Piercing Baby's Ears... - Centralia,WA

i'm with the other ladies. i will not pierce my little girl's ears until she asks for it. honestly, i find it tacky and not cute when i see a baby with earrings. i have a friend that pierce her little girl's ears at 3 months, that baby managed to pull out and lose several earrings - the first time that happened, i would have pulled ALL earrings out - can we say choking hazard? unfortunately, the friend thought it was "cute" enough to continue to put more earrings in...

I wanted to get my daughters ears pierced too...but then decided it was best to wait until she was old enough to decide for herself. She's 4 and still hasn't told me she wants them. I was 7 when I got mine done.

My parents waited for me to ask and I loved it. They made it special. We went shopping for the ear rings, we did an ear ring party after and etc. If I had a girl I would just wait to make it special for her.

Since you asked - 16 yrs old - as a rite of passage to becoming a young lady.

i don't think it would ever be appropriate to take a needle and stick it through someone else's ear without their permission, simply because i am bigger and stronger than they are.

and, i have to add, stating "what woman doesn't want her ears pierced" as a reason to do it is just ignorant. i have two women just in my family, who do not have pierced ears and have no desire to have pierced ears. one of them had a bad experience when her mother let her pierce them at too young an age to take care of them, and she has permanent scars. the other just simply has no interest. both are healthy happy, fully functioning women. not every woman wants her ears pierced. to pretend otherwise is selfish and delusional.

She will most likely cry. It will hurt. It won't hurt less if she is 6 months or 12 months or 18 months.
How old do I think she needs to be? Old enough to ask for earrings and to understand what is involved with getting her ears pierced. If you don't want tears and unnecessary pain, that's the route to go. If you opt to do piercing on a baby, it will hurt, she will probably cry and she didn't ask for it.

OK, so I don't want to sound judgemental or rude, but WHY? I don't get it? Other than a cultural/religious reason, I don't get why people pierce a baby's ears. I agree, it's not cute.

I have told my daughters they can do it when they are 8. I think by then they will be old enough to learn how to change them themselves as well as deal with the infections or other issues - because it was THEIR CHOICE. Also, I guess I see this more as a rite of passage like "oh look what a big girl you are" or a reward for good grades or something like that.

I prefer to wait for my daughters so we can go do a mother-daughter thing when they are old enough to appreciate it and go out for lunch.

Just my thoughts.

BTW - in answer to your question I agree with PPs. It won't hurt less as a baby. Now you've added a choking hazard. And the potential for her to pull on them/rip them out since she doesn't understand what she's doing to herself. So I agree, wait until she asks and is old enough to deal with them herself.

I'm with the person who asked why you would want to do this. I have a coworker whose daughter had her ears pierced at age 9 and they got horribly, horribly infected--so much so that the skin started growing over the back of the earrings, and they had to take her to the ER to have the earrings removed.

I don't mean any disrespect, but it's hard to understand why anyone would want to take a health risk like this purely for vanity purposes. Would you dye your daughter's hair? What if your daughter doesn't want her ears pierced? And why inflict pain on her (not to mention possible complications) for no good reason?

Just my thoughts...

I would say when she asks you to get her ears pierced. For some parents, piercing of ears is a cultural norm, for others it's cosmetic Not knowing if she's going to have a sensitivity to the various metals in earrings, if she will get eczema, there are several reasons why not to do. Taking care of the piercings is a life long activity. Messing with her ears is going to happen, because they will itch while healing. And yes it's going to hurt at any age. I would talk with your peditrician and if you're going to have it done, have them do it or recommend a place to have it done. I wouldn't go to the mall and have it done at one of the piercing/jewelry stores. Especially if you're worried about possible infections.
Again, personally, I would wait until she asks to have her ears pierced and is ready to care for ears and her earrings. And yes, I have pierced ears. My daughter does not. When most of her friends were getting their's pierced in elementary school and then the next phase was in high school, she didn't want to. She wears magnetic earrings for that pierced look and has access to her grandmothers whole collection of clip earrings when she wants them. She's now 23 yrs old. It's all a matter of personal preference and choice. It's her body, let her choose.

