Poisonous Plants at Nursery

[Vimto1991]

Hi there!
Would I be unreasonable to call up nursery first thing Monday morning to inform them they have used poisonous plants as a part of play time?
They had a garden themed set up inside, and a few of the tables were decorated with what looks to be cherry laurel leaves. They are highly poisonous if ingested - although I can’t find out how many you need to eat to get seriously ill it still doesn’t sit right with me. my child still puts things in their mouth!
in one of the photos my child is holding a leaf and smiling at the camera so it’s not like they are discouraging touching it.
I feel really sad and let down from a safety point of view. You’d think they’d have a safe list or fake leaves (which they could be but looks very real from the photos!).
so am I over reacting or would you mention this, too?

I would mention it, you can do it tactfully and kindly and they may well be grateful. Peoples' knowledge of nature often isn't very strong (I had to take the same leaves from my kids the other day that their grandparents had given them to play with 🙄).

Yeah I was thinking of starting with ‘you may not realise’ 🙈 and hopefully it wouldn’t happen again in future. I just feel like I am ‘that parent’ whenever I have to raise something to them. 😅
oh no, out of all the leaves to give them 😆 lesson learnt for them hopefully!

I would mention it but I wouldn't be so disappointed, you'd be hard pressed to fin a suburban street without a Laurel Bush in it here.
They make cyanide btw.

Yeah, we have one at the front of our house! 🙈 granted we access the house from the back, but they are everywhere. I suppose not everyone knows the risks, either. I had one in my parents garden growing up along with foxgloves, rhododendrons, hydrangeas (were they trying to kill me off lol), so I have known about the dangers of plants for a long time!

We’re they fresh leaves? Dried cherry laurel leaves are no longer dangerous.

A search of academic papers finds that 10 fruits is a toxic dose for children, 50 for adults, but there haven’t been any reports of toxicity from ingesting leaves, so there’s no “known” fatal dose. As the fruits are a lot more toxic than the leaves, it looks like you’d have to consume a lot of leaves.

That said, I’d probably still nicely point it out, because it is still a toxic plant and they surely have options that are not!

Oh thank you so much for the info! It helps put my mind at ease of the weekend 🙈 they were fresh, looked like they’d been cut that day! They had the shiny gleam and none were identical so looked real. Not sure why they couldn’t use fake, or like you say, just anything else that’s not poisonous 🤦‍♀️

I still feel bad for not pointing out to nursery that the dried kidney beans in their sensory tray were highly toxic. Again, I didn't want to get a reputation as the know-all butter-inner!!

Oh no!! I never knew that about kidney beans (but never considered using them for play!). You’d think they’d have a book on toxic things as per ofsted or something 😫

Yet strangely no harm ever came to you from touching a leaf and you never tried to eat it. I think you're over thinking this a bit. The outside world is filled with potential hazards. We can't live in a protective bubble never coming within 6 feet of them all. I very much doubt any children were the least bit tempted to sit at the tables munching away on laurel leaves.

daffodils, lilly of the valley, oleander, and so so many other plants are toxic if ingested.

I should probably reiterate this is a baby and toddler room (but they probably separated the babies and toddlers, but under pre school age), and my child still puts things in their mouth that was the only worry. I have read it’s quite bitter so I hope if they did bite they’d spit out. I don’t mind plants being out and about but putting them inside with the tuff tray set up seems a bit much if they could have used an alternative. 😅

Do they taste bitter? I assume child would spit it out!

Yes I’ve read very bitter, hopefully it means no one would ever sit munching them 🙈 although toddlers are just feral 😅

The thing I drilled into my children was the toxicity of laburnum. There is one in the garden, and I didn't want to get rid of it. The children are now adults, and the laburnum is still thriving.

Also I think it's just soaked kidney beans, and they don't kill you (just get v sick). Could be wrong though!!

Yes I’ve read very bitter, hopefully it means no one would ever sit munching them 🙈 although toddlers are just feral

There's a theory of that's why toddlers are picky eaters- to avoid being poisoned now they are mobile

Young children have more bitter tastebud receptors which is why they tend to not like green vegetables, a protective evolutionary trait.