Tattooed parents: When did you child first notice your ink?

I have a water scene full sleeve, my LO always asks where Nemo is lol

I got some stickers and I move him around, she loves it

I don't remember when it started but now at 5 he'll tell people he likes their tattoos and he says he likes mine still :')

I got an arm piece when he was about 2.5 and he loved it. He called it my “bandaid.”

Come two weeks later and he colors his arm with marker, goes to his mom and says “bandaid like dada”

“Tattoo” was probably in her first 50 words, but we’re both heavily tattooed and my husband is a tattoo artist.

Now she’s 2 and a half and is always complimenting people with tattoos in public lol. She gave herself a sleeve of butterflies and flowers with temporary tattoos yesterday lol.

I have three tattoos; one on my arm, one on my leg, and one on my back. My four year old has only ever commented on the one on my arm. She points to it, says it’s pretty, and sometimes asks about it. The first time she mentioned it was when she was putting on a temporary tattoo, she asked why mine stays forever and hers won’t.

I’ve had two huge & colorful peonies on my big arms since before she was born so she’s not known me without them (she’s 3 now). It is interesting when we color with markers, she always likes to color on her arms; maybe making some of her own tats!😃

She's always noticed/touched them (and pulled up my shirt to see the one on my side) but only recently she's started pointing at them and naming them.

Well, one. I have a cat tattoo on my right arm and she'll point to it and say, "Kiki!" (her word for cat).

Edit: she'll be 22 months in a week and a bit.

I have none, my husband has one on his shoulder blades. Our son is nearly 2 1/2 and noticed around age 1 or slightly older. He just likes to say “oooooo!” And now sometimes says “I draw it Daddy” and uses his finger and traces it 😂🥰

At about a year old. I’m in the process of a large leg piece and I think she realized something was there that didn’t used to be.

She crawled right over and poked it. It hurt.

My niece noticed my tattoos around 2. She looked at my arm and then pulled up my sleeve on my other arm to check if they were the same haha

Mine is 3 and has actually never really acknowledged mine but he will talk about his dad's tattoos which is funny because I'm more covered than his dad is lol.

My first born noticed my wrists and thigh tattoos when she was 8-9months old. She just keeps crawling up to my arms to play/ scratch it and giggle about it.

My 2nd (8months rn) hasn’t noticed it yet.

She’s almost 3 and I feel like she’s been asking about my tattoos for a year at least. She’s asked me about a lot of them over this period of time.

Though I just blew her mind the other day. She is a fucking bloodhound for my Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. I don’t want her to have them. I have them out of her reach but she fucking finds them and knocks them down with a contraption of toys. She loves looking at “zombie guys” so I showed her that I have two tattoos from the books (they are on my thighs so she wouldn’t normally see them). Her jaw dropped to the floor and it was SO CUTE.

Like 4 months? My partner has a full sleeve and a couple other smaller pieces, and I have a tattoo on my breast so both kids have played with my ink while breastfeeding. As soon as there’s words starting, the reaction is always “pretty!” and pointing out each individual image on my partners arm. Same with my piercings; they learn the piercing sites while they’re learning the usual human body parts lol my 2.5yo says “septum” very well now.

My first child started trying to peel/pick the one off my wrist when she was less than a year old. So far #2 hasn’t noticed it’s even there

My twins have pointed at mine and noticed sort of but only recently (2.5) have they actually acknowledged them and asked about them. My daughter tried to give herself “tattoos” with a washable crayola marker XD

Well i just got my first one so she pointed it out immediately then recognized my husband’s which he has had for like ten years lol she is 2.5 (well 3 in july)

My daughter demands to see my husbands randomly. She likes it and wants to color it. He has a black and white captain America on his side. He have to remind her he can't take his shirt off in public. She just turned three.

She also just noticed the butterflies on my back. Everytime she sees a tattoo she excitedly yells you have a xyz on your xyz!

My husband and I have a handful each, so she's slowly realizing them lol

My daughter loves my pokemon tattoos and my stitch tattoo! She’s noticed them since maybe a year and a half but now she loves them. She hugs the puppies on my arm and she’ll give them kisses too.

