Do we want them toddling into uniform?

Photographers love them, so you may well have seen a picture of the toddlers in a Dublin city pre-school in their miniature gaberdine coats and round, brimmed hats. They are undeniably sweet in their mini-school uniforms - but how on earth do they stay so neat and clean?

Another nursery school in south Dublin got a little publicity when their babes "graduated" from playschool this June, wearing mortarboards and mini-gowns. And a mother of a two-year-old tells how her nursery school introduced a compulsory uniform tracksuit for the children of its clients.

Is this another sign of Celtic Tiger Ireland? A trend to get serious about our children's schooling when they're barely out of nappies? Is it something that could catch on? Would parents want it to?

At primary and second level, it seems most parents are solidly behind school uniforms. They make life simpler in all sorts of ways - and minimise designer-label competition as children get older. (When your 10 or 11-year-old starts nagging for labels like Susst and Nope that you may never have heard of, you mourn for the innocence of their Dunnes Stores days.)

But uniforms in nursery school? Most parents laugh at a notion that hasn't yet become an established trend, and a straw poll suggests that many would think toddler uniforms more than a tad over the top. Is this logical?

Hilary Kenny of IPPA (the Early Childhood Organisation), which includes both playschools and full daycare nurseries in its membership, says that she would personally be against uniforms, probably before the age of seven or eight. Madeleine Clarke, deputy chief executive of childcare organisation Barnardo's, says she has no strong views for or against pre-school uniforms - but believes a nursery should consult parents first about such a move and do it only in the interests of practicality and the children's comfort.

As Clarke says, there are very few small children who can get through one day in clothes they could wear the next, so parents would probably have to buy at least two uniforms just to have a reasonably clean one on hand every morning. (And of course they would have to be machine-washable.)

Both women agree that in playschool, the important thing is that children wear clothes they can get messy in, so that no one is upset if they get paint or clay or marla or sand from the sandbox on their outfit.

"The whole concept in the nought-to-six age group is that the child is an active learner, whose individuality should be nurtured; their differences should be valued, and I'd be against a uniform for that reason," Kenny says. "And it brings the whole idea of formal school down too soon, to too early an age."

If a pre-school is considering a uniform, she adds, "it should definitely consult the parents about the policy."

Clarke can see arguments in favour of uniforms; one might be that nursery staff wouldn't have to worry about children getting their clothes messy in uninhibited play. (A number of schools have a uniform smock which children wear over their own clothes, a fairly pragmatic idea.)

Parents with children who are fussy about their clothes might also favour uniforms: anyone who has endured an 8 a.m. tantrum while a small child demands a favourite item of clothing (which is always wet, somewhere in the laundry) will know what I mean.

Both Kenny and Clarke agree that small children can have definite ideas about what they want to wear, though it rarely has anything to do with fashion. Kenny's tip for controlling a dawn clothes tantrum is to offer a toddler a choice of two, but no more, different outfits; stick firmly to your selection - this ruse gives the child the opportunity to exercise choice in controlled conditions.)

The whole emphasis of early education should be development of a child's confidence and self-esteem, both Kenny and Clarke point out. Kenny says uniforms are unlikely to enhance that process; Clarke is more neutral on the matter, saying that no research has been done showing whether a school uniform helps or hinders such confidence. As for children, some would love wearing a uniform that would make them feel grown-up, like their big brothers and sisters; others would undoubtedly want to add the creative bits that make some toddlers look oddly dressed (orange jumpers with red tights, tutus with jean jackets).

Good reasons for opting for a uniform are those based on what's best for the child - it might be comfortable, good for messy play, and minimise rows, Clarke says. Bad reasons would be a school trying to create a particular image, which might put the school's needs ahead of the children's.

And, she emphasises again: "Consultation - as well as what's most practical - is the key."