I don't think babies should have their ears pierced at all. It is their body. I don't think we should make choices for them that alter their appearance (ear piercing, circumcision, tattoos). Plus, as her ear grows the hole may be too high or too low. It can be uncomfortable to sleep on her ears with metal studs sticking out. Sharp metal objects and babies do not go together. She may or may not want pierced ears. Why not ask her when she's 6 or 7 or even older? That is my opinion. And congratulations on your new baby girl!

In our family, it was 10 or 12 years old, when they're old enough to take care of them. And also, we waited until they started asking for them, one was 9, one was 14, don't remember how old the other was, but I know it wasn't before 10. And even when they started asking, it wasn't something we just went right out and did. They had to really want it, prove they were responsible enough for it, then earn it. We wanted send a message that just because they wanted something, didn't mean we were going to rush out and get, a great lesson to learn early on. In our family, the lesson has carried on...they know that when they want something, they have to work for it and if they want it really, really bad, they work really, really hard. We never worried about how much pain would be involved because again, if you want something bad enough...
Another thing to think about is: suppose they're the type who's allergic to metals, or doesn't particularly care to wear jewelry? Many people don't. So we asked ourselves, "What right do we have making that decision for her?"

I had my daughters ears pierced when she was 3.5years old, when daddy came home on R&R from Iraq. She had to get them repierced 2 more times for them finally not to be infected, and we cleaned them religiously!
Now at age 7 she decided last summer, to take them out and leave them out, knowing that she would have to get them repierced yet again if she wants to!
I had my ears pierced the first time when I was 14 which was fine. For my little on (11 months) I will wait until she is at least 8.
I agree with the other posters, that the kids should be old enough to decide themselves, and if I would have had a say-so with my older daughter she wouldn't have gotten it done 4 years ago! But daddy took her shopping...

I personally feel like it's my daughter's decision. I really wanted to get her ears pierced, but I know that someday she may ask why I did that and not given her the choice. Oh, I used to work in a one year old room in a daycare and those girls messed with their earrings so much! One little girl got her earring undone and swallowed it (at home, not at daycare). Just something to think about :)

I can only tell you what I would do. I would wait until my daughter was old enough to decide for herself. There are meridians or accupuncture points in the ear. I have heard that it is not good to get ears pierced for this reason. At that young age, I would be doing this for me because a baby doesn't care if they have earrings or not. Babies' only concern is the that they are fed, changed, loved, and cared for. They don't care if they are dressed well, or if they are sporting designer clothes. They care about how much they are loved and how secure they feel. Their bodies are busy growing and building their immune system. What I would focus on is what is in their environment, that they are wearing organic clothes and sleeping on organic bedding and that anything that comes in contact with them is non-toxic so their bodies have the best start in life so they can be healthy, happy, and have the very best chance to become the strong beautiful people they can be when they grow up.

Our daughter was 3 months old. I cried. She did not.

Our pediatrician recommended to either do it prior to around 9 months old or wait until she was old enough to make the decision for herself. The reason she recommended prior to 9 months is because she felt she would not know any different, wouldn't be pulling at her ears, would be used to the cleaning process, etc. In our case, our daughter never did try to pull them out; however, I will tell you that she hated them by around 3. And, she has never wanted them back in. It just wasn't a part of her personality or interest.

If I were to do it over, I would wait for her to be old enough to make the decision. She is now 11 and still has no interest in earrings.

I was 7 when I had my ears pierced. It was my decision.

Good luck with your decision and good luck with your baby. It's an incredible journey.

I would never pierce a babys ears. It is something a person should have the choice to make on their own and in their own time. My baby will make that choice when she is around 12, maybe a bit earlier. As well, babies look ridiculous with earrings in their ears. On many more levels it just isn't a choice I'd make. I see you have many answers and have already made up your mind. Good luck!

Is there any real way to justify getting a baby's ears pierced. Even though it's very common in my culture, I'v always thought it was really ....wel, there's no nice way to put it...insane. Please don't do this to your baby.

