Safety tattoos

[minniem]

I've been trying to decide on a way to ID our kids when we go to the parks. I like the idea of the bracelets but I'm worried the 2 yo won't keep hers on. So I started researching the idea of the safetytats.

If you've used these, do you like them and/or would you recommend them? They have a write on version which looks neat. I know regular tattoos on my kids start to rub off in various spots. Does anyone have trouble keeping these tattoos readable?

Does anyone have trouble with their kids reacting to the tattoo? If they have sensitive skin and such?

If you do use bracelets, do you think the silicone ones or the velcro ones work better?

Thanks!

By the way, our kids are DS 7, DD 5, DD 2 1/2, and DS baby.

 

[annacali]

I bought them for our trip in 2008. Unfortunately I didn't try them out ahead of time and just applied the first one when we arrived. My mistake. They were awful...not like any temporary tattoo I had ever applied before. The surface of them was sticky after application...like the adhesive side of a bandaid or sticker sticky. The website says to apply a bit of baby oil or powder to combat this, neither of which I had---tried some lotion and even sunscreen and it didn't help. It was so sticky I had a hard time applying it and went thru 3 or 4 just trying to get it on in one piece and still readable. Put it on at night and by morning it had my DD's hair and pj's stuck to it. NOT fun. And, I noticed that what was left of it completely became unreadable after one dip in the pool as well. Hopefully they have improved them in the last 2 years, but if you buy them, try them out at home before you go!

Will be looking into bracelets for this trip! You can get silicone ones that will go over the ankles if you think the 2yo won't keep one on her arm.

 

[jklefas]

I have used the Safety Tats. They worked great! I don't think they had any you could write on, I had my cell phone number imprinted on them. My youngest (2) has sensitive skin and had no problems. They thought they were fun! They also stayed on the whole trip, even with massive sunscreen! We only used two out of the whole bag!

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

I tried the tattoos for our 2008 trip and hated them. Just like the PP said, they were very sticky when applied, then they were unreadable by midday. I bought the silicone bracelets and liked that much better. Both DS4 and DS2 left theirs on fine in September. Hoping for the same in May!

 

[robinb]

I personally think that you are probably worrying unnecessarily and buying gadgets to keep your kids "safe" is a waste of money. Your two older kids are old enough to learn the "lost child" basics of WDW: (1) Do not wander looking for Mom or Dad if you are lost, (2) Identify a CM and go to them for help, (3) If you can't find a CM then find a mommy with a child and ask for help. As for the 2-year old ... will she really be out of your sight? If she does get lost won't you go right for a CM for help? Having your phone number on a bracelet/tattoo/etc will not expedite the return of your child. One thing that could help is taking a photo of your kids every morning so you can tell the CM exactly what they are wearing.

 

[DustGlitterVapor]

Hi, can I ask you all the name of the id bracelets you prefer? Do you get them on the internet or are they available at Target, Walmart, etc.? Thank you so much!!

 

[hsembrick]

I personally think that you are probably worrying unnecessarily and buying gadgets to keep your kids "safe" is a waste of money. Your two older kids are old enough to learn the "lost child" basics of WDW: (1) Do not wander looking for Mom or Dad if you are lost, (2) Identify a CM and go to them for help, (3) If you can't find a CM then find a mommy with a child and ask for help. As for the 2-year old ... will she really be out of your sight? If she does get lost won't you go right for a CM for help? Having your phone number on a bracelet/tattoo/etc will not expedite the return of your child. One thing that could help is taking a photo of your kids every morning so you can tell the CM exactly what they are wearing.

I agree!! We have never used any safety gadgets. My kids know what to do if they should get seperated and they all know our cell numbers!!

 

[Music City Mama]

Our trip isn't until June, so we haven't used them yet, but I ordered the velcro id bracelets from here:

http://www.simaenterprises.com/

I liked that the id info part was hidden (not on the outside for everyone to see); that it's waterproof; and you can reuse them again for future trips since they come with 3 cards.

 

[dizneechic]

I personally think that you are probably worrying unnecessarily and buying gadgets to keep your kids "safe" is a waste of money. Your two older kids are old enough to learn the "lost child" basics of WDW: (1) Do not wander looking for Mom or Dad if you are lost, (2) Identify a CM and go to them for help, (3) If you can't find a CM then find a mommy with a child and ask for help. As for the 2-year old ... will she really be out of your sight? If she does get lost won't you go right for a CM for help? Having your phone number on a bracelet/tattoo/etc will not expedite the return of your child. One thing that could help is taking a photo of your kids every morning so you can tell the CM exactly what they are wearing.

I completely disagree with this! My kids are 8.5. 6.5, and 5 and we purchased the silicone bracelets - just to make me feel better, not because they would ever wander off or because I expected them to be out of my sight. They also know all of their contact info in case, but in a panic you just never know what they may or may not remember. We had a perfect 10 days in Disney, no problems, no need for the bracelets, but they stayed on those wrists *just in case*. Well on our way out of the MK on our very last day I was picking up 1 last souvie in the Emporium and asked a CM to help me locate it. The CM started walking as did everyone else in our family, or so we thought. Apparently my 6.5 y/o got distracted by something and stopped, looked up a second later and we weren't there, and about that same time realized he wasn't with us. I said something to the CM, she radioed to someone and my dh started backtracking looking for him. In less than a minute my ds walked up to another CM, showed her his bracelet and she called me on my cell, we were reconnected in the span of 2-3 minutes once we realized he was missing. The CM has to radio whom ever she reported him missing to to let them know he was found, but it would not have happened so quickly had he not had our contact info on him. I'm fairly certain a CM or we would have found him within a reasonable time frame, but I felt much better even in a moment of panic because I knew he knew what to do and had the means to contact us even if he was scared and panicking. Maybe our situation doesn't happen every day, but a as parent I felt 1000x better knowing the information was on my child if ever needed vs trusting any of our ability to stay 100% focused in the land of a million distractions. Unfortunately for us the bracelets came in handy, thankfully he had one.

