Tattoos for children

[seemenow]

My children are grown now, but I still remember that fear when they went missing in a public place. I used to write my phone number on their arms with a marker pen, but often it would smear with sweat or moisture. I’ve recently discovered that you can buy a temporary tattoo pen which lasts a couple days. Do you think other parents would use this? Or are there better solutions nowadays that parents have?

I can honestly say, having had a few kids and several grandchildren, I have never heard of this apart from in situations of war 😳

I thought it was a good way of re-uniting a lost child. My daughter disappeared at legoland when she was about 3 years old, and I spent a frantic 15 minutes looking for her. A security guard had her in safe hands, but I didn’t know that.

I want to buy one of these now! DS is non-verbal and it would be another tool in our arsenal for going out - we keep a hold of him but he has managed to run off once (found him in five minutes but it was horrible)

I used to put one of those temporary wristbands with our phone number on on DS when we went somewhere busy.

I’m so glad you said that. I had never known about these tattoo pens, and I had thought a lot about a solution, but it turns out you can have one now. Than you for replying

I'm not sure about the idea of a tattoo pen truthfully but why not a wristband with a phone number as suggested or your number on a label sewn into their clothing? Air tags can also be useful if you're going somewhere busy like that?

It's every parents worst nightmare going through something like that so it's understandable that you'd worry about it happening again. I think a lot depends on the age and levels of communication the child has. Ideally the best solution is teaching your child how to act if they become separated from you but there's some good suggestions on here for younger tots or children with difficulties communicating.

Sorry, the above message was a reply to Fairfax. I didn’t know about the wristbands, and they too, sound like a good solution to my issue

This is the same thing we have used with the children in the past. We used to have the wristband turned inward so that the phone number wasn't visible unless they turned it over. It is also what the primary school started to use for children on school trips. The company we used doesn't exist anymore but this one does.

https://www.easy2name.com/safety-wristbands

I just use permanent marker pen....

(on their skin)

@CheeseCrumpetWithMarmite I tried to reply to an earlier message but the reply button doesn’t seem to work. I agree the wristband would be a good solution. It wasn’t available in my day

DS would feel out at a wristband

The reply button does work. It just doesn't do what people think it does. You need to "quote". Press the 3 dots on a post and it's there.

In regards to the op, I don't remember ever writing my number on my children. I must have been really lax!

@seemenow We first used them 10 years ago for Florida as our phone numbers were changed on temporary sims whilst we were there so even Dh and I had one each too with the other person's number on

@GoodLordHelpMe I thought I was using permanent marker in my day, but as I said , iit would run over the course of an active day

I used a sharpie at a festival and it lasted the whole 5 days

I’m glad this message reached someone who didn’t’t know about it. I was blown away when my daughter showed me a link. I will never forget that fear when your child is missing

Not lax, just lucky your kids weren’t runners

See we didn’t have sharpies. I suspect I was using felt tip pens

I air tag my kids.

If I could do that black mirror thing where you have a chip in them I would totally do it.

My DH tells me I’m the wrong side of normal though.

Oh my goodness, would I have done that if I could have.

I use sharpies, but own brands aren't as good. Actual sharpies last absolutely ages.

Yet another vote for Sharpies - the branded ones can last weeks on skin....

These would be great fun to use on their foreheads once asleep after being total terrors 🤣