I think it's her ears and her decision what to do with them. Plus, it's fun to take them to get their ears pierced and it's nice to be able to teach them how to care for them on their own. My older daughter was 3 and my younger was 5 when they decided they wanted pierced ears.

I think it's her body so it should be her decision (when she is old enough to make the decision). I would not choose to pierce, tatoo, or otherwise permanently alter another person's body without their permission. It seems disrespectful.

I'm going to go a bit off here. Can you please research piercing before you do it? There are so many things people don't know about those piercing "guns" used in malls and stores like Wal-Mart. They are not designed to pierce properly and hence cause more damage than good. Also piercing at a young age when the ears are so small make for trouble later because the ears still have growing to do and so that can mean lop-sided piercings or low sitting piercings.
I'm all for getting piercings but they should be done properly and safely. Here are a few sites for you to check out. I do agree with the moms who say to wait til she is old enough to ask for it and either help in the care or care for it herself. And just so you know my sons have had their ears done at about 4 yrs old til they got to a school that didn't allow boys to have earrings. Now they are at a school that allows it (oldest son is now 13) and he is asking for it again. I just have been lazy and haven't asked my piercer what their age limit is.
http://tattoo.about.com/cs/psafety/a/piercing_guns.htm

http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Piercing_gun

http://www.namaii.com/suck/

My daughter is currently 2 years old, and we're expecting another girl in just a few weeks. My husband and I agree that we will not have our daughters' ears pierced until they are asking us for it. A little baby will not understand the pain, and we just consider it wrong to make such a decision for our girls. Whether or not they want to have their ears pierced should be their call, not ours. There won't be a higher infection risk when they are older; depending on when they ask for the piercings, they might even be able to take care of them mostly by themselves.

I have two daughters and our decision was to wait until they could take care of them (at least mostly) by themselves.

If you're wanting to have her wear jewelry, an amber teething necklace or anklet is a much safer option. Be aware of anything crystal because it likely contains lead.

My sister had her daughters (all three) ears pierced at 4 months. They cried but only for a minute. My husband and I chose not to have our daughters ears pierced because I figured when she wants earrings she will ask. And lets just face it, I think she is beautiful the way she is (mommy biased). By the way, some pediatricians will pierce there ears for you!

The only comment I have about this is I have realized that ears grow, so for me, my parents did them when I was 3 months old and then I had to get them redone when I was 12 becasue the hole was too close to my ear, now I have two holes on top of each other. Just something to think about, good luck

I say go get them pierced now! :) I was 6 weeks old when my mom got my ears pierced at the pediatrician's office... 23 years later they have NEVER been infected!

I have always thought little girls with their ears pierced were just sooo cute, and when I found out I was having a girl, I constantly said I was going to get her ears pierced after she was born. Once it came down to it, I changed my mind. Even though I think little girls with earrings are adorable, I think it should be their choice when they get older whether or not they want holes in their bodies?? Just an opinion, I don't look down on people that decide to do it, it's just not for me. = )

Our pediatrician recommeneded we wait until our daughter was 6 months. My husband actually decided he wanted to take her to get them done. He said she only cried for a minute or two. She was so young she didn't even know she had ears, much less ear rings so she never messed with them. Her little ears healed very quickly because she wasn't big enough to get into anything to really be dirty (but she got a bath every day anyway). She's now 2 & they're just a part of her so she still doesn't notice them.

My doctor advised getting them done at 6 months. She wanted her to have the all her shots given up to that point. She wanted to make certain she was protected. Waited until then have had no problems.

I got my daughters ears pierced when she was 7 months old. She cried for a brief min & did fine with it. They never got infected or anything. And she looks adorable with them....thanks D

I don't know if you are still on the fence or if you have made up your mind yet, but I talked to my Ped. when I had my little girl and the only thing she recommended was making sure she had her first set of shots done before I pierced her ears (the 8 week shots).

I had a friend who pierced ears professionally, and she and one of her co-workers pierced my little girls ears when she was 2 1/2 mos. old. My little girl took it like a champ! She hardly cried at all. With both ears done at the same time it was quick and easy. I snuggled her for a few seconds right after and she was totally fine. I have absolutly no regrets. In fact, if I had another girl- I would do it again.