Two as well and he had the same reaction. He also said “bird” and pointed to one of the birds

I have a full sleeve and prolly 15 tattoos in total. My son quite literally has never said anything about them and he will be 3 in a few months lol

I have a sleeve, probably around 1.5 my kids started pointing out some of the animals on my arm

My eldest (4.5) will draw pictures, cut them out, and tape them on his arm 😆

Mine is 2 and just recently pointed to the one in my ankle and named it but saying "it's mama's [animal]" (it's an animal).

My son is 2.5 and I wish I could remember how old he was when he first noticed mine! I'd say somewhere between 1.5 and 2 years? My arms and legs are pretty covered and I have a few small ones on my fingers. But he saw the snake around my elbow and was like *gasp* SNAKE! HISSSSS. And I was like "lol you're right! HISSS!" and shoved my arm in his face which he thought was hilarious.

Other than that, he doesn't ever acknowledge them. Like, they're just ~there.~ I'll point out some to him, like "what's that? a cat!" etc etc.

Makes me wonder if he'll ask me more about them when he's older or if he just won't care lol

Few weeks old while nursing. I have a tattoo on my chest.

My son’s 12th word according to the word list I kept at around 16months was tattoo. Lol! But a lot of the teachers at his daycare have tattoos also, so I think he learned it there.

At about 10 months he became fascinated! We just would always tell him that mommy had pictures on her arms and legs

My 17 month old points to mine all the time. I have a lot all over my arms kind of so they’re hard to miss.

I have a lime on my arm and when my son was 2 he would try to bite it lol

My son is 8 and just realized I've had a wrist tattoo, that's fairly noticeable. He never noticed and I've had it for over 15yrs

My daughter has been poking and picking at my husband's tats since probably 6 months old but he has a few of them so they're easier to notice than someone who only has one. 

Lol my experience was basically the same as yours. about 2 or just turned 2 and kept pointing at them, my wife has more and they have color so she would like hers better. After a short time she just stopped noticing them really.

My son was 3 when asked my tattood friend why she “drew doodles all over her legs.” She explained that they were tattoos, like permanent doodles to decorate your body with images you like or that are important to you. They discussed what some of them said, or were of. For a while he would mention that “auntie s has pretty doodles on her body” then she dyed her hair purple and that was much more interesting. 🤷‍♀️

My spouse has a small animal tattoo on their leg (let’s say, a giraffe) and my toddler does notice it. The other day my toddler saw my non-tattooed leg and commented “There is your leg without a giraffe!” 😂

My daughter was around 12 months, and saw it in the mirror when we were in the bathroom (on the back of my shoulder) I wear a lot of rompers that are strapless and she traces it with her fingers lot when I get down to play with her

He noticed my heart outline tattoo on my ankle when he was around 16 months. He pushes it(does he think it is a button?) and laughs.

Around 2 - but only because it has the silhouette of a cat and dog. She doesn't care about her dad's at all. She mostly just points to it and says puppy/kitty.

Mine started trying to grab my tattoos about 12m, not realizing they were attached to me. Now he's almost 15m and he likes to pat them.

I was washing the dishes the other day and my 16 month old pointed at my panther on the back of my arm and started growling. It took me a second to realize what he was doing but I thought it was kind of funny. He hasn't reacted to any of the other four on my arm though 🤷🏻‍♀️

About 2. When she started coloring. Then she tries to add to my legs, which gets annoying. I have to remind her mine are different.

I don’t have any but my 2.5 year old notices tattoos on EVERYONE and yells “look mommy! Beautiful like Maui, mommy!”

My kid is 18 months old and started noticing it really young p much as soon as she became aware of things lol. She’s breastfed and I have one on/near my breast and she would point at it. Also the ones on my fingers she noticed really early. Recently she noticed the spider on my arm and did the gesture from the itsy bitsy spider song which she loves lol. Also her dad has a tattoo of a cartoon cat and she pointed at it and went “CAT MEOW”

I have a lower back tattoo from college. My toddler called it my butt sticker.

