MUMS in Oxfordshire are taking a stand by asking parents to make sure children stay children.

The Diocese of Oxford’s Mothers’ Union has been campaigning against the sexualisation and commercialisation of children as part of the Bye Buy Childhood initiative.

And organisers are calling on parents to think carefully about their buying choices.

Grandmother of 10 Esther Partridge, area vice president for Oxfordshire, is among those campaigning.

She said: “It’s incredibly important and needs to be part of the whole of family life. Pressures are so great on parents today and all the children want what everyone in the class has got.

“It does all start earlier and earlier and there is pressure from very early on, even baby clothes seem to be influenced by fashion.”

Mrs Patridge, from Witney, said there were lots of ways to spend time together as a family without spending money — and said she had just spent the day blackberry picking with her grandchildren and was teaching them a card game.

The campaign comes on the back of the Bailey Review, which has called for age ratings on music videos.

It follows a furore over the sale of padded bikini tops for children as young as seven which resulted in retail giant Primark withdrawing the item and assessing all its product lines.

Mothers’ Union vice president Denise Brown said: “In order to make a difference we have to get ordinary people to think about their own attitudes to what they buy.

“We also have to get manufacturers and retailers to make changes to what they put into our high streets.”