in Breastfeeding/Nursing & pumping Mamas

Tattoos and breastfeeding?

So I exclusively pump, and I plan to do AT LEAST until she’s a year (she’s 10 months this weekend). But if I can I want to until Christmas. However I really want to get a new tattoo for my bday in August. Does anyone have actual first hand experience of this? Researching online gives articles from folks who haven’t had any, don’t breastfeed, don’t have tattoos etc. Obviously there’s the risk of infection/etc. I was thinking since she’ll be over a year old and is good in solids atm and will probably be down a bottle or two by then, and I have a good freezer stash I maintain I could give frozen milk and just pump and use for baths/etc for a week while the main clotting/healing is done?? Any advice or personal stories appreciated. Pls! Thank you x

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I think the best thing you can do to reach out to your tattoo artist and see what they say. I breastfeed and have a tattoo so not coming from a complete novice. I got my tattoo a few months before I conceived my little girl (now 11 months old). Some tattoo artist don't like tattooing breastfeeding Mama's so it's probably best having that communication with them

I enquired about a tattoo and the tattoo artist strongly advised to wait until baby is at least 1 year old and get a tattoo once you’ve stopped breastfeeding in case something goes wrong with the tattoo such as blood poisoning which can impact the breast milk! It might be better to speak to the tattoo artist because everyone has different guidelines. Hope that info helps 😊

They won’t tattoo you if your breastfeeding (I asked lol) it’s because if it gets infected the infection can be passed to baby through the breastmilk

Hey! I’m a breastfeeding mum too and I was told by my artist to wait as it’s more about if you get an infection which you are more likely to get as you are breastfeeding apparently, that can pass through to your milk to baby. It’s annoying as I would love a tattoo too so I feel you! I also have a lot of tattoos and never had a problem, but most artists are super careful with that sort of thing. Could always consult them though and see if there’s anything they can do x

Same, tattoo artist said to book after breastfeeding as it can have an affect on healing process with hormones and ink can also be found in breast milk

I guess there’s not enough research on wether the ink can get into your breastmilk through your bloodstream. I personally got a small tattoo towards the end of breastfeeding my first. I will say it did not heal well but it is an ankle tattoo so hard to tell

I’ve been told most reputable tattooists will not tattoo if you are breastfeeding. I’m planning another tattoo so done some research into this. It’s just not worth unknown risk for a matter of months :)

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