As long as you take good care of her earrings, make sure they are clean and rotated and all that good stuff- you should not have any problems at all.

As for waiting for her to ask- I figure if she wants a second set of holes in her ears- I'll wait for that. :)

Good luck making your decision!

The only rule (from the doctor perspective) is to make sure they have had their first shots. I have experiance both waiting and not (in the last 2 weeks actually :)). My husband was set on letting our daughter wait until she was old enough to decide. That happened 2 weeks ago, she is 5 years old. She was a real trooper, but there was fighting and crying and not wanting to pierce the second ear (why they just dont do them at the same time anymore is beyond me), then the cleaning was a hassle because it hurt and she didnt want me to touch her ears. But, all in all she did great and they didnt get infected and she is SO proud of her earrings.
Now, my sister took her almost 3 month old in yesterday and got her ears pierced. She said that she cried a bit when it first was done, but stop after a couple minutes...nothing to it! :) I imagine that the cleaning aspect will be much easier and she is still too young to touch and fuss with them...
Eitherway, there will be a little pain, but I am not sure what the right answer is for you. With my daughter, it was like a right of passage into Girlhood and she is so proud. I love that experience. But doing it as a baby would have been "easier"...

Hi J.,
I had my daughters ears pierced when she was 3 months after she received her 2 month shots. I had people say that it is her decision but what women doesn't want her ears pierced. I had my ears pierced for the first time when I was 12. I had wished then that my mother had them pierced when I was a baby because they were a pain to take care of at age 12. I had my daughters ears pierced at the mall. After each piercing she cried for less than a minute and then was fascinated by the lights in the ceiling. She never complained when I cleaned her ears. Just do what you feel is right for your daughter. My daughter is 3 now and loves matching her earrings with her outfits. Good luck with your decision. T.

I had my daughters ears pierced when she was 4 months after two rounds of shots. Yes, she did cry but no more than when she crys at shots. I wanted them done not because I thought they were "cute" but because I wanted to be able to take care of them myself so they would not become infected. She is now almost 13 months as has not once played with them, I just recently changed them out for a blue pair and she doesnt even notice them there. I had my ears done when I was 5 months old, I love that my mom got them done early. I got my second holes when I was 15 and guess what, I dont have them anymore because I constantly messed with them (cleaned them everyday) and they got infected and I had to take them out. Still only have my one set of holes, not going that route again. :)
Hope this helps! Take care!

We pierced our daughter's ears at 5 months and she never played with them or even knew they were there for nearly 2 years. Now at 3.5 years old, she loves them. I have another daughter that just turned 3 months and I am ready to do hers too. I wanted to do it early so they wouldn't be played with and there woudn't be any infection. Just make sure you turn them regularly so the skin doesn't heal over them. Once fully healed, I also switched out the ear piercing earring and switched them with screw on posts so they wouldn't fall out and because they have a rounded cap over them making them comfortable and they won't poke her behind her ears. I liked the ear piercing earring for the healing process because they are thicker and will make changing earrings easier in the future.

15, and that is years, not weeks or months!

I have two girls, my oldest is almost 9 and I never pierced her ears. I thought I wanted to pierce her ears when she was a newborn but when I saw her for the first time I changed my mind, she was just so perfect I did not want to alter her body in any way, I thought she would decide for herself when she was older.
Well just this week she started asking about having her ears pierced, she is very excited about and we are doing it next week. She will choose the earrings and everything, she will remember it as a special occasion, she can't wait and asks about it everyday!
my youngest is one year old and I want to wait too, maybe she will do it sooner because "big sister" has earrings,

Whatever you decide your baby will be fine, they do look adorable with earrings, I would wait until she is six months old at least so her immune system has become a little stronger. JMO
Good luck! let us know what happens!

