anyone gotten tattooed while bfing?

[CherryBombMama]

i did a tiny bit of research about if it is safe or not, and ive been getting mixed results. is it ok?

its been years since my last tattoo and im dying for another. i plan on bfing for as long as possible and the thought of waiting possibly 2+ years is depressing

i think if i hear from mamas who actually got tattooed while bfing, i would feel better... thanks

[Mrs.Music]

Yeah. After a lot of research and talking to a few people, I decided it was fine. That's part of the reason there's no warning for it on the papers you sign at the shop, right? They say no to pregnant women, but not to breastfeeding moms. The risk is supposed to be hep c or something, but if you're going to a clean, reputable shop, your risk of exposure is very minimal. I have had 3 tattoos while breastfeeding. Each was after baby was 6 months.

[AmaraMonillas]

I am considering it. As far as I know Hepatitis is the concern, and the place I plan to go to has an amazing reputation so I'm really not worried. I will probably wait until our baby is on solids, just in case I had a scare and felt like I needed to stop nursing temporarily. But that's me being really cautious (it will be my first and probably only tattoo - I didn't ever think I would want one )

[Mama2Xander]

Originally Posted by Mrs.Music

That's part of the reason there's no warning for it on the papers you sign at the shop, right? They say no to pregnant women, but not to breastfeeding moms.

That is not quite true, from my experience and research...

The place I went for my helix piercing recently was pretty specific that the limitations on piercings and tattoos applied to both pregnant *and* breastfeeding moms. The concern is not so much over infection (should be minimal risk for anyone at a clean place with a good reputation etc), but over the issue of healing. This is somewhat controversial and different artists will have different opinions on it. I have not done a lot of research on it myself. I don't have any tattoos (yet... waiting for other reasons, not because of breastfeeding).

The concern is that while breastfeeding, your body is using energy to do that, and might not heal a tattoo or piercing as well as it otherwise would. Also, there is some concern by some artists that the healing process could temporarily lower milk production (I tend to think this is being overly cautious). Obviously, if this did happen, it would be more of a concern with a young, exclusively nursing infant than with a toddler who was also eating solids. I was able to get my piercing done (my son was 14 months at the time), but the piercer wasn't super thrilled about it... she did agree after we talked about it for awhile and she realized that I was okay with it.

[Mama2Xander]

There's also a tattooed/pierced tribe in FYT. I know there are some moms on there who've been tattooed with breastfeeding and it comes up from time to time in the discussion

[onyxravnos]

peirced and tattooed while BFing. i've been BFing almost 4 years now ... really the concern with it is hep c and infections which then could move into the blood stream while preggo i say no like a PP said " but if you're going to a clean, reputable shop, your risk of exposure is very minimal" but since the baby is IN you i say no just to be safe. While BFing i'm not as concerned as i go to licensed places, clean needles the whole shebang.

[jellybeanmumma]

I got one. I think I actually fed DS in the waiting room but it never came up when signing the waiver. Weird that I never thought about the risks as I was super cautious when preg. Obviously needs to be a clean place with good rep. Also best if you have seen their work first hand. I will say I thought it hurt more than usual I have 2 other pretty big ones and this was just a small one - maybe due to hormones???