I have my cat on my upper arm/shoulder. I can't even tell you how many times that tat saved my butt from public tantrums! Kiddo loves kitty cats... tantrum incoming? Where's the kitty?!

Starting at age 18 months-ish

I've got simba on my ankle, the one rafiki draws in the tree and My 2 year old said "oh did rafiki paint your toenails?"

Very young all of them. :)

I have two hand tattoos: a star at the center of my palm and an old English D at the base of my thumb. When my son touches the star, it is the vacuum button and my hand vacuums his head. The other is a train. He's 2.5 and has loved that since he was 9 months old.

Haha when I got my latest tattoo, my 3-year-old said, “I don’t like it. You should have gotten a sunflower. That’s my favorite flower.”🤷‍♀️

Ha, I have a good one for this. My son was 2 and a halfish (closer to 3) and saw my feather tattoo that I got 10+ years ago—I felt super cool at the time. Well. My child burst in on me on the toilet, pulled on my shirt, pointed at said tattoo and said “mama! Ya got a feather! You a chicken! But you only have one feather. Bock a bock bock!!!” 😑

Mine just tries to pick them off lol

my daughter was obsessed with temp tattoo. I didn’t even realize till her teacher said ooo you like tattoo like your mom at one and half. she always looks at them etc . I got a pretty new giggly puff one done when she was two and half. She was pretty upset she couldn’t have one. She came to the tattoo shop later and told me it was so cool lol

I’d say around 2 as well. Shes a bit over 3 now and just today said “you have a big flower on your arm” and I said yes I do it’s for mémé (my late mom) to which she replied maybe I can have flower tattoo. I told her one day she can. When she first noticed she was pissed she didn’t have any lol so bought a giant thing of the temp ones on Amazon

I have my son’s name in a fine line script on my arm and he’s started intentionally touching it/pointing to it in the last month or so (he’s 16 months and I got it when he was 4 months)

My 2 year old draws all over her arm and says it’s like Daddy’s 😂

Around 18 months he startedconsistently pointing out some animal tattoos me & dad have

She’s 2, she used to smell the flowers on my arm and say they smelled yummy 😂

We both have a lot of tattoos and the tot has loved them since he was like 6 mo old. Now he’s like 20 months old and he traces them with his finger

My husband has full sleeves plus a few others. My daughter hasn't seemed to pay too much attention to them, but whenever she gets stickers she wants them all down her arms. So cute!

Within the first few weeks! Mine is on my inner upper arm, so he saw it when he was nursing on that side and would run his finger over it sometimes and stare at it. 

Hmmm my daughter is almost 3 and I’m blanking on if she’s ever acknowledged my tattoos. Maybe they’re just part of me so she doesn’t think about it?

She always wants to copy me and has never tried to copy my small chest tattoo (the more frequently visible one).

I’m going to pay attention once swimsuit season hits to see if she starts trying to copy!

Baby has been trying to grab my arm since he could lol

I currently have a 20 month old that kisses dad's arm tattoo before bed every night 😅

When he was only a few months! He really loves them. 🩵

Around 18 mo she started wanting to wash herself in the bath, and would wash me to. At some point she got upset that the “dirt” wouldn’t come off. Now at 2, she occasionally checks to see if they are still there.

I just started getting tattoos once my child was about 1.5 years old. My first one was a ghost, and he constantly would point to it and go, "Boo!" Or "oOoOo" for the first couple weeks I had it. He is very much my child where he is already obsessed with anything halloween. His favorite song has remained the Super Simple Songs ABC boo since he was around 10 months. He hasn't noticed the one I got today yet.

I think they were both around 2. My oldest asked me if I colored on myself and my youngest just assumed I colored on myself

I’m practically covered, and my daughter started noticing them around 15-18 months. She used to cover her legs in stickers to match me. 

She’s 3 now, and likes to point to each one and say what it is. My favorite is when she calls all the skulls and reapers “Halloween” lmao. 

