Tattoo ideas to mark a baby's 1st birthday?
April 21, 2008 6:49 AM   Subscribe

Looking for tattoo ideas for me to get to mark my baby's 1st birthday.

My baby just turned one year old and I'd like to get a tattoo to mark the occasion. I have a few ideas floating around in my head, but I thought I'd ask for some suggestions before I finalize.

Some facts: The baby is a boy and I'm the mother. He's my only child (and probably will always be). I have one other tattoo. This one will probably be on my calf/ankle area. I'm open to the size and style.

Any brainstorming thoughts based on that information? Thanks in advance!
posted by anonymous to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (20 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Make a line on your leg indicating his height.
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:05 AM on April 21, 2008 [17 favorites]


Congrats!

I have no suggestions, but I have a few, uh, anti-suggestions. Don't get his name, his picture, birthdate or equivalent. All have been done to death and beyond. I would personally suggest something symbolic or even unrelated that will always have the added benefit of being a marker for your baby.
posted by slimepuppy at 7:13 AM on April 21, 2008


Dude. I don't think you'll find a parlour that will do anything to a 1-year-old.

Oooohhhhh. I'd suggest an outline of his hand. Not on your bum, though.
posted by FuManchu at 7:26 AM on April 21, 2008


His hand/foot/fingerprint? His birthdate in some nontraditional notation (e.g. Mayan numbering system, something related to your own heritage)?
posted by LolaGeek at 7:29 AM on April 21, 2008


His footprints could be kind of cute, too.
posted by riane at 7:30 AM on April 21, 2008


I like the hand outline idea. You could also do a little footprint - maybe ink his foot and transfer it to paper? You might have to catch him when he's asleep to get a good, non-smudged version.
posted by jquinby at 7:31 AM on April 21, 2008


get his footprint tattooed on you. a good artist will be abe to do this well and make it look just like he stepped on your leg with ink on his foot.

i don't think a portrait is a horrible idea, as long as you get it done by a good portrait artist.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 7:34 AM on April 21, 2008


What a lovely idea. How about a (reduced size) footprint of his left/right feet on your left/right feet, giving the idea that you'll always be there to support him?
posted by ceri richard at 7:36 AM on April 21, 2008 [1 favorite]


I'd vote for Hand/foot prints.

I had my son's handprint tattooed over my heart on his first BDay - not just the outline, but the entire print :-)
Everyone that has seen it tends to like it, so you could do something similar since at 1, the print is pretty small.

Be prepared to take tons of prints on paper first though, I took 7 or 8 before I got one that looked right, and the artist used two more to get the right lines and "depth" while filling in the
outline (he freehanded inside a transferred outline)
posted by niteHawk at 7:37 AM on April 21, 2008


I like the footprint idea, or the birthdate in th the non-traditional numbering. You could also possibly get tiny versions of his footprints as a band around your ankle, symbolizing your eternal motherly love for him, etc?

I'd advise against the portrait, though. No matter what, it's going to look strange.
posted by Verdandi at 7:39 AM on April 21, 2008


I love thirteenkiller's height marking idea. I also love the ideas of handprint or footprint. I think those would be even more awesome if done around your bellybutton, or a set of footprints/handprints splayed on either side of your bellybutton.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 7:50 AM on April 21, 2008


Since you don't sound 100% on whether he'll be your only child, you might consider an idea that would let you add on for any future children. Angelina Jolie has the coordinates of where each of her children was born or adopted on her arm- she started with just one, for her first child, and added on as her family grew.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:59 AM on April 21, 2008 [1 favorite]


I'm agreeing with the footprint/handprint idea. Little toes are cute! :)
posted by saturnine at 8:01 AM on April 21, 2008


How about a small tattoo of a seedling or small flower and add to it every year on his birthday. As he grows, the mark he leaves on you grows kinda thing. With a bit of research you could find something quite beautiful but maybe something like this, this or this? ( Not great examples but you get the idea...)
posted by brautigan at 8:15 AM on April 21, 2008 [1 favorite]


Even if you don't go with the "line as height marker" idea (an idea that I personally view as awesome), you could put whichever tattoo you choose at that height.
posted by redsparkler at 8:31 AM on April 21, 2008 [1 favorite]


Something that's not going to embarrass him when you take him to the pool or beach when he's 12.
posted by Hogshead at 9:08 AM on April 21, 2008 [3 favorites]


Along with all of our others, my wife and I have matching tattoos, hers on the back of her neck, mine on my inner bicep. After we'd been married about a year, we each got a 1" red heart with black outline. Our daughter just turned one, so we're going back in to get a slightly smaller pink heart next to the red one. Once kid number 2 comes along the pattern will continue, either blue or pink.

We both had similar viewpoints on getting names permanently inked, definitely a no-no. We also didn't want anything gaudy or tacky. The little hearts are both inconspicuous and meaningful.
posted by enobeet at 11:04 AM on April 21, 2008


Why all the hating on having their names inked? I have a friend how has the name of each of his kids (he has three) inked on his wrist in a rope bracelet pattern -- first name on the top of his wrist, birthday on the underside. It kind of looks like Heath Ledger's wrist tattoo, but a bit different. I think it looks pretty cool, actually.
posted by (bb|[^b]{2}) at 11:13 AM on April 21, 2008


I once saw a hip woman at a party with the word "mother" tattooed in vintage script on her wrist. I thought that was interesting.

(and I assumed it was because she was a mother, not for her mother. She was corralling a toddler at the time)
posted by pinky at 9:29 PM on April 21, 2008


The constellation that represents his astrological sign?
posted by ersatzkat at 5:43 AM on April 22, 2008


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