 

[dizneechic]

I wanted to add, we purchased ours from reminderband.
http://www.reminderband.com/
Ours are the child sized, glow in the dark (the kids loved that on dark rides!), with gold fill letters. Being the child sized, all 3 of mine had to work to get them on and off, vs the regular sized that would easily come off my younger ones hands.

 

[robinb]

I completely disagree with this! My kids are 8.5. 6.5, and 5 and we purchased the silicone bracelets - just to make me feel better, not because they would ever wander off or because I expected them to be out of my sight. They also know all of their contact info in case, but in a panic you just never know what they may or may not remember. We had a perfect 10 days in Disney, no problems, no need for the bracelets, but they stayed on those wrists *just in case*. Well on our way out of the MK on our very last day I was picking up 1 last souvie in the Emporium and asked a CM to help me locate it. The CM started walking as did everyone else in our family, or so we thought. Apparently my 6.5 y/o got distracted by something and stopped, looked up a second later and we weren't there, and about that same time realized he wasn't with us. I said something to the CM, she radioed to someone and my dh started backtracking looking for him. In less than a minute my ds walked up to another CM, showed her his bracelet and she called me on my cell, we were reconnected in the span of 2-3 minutes once we realized he was missing. The CM has to radio whom ever she reported him missing to to let them know he was found, but it would not have happened so quickly had he not had our contact info on him. I'm fairly certain a CM or we would have found him within a reasonable time frame, but I felt much better even in a moment of panic because I knew he knew what to do and had the means to contact us even if he was scared and panicking. Maybe our situation doesn't happen every day, but a as parent I felt 1000x better knowing the information was on my child if ever needed vs trusting any of our ability to stay 100% focused in the land of a million distractions. Unfortunately for us the bracelets came in handy, thankfully he had one.

You child did the right thing, as did you. He went to a CM to say he was lost and so did you. Your CM had already radioed that there was a lost child. Your reunion would have been delayed by ... maybe a minute ... if your son did not have a bracelet on.

In fact, you made my point that it was not needed .

 

[tncplace]

I ordered a kit or temp tatoos from tatooswithapurpose. The kit was great as they have fun pictures my daughter liked and it comes with the moist towelette to apply and alcohol pad to remove. It also allowed us to fill in the number of the person she will be with that day - great for when she goes on trips with my sister in law.We will be using them for our trip in May.

 

[ateam79828592]

We used Tyvek wristband - like the kind you might get at an event, fair, etc. I just wrote the info on the band. I liked them because i could size them whatever size we needed. I put them on DD4's ankle. They are nearly impossible to get off without cutting, which i also liked. I brought a small pair of scissors to cut them off.

We got ours off ebay for a few dollars for 25 of them. Link to seller

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

We used Tyvek wristband - like the kind you might get at an event, fair, etc. I just wrote the info on the band. I liked them because i could size them whatever size we needed. I put them on DD4's ankle. They are nearly impossible to get off without cutting, which i also liked. I brought a small pair of scissors to cut them off.

We got ours off ebay for a few dollars for 25 of them. Link to seller

Ok--this is AWESOME and the most reasonably priced option I've seen outside of a sharpie on bare skin.

Are these the adhesive kind (as opposed to the ones with a snap)?

 

[ateam79828592]

They are adhesive. Once they are stuck on, they are STUCK ON. Which is a good thing as long as you have scissors around to cut them off eventually.

 

[sweetsusannah]

What a great idea! Although we do keep our DD who is 2 in hand (or stroller)at all times I feel like taking extra measures is always smart. Sometimes little ones do things you are not expecting like dart off towards a character or ride and in Disney with all those people it's better safe than sorry.
Mine does know her name and our names but that doesn't mean someone can understand her correctly.

 

[TxDisFans]

When we first wend to WDW, DS was just 3 and DD was 5. I was worried, read a ton of posts, and ordered id bracelets for them. They hated the bracelets, forgot the bracelets, played with the bracelets... ug!

Personally, I've become a fan of the old Sharpie strategy - it's cheap and easy! I write their names and my cell on the side of their shoes AND on the inside of a shirt/sweater (usually I use the lower right cuff, where the fabric is doubled so it won't bleed through. ) If it's a super crowded day, I sometimes do the inside of their wrist instead, just for ease.

My 3 year old could learn to take off his shoe and hand it to a CM... we practiced (I was paranoid).

I *still* do this... on ski helmets in winter, on swim bags at summer day camp, and at WDW. Even though my kids are older and know my cell... what if they had a fall and couldn't talk? Or got scared and had a brain freeze and just couldn't remember it?

I will say the Tyvek bracelet sounds good too... but I like my sharpie!

 

[lucynme]

IMO, it doesn't matter how smart your children may be, or how much information they may have memorized. The fact of the matter is, there are "seas" of people, and in a blink, they can become lost. And once lost, in the panic, how many are going to remember all they've been taught? We have been using the safteytats for going on 4 years now, (in fact, they are the original 25 we ordered) and have been very happy with the performance. We did find that sometimes when we put them on, they were a bit sticky, but we did use the baby powder method, and they stayed on for several days. I'd highly recommend them!!! Have a great trip!!!

 

[dfchelbay]

How about a good old Sharpie...write ICE and your cell number.

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

How about a good old Sharpie...write ICE and your cell number.

I had planned to do this, but another poster on another thread said that the ink disolves in sunscreen and slides off...