Same time they could do the other pointing and naming

I got tattooed for the first time when my son was 2y10m. I was telling him about me getting a tattoo. And then a few weeks later he asked my husband do draw him a snake tattoo on his arm and duck tattoo on his back😆😆 the ink washes off easily in water even without soap so after he finished showering he was like “oh no! My tattoos gone!”

My 16 month old loves pointing at them and saying "tiger raah" "fish" "moon" etc. He's my biggest fan.

8 or 9 months old. One of her first words was tattoo, along with bra and uh oh!

She started sticking stickers all over herself, along with drawing on her skin with washable markers at maybe 14 or 15 months old, and would proudly show off her tattoos to us!

I got her some actual fake tattoos that you use water to stick on in the end, and she loves them.

I got a tattoo last year, when my son was 3.5yo and he was incredibly intrigued for about 20mins and then lost interest. Every few months, he will ask how I got it. That is all.

I have quite a few and my kid (2.5) has never really cared, but I recently got one in honor of him - he holds pinkies for comfort and it’s of his hand holding my pinky/hand. After I got it, I showed it to him and he was so excited. Later that night he said, “Mama, dem things on you, I like them. Make me feel very special.”

I have five tattoos, my youngest (2.5) asked about one of them for the first time the other day. The least obvious one rather than the four she sees every day lol

My son was probably 9 months old when he tried to pinch my tattoos. It wasn’t until he was probably 2 that he wanted to be like Mommo and Mama and started asking for his own and we got him temporary tattoos.

Not on me, but on a flight at about 14 months my (lap toddler) was fascinated by my neighbors sleeve tattoos. Fortunately she was a pediatrics nurse and loved the toddler, because we spent (of course with her invitation) a long time looking at and touching her tattoos.

Probably around 6 months he really started noticing them and trying to rip them off my arms 🙃

My LO must have been about 18mo when I was in the bath with her, and she pointed to the flowers on my ribs and asked if they were sore. Once I assured her it wasn't sore, she said it was pretty, and then made a point of showing my husband when we got out... like he hasn't seen it before!

I got a new piece on my back just after she was 2, and made her aware of it and asked her not to play rough with me until it healed. She was very good, sat there for ages staring and saying it was pretty, and pointing out "Mummy moon" and "baby moon".

She also helped me put cream on it, which almost made me die of cuteness.

Idk really since they were born? When my oldest was 1.5-2 she would practice coloring on mine!

My son was also two. I heard a very excited, "There's a cat!" And I was confused until I remembered I have a large cat on my leg.

I have a fist-sized tattoo on my lower leg and she has been poking it and scratching at it since she was like 8mo. She’s 14mo now, definitely doesn’t really know what it is but understands it’s different from the rest of my skin.

She noticed the piercings first, that was in infancy. Then “Mommy you have a picture!” was at like 2. Now she’s 3 and wants tattoos/piercings/colored hair 🤣 It’s a constant battle! She wants, I tell her no she has to wait, she asks why, I give her an answer that she doesn’t understand, she gets sad/mad. Rinse and repeat!

My toddler noticed mine at around 19/20 months old. It’s a swing set but he keeps calling it agooos (his word for forks!) lol now he does that intentionally to make me laugh. 😊

She noticed pretty early. Probably at about 14-16 months

She’s now about to be 2.5 and used to it haha I have both arms and hands done and my husband has one arm and hand done.

I have a sleeve of animals and he likes to name the animals ever since he was talking. He's 3.5 though and only just noticed I have piercings.

Around 2. Just pointed out one of the birds on my sleeve one day. He’s 2.5 now and doesn’t really acknowledge them most of the time. I am fairly heavily tattooed though, so I think he just doesn’t notice them 🤷‍♀️

At about age two, each of my children had a moment where they grabbed my left ankle and stared intensely at my little space needle I got with my buddies as a 22 year old betrothed, i.e. bachelorette debauchery 😂 I was the vanilla one in the group. They were all tatted and pierced to the moon and back. One of my friends in particular had a cross on her ankle that I always just thought looked really good, but I'm not religious, so when our local tattoo shop had a big event, I decided to get a space needle to represent being a fifth or so generation Seattleite (rare these days, everyone's from somewhere else). I figured I'd probably never regret getting the space needle since it's not controversial at all, and my ankle would be easy to hide in professional settings or if I traveled to a conservative country or something.

