I usually write our short last name. I agree you are overthinking.

And if I found some random hat, I would not be calling you to hunt you down. Sorry.

My 2 boys frequently lose gloves and leave jackets at school. I buy 2-3 pairs of gloves per year. They still get lost. Boys have left coat on the bus, in the gym, at the playground. We have always gotten jackets back. Usually at school lost and found. Gloves drive me nuts. We clip them to coat in the winter. They still manage to get lost.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy overthinking. First and last name.

Some things are worth overthinking. You shouldn’t do that if you are going to use the label in a conspicuous place.

https://www.verywellfamily.com/use-caution-when-labeling-kid-items-617176

Also my child has special needs and rides two buses. Plus his preschool has an “aggressive” outdoor policy and they go out in snow, which means I buy high quality (read-expensive) gear for him, and I really do want it returned.

I never understood this logic. Your kid will be (a lot of times loudly) called by their first name in public. By his friends, parents, etc. Someone with bad intentions would have a much easier time listening in than digging around your kid for a tag with your name on it. That’s such nonsense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy overthinking. First and last name.

+1000

This. Put the label inside if you have safety concerns. But I don't think of my kid's first and last name as "private" information. It doesn't take a genius to figure out a child's name, so if your kids are going to get kidnapped that very specific and unlikely way, it will probably happen without a clothing label helping it.

It’s not unlikely. It is a known tactic.

It's a tactic, but not a common one. The most common lures are offering a ride, offering candy or sweets, asking the child questions, offering money, and using an animal.

From NCMEC, the only people who really analyze this data: http://www.missingkids.org/theissues/nonfamily#bythenumbers

Oh my goodness, are you stupid? Don’t you think that having a child’s name available to a potential abductor might only enhance these other tactics? Anyway, whatever. Put your child at risk. Go for it. Stick a big label with his first name on his backpack so everybody knows that that is his first and last name. You do you. I personally am going to not do that in order to minimize the risk. And, I hope some other parents have read this thread and also learned something about the potential danger that that presents.

I think you've had too much coffee today. I'm simply responding to your claim that it's "not unlikely." According to the statistics, it's actually not that common. It's fine to encourage people to minimize risks, but there's no need to use fear-mongering in your approach.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy overthinking. First and last name.

+1000

This. Put the label inside if you have safety concerns. But I don't think of my kid's first and last name as "private" information. It doesn't take a genius to figure out a child's name, so if your kids are going to get kidnapped that very specific and unlikely way, it will probably happen without a clothing label helping it.

It’s not unlikely. It is a known tactic.

It's a tactic, but not a common one. The most common lures are offering a ride, offering candy or sweets, asking the child questions, offering money, and using an animal.

From NCMEC, the only people who really analyze this data: http://www.missingkids.org/theissues/nonfamily#bythenumbers

Oh my goodness, are you stupid? Don’t you think that having a child’s name available to a potential abductor might only enhance these other tactics? Anyway, whatever. Put your child at risk. Go for it. Stick a big label with his first name on his backpack so everybody knows that that is his first and last name. You do you. I personally am going to not do that in order to minimize the risk. And, I hope some other parents have read this thread and also learned something about the potential danger that that presents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy overthinking. First and last name.

+1000

This. Put the label inside if you have safety concerns. But I don't think of my kid's first and last name as "private" information. It doesn't take a genius to figure out a child's name, so if your kids are going to get kidnapped that very specific and unlikely way, it will probably happen without a clothing label helping it.

It’s not unlikely. It is a known tactic.

It's a tactic, but not a common one. The most common lures are offering a ride, offering candy or sweets, asking the child questions, offering money, and using an animal.

From NCMEC, the only people who really analyze this data: http://www.missingkids.org/theissues/nonfamily#bythenumbers

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy overthinking. First and last name.

+1000

This. Put the label inside if you have safety concerns. But I don't think of my kid's first and last name as "private" information. It doesn't take a genius to figure out a child's name, so if your kids are going to get kidnapped that very specific and unlikely way, it will probably happen without a clothing label helping it.

It’s not unlikely. It is a known tactic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy overthinking. First and last name.

+1000

This. Put the label inside if you have safety concerns. But I don't think of my kid's first and last name as "private" information. It doesn't take a genius to figure out a child's name, so if your kids are going to get kidnapped that very specific and unlikely way, it will probably happen without a clothing label helping it.

We label clothing - but honestly we've never had anyone contact us about something that was lost. The school doesn't even check labels (which I thought was the point). We've found a few items in the lost and found at school. Some things were just gone.

All I do is first initial and last initial. But my kid is in preschool and I'm more worried about the teacher finding the right coat, or knowing which replacement pants are his, not worried about an actual lost and found situation.

I think that might change in ES, I will probably move to first name and last initial.

If we lose something in an unfamiliar setting, I'm not expecting to get it back. It never ever occurred to me to put a cell phone number on any item of children's clothing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never put a label on my kids' cloths, and they have never been lost.

How old are your kids? Our lost and found used to be full by the end of the first week of school.

I did label my kids' coats, water bottles, backpacks and lunch boxes through ES, but they've never lost anything (at worst, they left something on their hook in the classroom or in their locker overnight but knew exactly where it was and just brought it home the next day). They're in MS and HS now so I no longer label their stuff when it gets replaced.

Because of sleep away we do labels all the time (even underwear and socks!) Luckily my kid's name is unusual and she's never had another kid with it ever. There has been a counselor at her camp last two year's with same name but still obvious size difference. I wouldn't put last name on myself or put name in a easily seen spot-learned the hard way w/name. We'd put name on backpack back in nursery school and she used in airport. Had a ridiculous amount of people 'correcting' my perfectly behaving kid by name, randoms calling out to her familiarly, etc.

At my kid's small K-8 school labels don't seem to do much good as far as getting back to kid. Searching through lost & found only way we get back way too many clothes my kid casts off.

Kid's first name, first initial of last name, and depending on the item, my cell. My cell goes on things like shoes, coats, and electronics.

We do full name and my cell #. The labels are inside the clothing and the writing ends up tiny, so I’m not worried that someone is going to use the info for nefarious purposes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never put a label on my kids' cloths, and they have never been lost.

How old are your kids? Our lost and found used to be full by the end of the first week of school.

Our lost and found is also full, but it has never contained anything of my kids. But if it did, they (or I) would claim it without a label. The only thing I have ever labeled is water bottles. (Which I do with masking tape and a sharpie or just a sharpie, depending on material). Never lost a thing. They have left stuff at school and retrieved it the next day from their classrooms. Kids at 8 and 9.

Anonymous wrote:I have never put a label on my kids' cloths, and they have never been lost.

How old are your kids? Our lost and found used to be full by the end of the first week of school.