After parents turned up for meetings with teachers wearing pyjamas, schools in Teesside decided to take action.
It is a phenomenon that is not just restricted to parts of the north, where wearing nightwear outside of the house is sometimes not frowned upon.
There are so many reasons not to wear pyjamas on the school run. What if your car breaks down? What if you have an accident? What if you are called in to see the headteacher? What if people start to call you a slummy mummy.
Or even worse, what if your child pipes up: 'Mummy's wearing pyjamas,' as you are trying to discreetly hustle them into the classroom in front of your baffled friends?
Such was the problem in east Middlesbrough, that a group of schools got together to come up with a no-nightwear on the school run policy.
The Gazette newspaper reports that headteachers across 11 schools have requested that parents show decency and respect when attending school premises and not resort to wearing nightwear.
Not only had some parents turned up in the mornings in pjs, but during afternoon pick-up and at meetings with teachers. Now, that seems a bit extreme.
Many have since sent letters home to parents asking for their wishes to be respected.
Chris Kemp-Hall, a headteacher at North Ormesby and chair of the cluster group, told the Gazette: "As a cluster in east Middlesbrough we work together. We all have the opinion that appearing at school dressed in pyjamas isn't the right way to go about things.
"It's about setting an example and having self esteem."
Since the letters have been issued many schools have noticed a sharp decline in the number of parents wearing pyjamas in the playground.
Headteacher for Pallister Park, Chris Wain, said: "Parents have respected our wishes and responded appropriately. We no longer have a pyjama problem at Pallister Park."
Many parents at the schools have welcomed the move.
Terri Llewellyn-Quinn, 28, whose children Maddison, eight, and Lucas, six, attend Pallister Park Primary School, said parents heading out of their houses in their PJs should be "ashamed of themselves".
"It's absolutely ridiculous," she said. "How long does it take to throw a pair of jeans on? I think you are asking for ridicule for your children if you can't be bothered getting dressed."
Claire Lynas, 32, is a full-time mum to four children at Pallister Park Primary - nine-year-old Jake, in Year 5, seven-year-old Ben, in Year 2, five-year-old Luke, in Year 1 and four-year-old Aayla, who is in the nursery.
She said: "It's part of the routine of getting your children ready - dressed, breakfast, teeth brushed. A parent should do it at the same time to set an example."
A Middlesbrough Council spokesman said: "This is a matter for headteachers to address with parents but the council supports schools in seeking to maintain appropriate dress and behaviour on school premises."
The Gazette visited all of the areas concerned and saw no parents in pyjamas at any of the schools, but did spot a number of women going about their daily business in their pyjamas.
One, Karen Downing, 60, of Penrith Road, Park End, said: "I can't be bothered getting dressed. I wear mine because they're comfy.
"People can wear what they want. I would get dressed up if I was going into Middlesbrough. If I went to town looking like this they would put me in St Luke's.
"A lot of people say 'look at her'. I think everybody to their own. There's nothing wrong with it."
The headteachers of east Middlesbrough would disagree.