Anyway, yeah, it's about age two. They grab it and they go 😳 for a few minutes, and that's it lol.

Yeah, not too long after toddler turned two she noticed my "flwwwers"

My youngest noticed about 18months, but my 4 year old has genuinely never noticed them. I pointed them out watching Moana as I said I was like Maui and he was so confused. It’s a bit worrying to be fair!

About 8 months old honestly...but I breastfed both my kiddos and mine are on my collarbone. They always would touch/tap and run their hands on them while they fed lol they love them.

My oldest is just now becoming more curious about it they are larger stars in the shape of the Andromeda constellation for my miscarriages

Mine did around 6 months old, he likes to trace them with his fingers and occasionally he tries to yank them off 😂😅

22 months, I have a fair few and my fiance just got no. 2 and 3, one of which is the outline of a car. Our son is OBSESSED with this car, but also the new floral piece he had done at the same time!

Joke is I have 90% of my tattoos done by the same artist who did the dad/floral piece and our son isn’t interested in mine at all😂

I think my son noticed a few months ago for a brief moment. He's 20 months old now and about 2 days ago, he poked it really hard. It's a wrist tattoo and it felt really fricking uncomfortable. 😭 That was the first and hopefully last time he pays it any real attention

At around 6-7 months of age, I noticed my son was looking and touching my tattoos

Around 18 months to 2 years. I have a kitty tattoo in my arm, and his first word was kitty. He would cuddle snd pet it. Now he's almost 5, loves my cat tattoo, traces my large thigh tattoo if I wear shorts, and names the colors of the rainbow pride Dots I have on the back of my arm. And he asks for tattoos now all the time so we have to keep temporary tattoos on hand for him so he can be like mommy. We also reiterate that permanent tattoos are for grown ups and if he wants one when he's older I'd be happy to go with him for his first tattoo.

oh geez I feel like always? the thing that stands out the most for me is when she started pointing to her forearm and saying “(her name) flower (her name) flower !!!” (I have a floral piece there as part of my sleeve). we got her temporary tattoos and she loves them. she was probably right around 2 as well! she still loves looking at mine & my husbands tattoos and talking about them!

My daughter was probably like 1.5? Maybe a bit younger, but somewhere around there. She tried to viciously pick them off my skin! There were a few days after she first noticed them where she would just come sit on my lap and obsess over them. Trying to pick them off, saying “what’s that?”, etc lol. I would just tell her what each one was as she pointed because I have several on each arm and eventually she stopped trying to rip them off of me and would just point to each one and say “butterfly!” Or “fox!” Now she’s 2 and doesn’t really care anymore.

I don't remember when my 1st noticed, but after 2 he really started asking about them.

My 2nd atarted trying to rub off our tattoos by like 10-11 months 😅

Mine was 4. I’m in the process of removing it, so when he said he didn’t like it I was like, well you’re in luck buddy. It’s going away.

All 3 of my kids (5f, 2m, 2m) love my tattoos and have been aware of them since around the age they could cognitively start enjoying things like art, drawing, etc (around 18 months). My 2yo twins like to draw on me and themselves with pens and markers and show off their "toos" to everyone. It's adorable.

My husband has a big watercolor tattoo of our dog that passed away before our son (2.5) was born. He’s noticed it for at least the past year and we’ve told him her name and he now points to it and says her name and sometimes asks to kiss her. I think it’s really sweet that he’s come to know her through the tattoo.

When LO was about 6 months old she started trying to claw off my tattoos lol. Especially while she was in the middle of a nursing session.

She’s 15 months old now, and is much more gentle exploring my art. I have a piece of our dog and my parent’s dog on my arm, and she very sweetly pats it while saying “dog” now.

What I find really funny, is that me and my parents both have many tattoos, (my mom is heavily inked), but my husband and his family have none at all. LO has noticed a discrepancy, and is starting to explore for tattoos on ppl now, seemingly coming across as disappointed when she can’t find any lol.

