses as a small girl.

Then I got some dungarees! 😁

I agree that dresses and skirts can be very practical but equally I’m fine with joggers as school uniform because I don’t care if my children look scruffy or not

At my kids school they can have white or navy polos.

DS had white for the first year. I learnt my lesson. Navy all the way!!!

DD still has some white ones (granny bought them). She also has cardigans so still manages to get pen, paint, dirt, tomato sauce and who knows what else all down her polo, even in winter. I’ve given up caring if they’re stained, but she’ll be getting navy ones for next year.

My son’s joggers don’t have strings, they’re just elasticated waists like school trousers

That's what my son wears. Our school just specifies dark trousers and the majority wear joggers

Definitely don't buy the M&S girls ones - bloody awful. They go grey within one wash. Looks worse than stains. After 3 packs I've given up and I'm on Asda cheapest.

White is great because it’s so easy to keep clean.

Napisan works a treat, you can bleach it if things are desperate. Ace bleach is my favourite for stain removal. Washing up liquid works on whiteboard pen.

The trick is definitely to wash only whites together. No colours with them at all or they go grey.

I didn’t realise so many people routinely bleach clothes.

M&S formal school trousers start at age 2-3.

I hate joggers very few of them have adjustable waists and relying on the string is a PITA.
I've one kid of average build and they are fine.
I've another who depending on fit they'd just fall off him. Or they'd barely stay up couple of jumps and they'd be at his ankles. He's the same with pjs taking them in is a faff too.

@QuertyGirl onesies for Infant school kids ?
That'll make going to the toilet fun 😂
(Did you mean 2 piece tracksuits? Onesies are those all in one things)

A thread like this will bring out the ecocidal maniacs. Bleach is incredibly harmful to the environment and aquatic life in particular. We definitely should not normalize its use. There are so many ways of cleaning and laundering which do not involve using actual toxins and harming the planet.
School uniform should not add extra stress to family life.

I meant onsies but a choice between sweatshirt and joggers or onsies would be good.

Formal clothes for infant school kids seems batshit to me

Joggers and sweatshirts is a bit prison uniform for my liking!

Also, formal trousers and shirts with collars can be hell for those with sensory issues.

Whites can be bleached

Napisan is fab for stains

@QuertyGirl yes...the formal trousers, shirt and tie nonsense was hell for my poor daughter.
I am still curious how you would expect a 4 year old to get a onesie off in time to go to the toilet though 😂

White vanish, hot wash, nothing else in there (or they go grey).

I use the Vanish soap for sun cream stains in summer. Ignore pen marks etc as they do eventually fade out. Nobody has a pristine white polo shirt, and nobody really cares.

White polos here but my daughter wears a pinafore which covers most of it and the need to buy expensive logo'd ones as they are hidden!!!

Pure white clothes are a PITA for anyone. I don't own anything pure white myself. My kids have to wear pure white shirts (secondary) so I just do a load of white shirts every few days. White seems to be a very wasteful colour for clothes - people end up chucking stained clothes or washing in loads of products or washing them on hot.