fake tan and breastfeeding

[Cl]

Going away for my sister's 40th and all the girls are thinking of getting fake St Tropez tans for the occasion. I would quite like to join in but am still breastfeeding - not exclusively - ds will be 11 months by then, but about 3 or 4 times a day. Does anyone know if it's OK to have a fake tan when feeding, And if so has anyone had any good/bad experiences with different brands, Clarins, Decleor, St TRopez?

[Enid]

St Tropez worked brilliantly for me. But it didnt work on my (extremely fair skinned) sister. You could ask them to miss out your nipples when they put it on your boobs.

You have it applied, then have to leave it on for 6 hours or preferably overnight. While its on, you cannot get it wet, so breastfeeding would be out. Once its washed off in the morning, you can get it wet so bf would be fine.

It does stink a bit though - might it put ds off (it certainly put dp off!!)?

[Joe1]

I have always used Body Shop fake tan which I think is really good, takes about 20 mins to dry. Dont know about the feeding side though.

[Art]

I had a Clarins tan last year while b/feeding. I had it done in the shop and I was assured it was safe. (I just left the nipple area).

Complete pampering experience - moisturising massage first to prepare the skin, followed by the tan. It looked quite natural when finished too. Only drawback - VERY expensive!

[Cl]

Hmmm hadn't considered the post application feed. Only way I could do it if I had a st tropez would be to have it in the morning and then have a wash before the evening feed, would have to stay out of sight.. hear you look pretty ropey for the first few hours... is it worth it I ask myself?

[Art]

Have asked around at work and the Body shop one seems to be the favourite.

[zebra]

I think, technically, anything you put onto your skin could get into your milk. Perfumes and other topically applied chemicals have been detected in breastmilk. But your baby is probably already exposed to such things through soap, sunscreen, clothes detergents, shampoos, air freshioners, washing up liquids, moisturisers -- either directly applied to baby or encountered indirectly.

So, if it was me, and I really wanted that fake tan, I'd probably do it. Although, if it was me, I'd probably just try for a real tan.

[MalmoMum]

I think I'd give it a go as well. As long as your nipples are free from cream, I can't really see how an 11 monther would ingest the cream. Slight possibility they might pick some up through skin to skin contact but I wouldn't get paranoid about avoiding your baby for 6 hours afterwards (partic as this comes after the not feeding your baby after a GA thread).

Will it be a disaster if you are a bit streaky around your breasts? I think it's the overall effect that will give you a lift. I'm rather fond of a bottle of factor 25 followed by some fake tan later myself.