I have to put my school uniform order in tomorrow...how many jumpers/tops etc do we need really??!!

[Fluffybubble]

DS (4) starts school in September...I have many pairs of trousers/ shorts but I have to order the uniform from school tomorrow. My order form is full of scribbles!! Do I need 2/3/4 sweatshirts? 3/4/5 polo shirts?? 1/2 pe t-shirts??

TIA!

[Hulababy]

Don't have a biy so not sure if my answer will help, but we have:

2 summer dresses
2 winter pinafores
1 cardigan
5 shirts
2 ties
1 PE kit

[deanychip]

1 Pe shirt
3 sweatshirts
3 polo shirts
we manage fine on this. But this summer i have invested in a pack of 3 polo shirts from Asda in school colours as i change them every day.

Sweatshirts i try to get 2 days out of.
T shirts for pe you will only see at the end of term, 2 is a waste of time and will probably get lost any way!too many for little people to take responsibility for.

[myermay]

We went with 2 sweatshirts, 6 polo shirts, 1 PE kit as they only bring it home at half term. 4 trousers, 1 shorts.

We started off only with having a few polo shirts but you can never have too many.

Trousers usually do for 2-3 days, new polo shirt each day, sweatshirt stays in bookbag as he never wears it!

[Orinoco]

Message withdrawn

[Celery]

I have 5 pairs of trousers, 3 sweatshirts, 2 PE t-shirts, and atleast 6 t-shirts. I could make do with less, but only like to wash school uniform once a week.

[deanychip]

just to add that it may be wise to get 4 of everything but i couldnt afford this so just went for the 3.
so expensive

[onepieceoflollipop]

I agree it is partly a washing issue. DD1 starts school in September and will be wearing dresses initially - I got 3 as I will do a quick wash on a Tues/Weds if she gets through one a day. She has to have a "proper" i.e. with badge sweatshirt or cardigan. I am only getting one cardigan, I got a spare sweatshirt in the PTA uniform sale as back up!

I won't be doing a separate uniform wash, just will wash them with other stuff (i.e. dark or light loads) when I will have the machine on anyway.

[Nappyzoneneedsanewname]

I have a dd - we have 2 cardi's and i rub the baked beans of the front to avoid a mid week wash but do so if the beanage is bad - we have enough polo shirts for every day as bean juice is a bugger to get out of white polo shirts. Pinafores 2, 2 skirts and normally get extra days out of them as beans only get on her top half. PE kit x 1. My dd is a school baked bean addict.

2 summer dresses but get them nearer next summer - we also go in winter wear when the dresses are bean trashed....

[Heated]

Have just received a uniform form to fill in with no guidance to sizes, it just says jumper/sweatshirt 24, 26, 28 etc, 24 being the lowest they start at. I'm being a bit thick here but does the 24 refers to chest? or length? And if you can remember was that the size your 4yr old started off in?

[roisin]

We always manage with two sweatshirts. If they got just a bit grubby a quick rub with a babywipe works wonders!

They also dry very quickly, so even before we had a tumble drier we could easily get them clean/dry for the next day after a wash.

They also have 2 prs of trousers each per yr. We buy them from M&S as they last so much longer. They are more expensive, but are much better quality than the supermarket ones.

[Orinoco]

Message withdrawn

[Fluffybubble]

24 on our form refers to to chest in inches (approx age 4 I think!)

Thanks all, cost is also a big issue for me deanychip, and the tops are only available from the school at a cost of £8 each...soon adds up!!

LOL at beanage Nappyzone ...we also have an affinity to beans in our house, luckily uniform is navy blue so should hide multitude of sins!!

[onepieceoflollipop]

Chest usually. dd is 4.5 and fits in a 26, she is average/slightly chubbier than average.

[Heated]

Agree about the quality but am returning entire M&S order as they swamp ds who is long and lean. He looks like he's standing in the wind. Have been advised by wise MNers to check out Mothercare & BHS.

[deanychip]

yes! babywipe rubbing goes on ALLOT i our house as well...like magic they are!

my boy is tiny, so we started off with 24, still fit him nicely now nearly a year on.

Its shoes that are the other issue. we went last August fro school shoes and every where had run out!
dont want to get them too early as i dont know how much/little he will grow but he defo needs new shoes for next year.

[Heated]

Right thanks for that, can now fill our my order

[Nappyzoneneedsanewname]

Fluffy bubble - The beanage i can cope with but a 5yr old with constant wind is not pretty

[deanychip]

we got his first shoes from Woolies, they were spiderman ones cost me £10, lasted till Feb this year but got holes in the souls so went for some Clarkes which cost me (gulp)£28 BUT have lasted nearly 6 months so that equates to £5 a month!
The woolies ones looked like new cos we polished them every day religiously!

[Fluffybubble]

re shoes deany, I am trying to be so organised but wasn't planning on buying shoes until the end of August...may go at the beginning instead! (And am filing babywipe tip for future reference !)

[Toothyboy]

Ds1 has managed the whole year in reception with 1 jumper (can be washed and dried overnight if nec.), 2 pair of trousers (only just got holes in knees!), 2 pairs of shorts, 2 long sleeve shirts and 3 short sleeve shirts.

I intend to do the same again for yr1, except will only get short sleeve shirts - can get a couple of days out of them. Long sleeves get very grubby cuffs so can only ever get 1 day's wear.

PE shirt only gets worn twice a week for about half an hour, so 1 is fine.

[PeachyHidingInTheShed]

do remember that whilst kiddies under 11, unless they are privatelt educated uniform is unenforceable so whilst I would not advocate sending your child in random colours, its perfectly sesible to add in several asda plain tops for back up; the school sweaters here are £13, unbadged from Asda £1.75- so each has an unbadged one for when thet manage to get filthy just before school run (as they do regularly)

[onepieceoflollipop]

I like you Toothy. . I thought we were being mean overly economical with our quantities but you have reassured me.

Mini hijack, question for wise ones on here. What is the latest you would go for school shoes? Bearing in mind that dd only has wellies or sandals currently so I really don't have anything that will make do if we leave it too late!