My mom had my sister and I's ears pierced when we were a few weeks old, probably around a month. I've asked her, how that went, she said it healed easily, we cried for about 2 minutes, and we never noticed they were there. I had my second, and third holes, done when i was 18. they never healed properly, the third hole in one ear has closed, and every time i put new earrings in those holes, they get red and irritated. I no longer really use them. I did a really good job taking care of them. but that didn't really help.

I would say if you are going to do it as a baby, the earlier the better. everything heals better. if you are going to wait--- then wait until they are much older, so they can decide for themselves, don't fidget around while it's being done, and are responsible enough to take care of them.

for me, it's a cultural thing to get your daughter's ears pierced early, i see no problem with it.

My daughter is now 6 mo and her ears are pierced. I did them when she turned 4 mo. It was hard to watch, but believe me, the pain doesn't last long. I gave her Tylenol 15 min before hand. Then when we got in there, we made sure the person who did it, did each ear immediately after another. Then I just sat for about 5 min and cuddled her. She fell asleep in my arms and woke up babbling away like usual. :D I think getting your child's ear pierced at this age is more of a personal preference on time. I did mine because I figured I would just get it over with and do it while they are young and forgetful. :D

Hey there
Have you asked your pediatrician if they will do it? I ask that because mine did my daughters ears when she was 4 months and i was sooo happy. I wanted them pierced when i could take care of them and not worry about infection. She did not cry with the actual piercing, just mad that we were holding her in a certain way for him to do it. If they don't do it, see if they can recommend a place that they trust to go to, or see if one of your other doctors will do it for you.

Good Luck

Whatever you like, it's as much a cultural choice as anything. As for the argument: "Don't do it, it ought to be her choice," sure, fine, don't name her either, just call her "Temporary" until she's old enough to name herself.

Most places will not do it until 6 months. The guns they use now are single use, so a new gun will be opened in front of you. Make sure there are 2 workers so they can do both ears at the same time to lesson the trauma. I had mine done at age one, and am thankful to my mom for having it done so young, because even when I have gone through phases were I have not wanted to wear earrings, my holes did not close due to getting it done at such a young age. I do not understand why some people are so against it. I have boys, so I did not do theirs as babies, but when my than 3 year old asked, I happily took him to Claires, and a year later he still loves to show off his earrings to everyone he meets!

My Dr. wont do it until they girls where 6months of age. I would only go to the doctor because places in the mall are not as clean as the doctor's.

I pierced my daughter's ears at 3 months and 1 day. She doesn't even know they're there. At least not yet. She's busy rolling over and swatting things. LOL. I waited until after her first set of shots. Sooner is better before she realizes what's going on, or that something is about to happen. My daughter hollered for about 10 seconds each ear and that was that! So far, no problems treating them for the next six weeks when she will be a little over 4 months and more active.

I personally think its kind of a right of passage for a young girl. I wanted pierced ears so bad when I was 10ish. I think when I was twelve I finally was allowed. It was very special to do with my mom. I got to pick out my first studs and remember the experience. I didn't understand then but I do now. It was something I could look forward to and let me know that some things have to come with age when growing up. Which I think is pretty important for young girls to understand.

Dr. Phil says, not until the beginning of puberty!

This is really a personal decision. It seems as though people have pretty strong opinions on it. For me...I had my daughter's ears pierced at 8 weeks, as soon as I got the OK from her ped (after the 8 week vaccinations). She cried for about 30 seconds - it was no different than when she gets shots at the doctor. Keeping her ears well cleaned at this age was a BREEZE - this was before she was the squirmy independent 7 month old that she is now! Back then she patiently stayed put on her back and let me clean and turn them at every diaper change. She has had no infections, swelling, problems, etc. She even received teeny tiny diamond studs from my father for her Christening : )

I got both of my girls pierced at 6 months. They seemed to only mind being held still, because as soon as I let them go they stopped crying. I have had no issues with them pulling at the earrings or anything.

I think the minimum age is 3mo (that's when they have the minimum shots they need ) and that's when I got my daughter's done. She cried like 10sec each and hasn't thought about it since. Since she was so young, it was easy to hold her still and the at home cleaning was 3 X a day and wasn't too difficult because she wasn't rolling over or trying to sit up (like an older baby would do)