Our girl is 18 months old, and she has been pointing to my chest and arm tattoos for a few months now. We taught her the word tattoo, so now when she points at them, she whispers “tetuuu, tetuuu.” 🥹

My 4y/o keeps asking for an Ultraman forearm tattoo. Says he wants a real tattoo like Mommy

Probably when she was like 18 months or so.

My son will also be 2 in June, and recently started noticing one of my tattoos. I have quite a bit, but he only pays attention to my Toothless the dragon tattoo (how to train your dragon), because he’s VERY into dinosaurs right now. Short sleeves cover it most of the time, but whenever he sees it he points and says dinosaur repeatedly lol

probably around 18 months, she started pointing to my thighs saying “butterflies” & “tiger ROARR!”

13 months? He's almost 15 months now and it's been a little while since he's noticed them. I have a large piece below my collar bone that fascinates him when I hold him. He now pulls my shirt collar so he can see it lol Then proceeds to slap it over and over.

I have an 18 month old, I also have a tattoo on each wrist. LO occasionally points at them but I don't think he knows what they are or mean (I have a wolf on one, and a dragon on the other)

Around 20 months. Have an upper thigh sleeve and she ways points and smiles at it if she sees it.

9 months-ish. He really liked saying “tattoo!” And pointing to all of them. Temporary tattoos are a big hit in our house lol he’s 3 next month

Both my kids tried peeling our tattoos off multiple times within the first year. They're now 2 and 1 and haven't really even looked at them in awhile. I am curious what the convo is gonna be like when they understand

Both of my kiddos loved looking at my sleeve while breastfeeding. It was very interesting to them 😅 I joke about not knowing that entertaining babies was the real reason I started getting tattoos years ago.

Two weeks ago at 18 months. She just noticed, pointed at each one and then asked for more. Guess I need to get more, if she insists😉

When she was 3-4.

I don't have any tattoos but my husband has a big one on his shoulder with a very defined outline. Kiddo has been trying to peel off his "sticker" (that's obviously what she thinks it is) since about 8 months old, but recently seems to have stopped at 17 months.

My kids (twins) are almost 4 and haven’t really ever mentioned it exactly (I have several large pieces and a half sleeve) but we did just get the book “My Mama is a Work of Art” at the library - a picture book about tattooed moms so I am thinking that might start a convo! ETA: here to report back that the book is incredible! But it sparked no convo haha but still - highly recommended. https://bookshop.org/p/books/my-mama-is-a-work-of-art-hana-acabado/20349827?ean=9780762483990

When he was about 1? He saw a butterfly on my wrist and kept trying to pick it up

My daughter is 17 months and I just got a new one on my forearm 2 weeks ago. I was worried it would be an adjustment for her to see me looking differently or that she'd want to touch it while it was healing. She has not paid a single ounce of attention to it at all 😂 so I am also curious about this

My husband and I both have several tattoos. Our son began noticing them right around his 2nd birthday.

My left arm is on it way to becoming a full sleeve! My kiddo noticed around 18 months when she would pick at the scabs I was developing on my cockroach (fine line, black & grey). She’s taken my nail tattoos and put them on herself. So cute.

My boy is 16 months and first noticed them maybe a few weeks ago. He'd pull at my arms and point to them. This morning actually he pulled at his tattoo I got for him and smiled. 💕 

I think around 14 months she noticed my ass tattoo 😂

I have a whole sleeve of tattoos that my son started calling “stickers” when he was about 2.

My husband has a family crest tattoo on his shoulder blade, and my son will call it “daddy’s firefighter”. My husband is not and never was a firefighter lol so I have no idea where he picked that up from!

I think he's blind to them pretty much, I've sleeves, chest to navel and a back piece so I'm well inked.

Mumma has a few too. Most people have ink, it's the blanks who re more unusual, even public skin places are common now although my brother eyelid ones possibly less so.

The body mod I've taken out is the fuck off big ring through my bellend.

Little man still need help in the shower and that's not something he needs to drop into conversation at school.