Breasfeeding & tattoo

Hi! I'm not quite sure where to post this. Please feel free to move it if its in the wrong spot.

Last year we lost our kitten Freya to some careless driver. (co-incidently, a year next saturday) She was a large part of our family, so to remember her, and so she could be everywhere with us, my dh and I got a tattoo of a paw print. This year, yesterday actually, our 16yo cat had to leave us with kidney failure (amongst other things). We want to remember him the same way. Only this time, i'm 36wks pregnant. Im sure that its not a wise idea to get a tattoo while pregnant, just wondering if its ok to get one while breastfeeding. It will be joining Freya's print on my ankle.

God bless my pets:pray:.

I'm getting my back done when O/S later this year (Sept actually) & will have a 7ish wk old baby fully breastfed & I have heard it's no problem!!!

yeah ive been wanting to ask this too. Dh got Masons name tattooed and I want one too!

Hi Sconeonamission,
I was reading your post and thought I would goggle it, I found the following info.
The ink that is used in tattoos is subject to regulation as cosmetics, but none are approved for injection under the skin. However, the ink molecules are too large to pass into breastmilk.
Most tattooists will not knowingly tattoo a pregnant or breastfeeding mother. It is suggested that mothers wait at least until the child's first birthday to give their bodies a chance to recover completely from childbirth before getting a tattoo.
While the body is healing after a tattoo—and producing milk—and if the mother’s body would "reject" the tattoo, the possibility exists that it could harm the baby. This is especially a problem if the client does not follow the aftercare instructions and develops an infection. Alex Stewart of a former natural parenting Web site in the UK suggests that mothers give their bodies 18 months to fully recover from childbirth before asking it to heal a tattoo.
My Husband tattoo's but he has never done any one pregnant or breast feeding women.
I hpe this info helps, it is a bit 2 sided but at least it gives you the facts.:)

Personally I would wait only because there's always the risk of infection even if it's the cleanest tattoo parlour you've seen. That's just my opinion and what I'd do though.

i wanted to get one done whilst breastfeeding but they wouldnt do it just in case - my sil also tried a different tattoo palour & they wouldnt do on either

I got mine done in Bali last wk, (from memory) the ABA site has info on it saying it is perfectly fine & I have not had any issues & I am exclusively feeding Zyon!!!

Sushee and I were talking about this the other week actually in another thread.

I'm not sure I'd do it, but will have a look on the ABA website to see if there's anything there about it Tracey.

i got tattooed when i was 3 months pregnant. I had been planning and designing it and researching tattooists in the area because i CRAVED it (i take my body art seriously). The artist had never in 15 years done a pregnant woman but he agreed to give it a try. Here's what happened. First it was incredibly painful, far more so than usual. My body was far more sensitive to touch, so the feel of the needle was much more intense. It was a big piece across my back, which should have been achievable in 5-6 hours, but i was jumping so much that it slowed progress. My pain threshhold was reduced so I found myself more often saying stop for a breath, and not lasting as long before the pain got unbearable. After 5 hours, the pain actually shot around through my body into my belly, and then i knew it wasn't good for the baby and decided to stop. So in the end, because i was pregnant i had to make it smaller (design extending onto lower back/hips had to be minimised) and it has many imperfections from when i jumped. it remained unfinished until well after the baby was born; i eventually got the colors done in 5 more hours despite exclusive breast feeding at the time. Again, not the best scenario, but i couldn't wait any longer with an unfinished piece on my back.

This pregnancy i once again crave more tattoo work, but i know not to try and probably noone would tattoo me at 6 months pregnant in australia anyway. I could probably get body piercings, but they took the last ones out when i was in labour last time, so i haven't bothered with any since. i dreaded my hair last week: somehow this fulfilled the urge for image modification and it didn't hurt the baby!