Nursery put Henna on my child.

[Pencilcase123]

When my DH picked up our DD (4) from nursery one of the staff said she had drawn DDs initials in Henna on Dds hand because Dd insisted. DH did not complain.

I am baffled as to why the nursery would have Henna out in the first place. It is brown Henna and I don’t think it is particularly dangerous but I am quite miffed that nursery staff thought it was ok to give my 4 year old a temporary tattoo. Would you complain about this?

@Jeeperscreepers69 I am the authority when it comes to my children.

I can’t believe nursery thinks it’s appropriate to use henna on children without permission and a patch test.

I can’t use henna because my skin gets inflamed. How on earth would nursery have dealt with a child with skin like mine?

I bet nursery gets you to permit the use of sun lotion (which can be washed off) on children, so don’t understand why they wouldn’t seek permission for something that doesn’t wash off skin.

I had it done and had a reaction - so yes, the red blisters took a long time to go away. I looked like I’d been branded. And I have tough skin and never had an allergic reaction to anything.

How do some people have the energy to be angry and upset about things like this?

That's my reaction too.

Yep, I do wonder about these posts saying it took several weeks to fade

If you read the numerous posts about how most places use cheap henna that contains hair dye rather than natural henna then you have to wonder no more...

Mine wasn’t bloody cheap (selfridges - yes I know I should have known better...)

Those who had their skin get inflamed had hair dye used on them in the name of henna. It’s pretty horrendous. I would be very angry if that was used on my child.

I hope it was just the case of s simple reddish:brown henna.

Another one here who has reacted to brown henna. I have no allergies or skins problems. The skin under the henna pattern swelled up white and the skin around it went bright red. It took a couple of days to go down. It took the best part of a couple of weeks to fade away.

I have found nurseries and childcare settings are a bit gung-ho with products in general. I was always at the amount of shaving foam and talc etc that was chucked around and smeared on kids without checking the ingredient list with parents. These products arent meant for use in that way (eg squirting foam in a pit and having them roll in it), aren’t meant for kids and aren’t meant for that exposure level.

If DC was fine about it, I really wouldn’t be bothered. Each to their own.

So to a lot of arguments saying those who wouldn’t be bothered just don’t understand how hard it is for those with sensitivities, I’m sure nursery staff would know if the child in their care had extra sensitive skin or severe reactions/skin complaints as the parent would no doubt have mentioned it. Personally I wouldn’t have minded at all. Yes I’m very surprised consent wasn’t sought for the reason that the over reactors on this post being fairly typical these days so consent is needed for almost everything. Those that have said they’ve had severe reactions, this will not have been to this type of henna. My dd seems to decorate herself with sharpie on a daily basis, I’d prefer a nice henna tattoo anyway

@Booboo66 came here to say exactly that after reading the first few pages.

@Booboo66 would your nursery do this without consent?

And regardless of the reasons why it's needed, asking for consent is good,safe practice. It's part of the basic,bare minimum and the nursery staff should know this. The fact that they didn't/considered it unimportant/couldn't be bothered/forgot wouldn't fill me with confidence.

I also had a chemical burn from a cone that was labelled as 'natural henna.' Also, I really don't recommend lemon juice as some people are recommending here as a) that is used to make henna last longer not fade and b) that made my chemical burn worse as it is mild acid.

Unnecessary at nursery - kids would get just as much enjoyment out of a washable design done with pen or facepaint and definitely should have got consent.

A quick google on how long natural henna tattoos last say it depends on the skin and how long it is left on but generally between 1 and 4 weeks. NOT a couple of days.

I would be annoyed if I had a wedding or similar and didn’t want messy semi permanent marks on my child

I would let them know I expect a consent form or spoken request next time, wouldn’t make a big fuss

Eid or not there's a consent issue here.
Some people can be allergic to Henna so you're not overreacting about this if no consent forms were issued.

We need consent forms to do this in Guiding.

We've done henna activities, but instead we've used eyeliner (washes straight off), or chocolate writing icing (washes off or they can lick it off!)

I did know it was Eid but I also did not send my child to a faith school so I did not expect them to be celebrating religious festivities. I don’t mind that they did, I just did not want my child painted with Henna.
You are deliberately trying to imply that we are ignorant and you are the centre of all knowledge.z

And now your just sprouting shite, nursery's and schools by curriculum have to teach/celebrate different religious.

If you don’t want your child to be involved in any religious teachings and celebrations withdraw them.

I’ve literally just got a letter from my kids school today asking for permission for them to be henna’d/facepainted.
You should only ever use BAQ (body art quality) henna, it’s a green plant, which you will mix with an acid like lemon or line juice to activate.
Im not an expert on the use of pre made cones, because I use henna for my hair, but I know they put all sorts of shit in the hair dyes.
I actually blame having a black henna tattoo on my back as a teenager on holiday for the severe allergy I now have to hair dye

The lack of henna doesn't mean that children can't learn about it. It's not mandatory or necessary to learning about Islam.

Black Henna is not Henna it’s a chemical often containing bleach.

The brightly wrapped Henna cones are also not ideal and are more likely to cause reactions .

Fresh Henna is as previously stated comes in powder form mixed with essential oil and lemon juice . It can be kept for a week in the fridge or frozen for longer . The “safe” Henna is this one comes in clear plastic comes and is least likely to cause a reaction.

Whilst missing the point of the post they should have made sure that a consent form for activity such as these was signed .. for yours and theirs sake !

It wouldn’t bother me altho I’d rather they did a cool pattern in keeping with Eid than my kids initial

Can cause reactions - not just immediately but also if she uses any hair colours in the future. I wouldn't be happy!

Wouldn't be that bothered but they should have asked for permission first

Err, the henna from clear plastic cones also contains chemicals - it is not pure henna. Unfortunately product labeling isn’t such a big thing in the countries of manufacture Nd INCI lists are not pre-requisites to sale.
Pure henna, activated with water/tea/lemon won’t keep for more than a few days so this cone stuff, sold cheaply at sunny roadsides, isn’t something you should let near your children, even if the locals do it, thinking it is “henna, says so on the sticker, what else would it be?” 🙄
Where did the nursery get the “tattoos” - off ebay?