Get Ears Pierced on Child?

My dd got hers done when she was 3 1/2. She wanted them done and was really excited about it. It has been over a year now and she still loves them. The piercing went fine, she does fine wearing them.... BUT it is just more work for me. She cant take care of them herself, so I have to. She loses the backs to them all the time, so then loses the earrings as well. I don't think she even has any matching pairs left right now. If I had it to do over again, I would wait til she was older to take care of them herself (with little guidance). My other dd is 6 and does not want them done, she doesnt want the pain! Fine with me! :)
S.

My sister owns a hair salon and of course her little girl had pierced ears when she was a baby.

She doesn't have any problems at all. Most of the little girls that they pierce in the shop are from all ages. If they stop wearing them, the hole just closes up.

Soem people react different then others, so it's hard to say.

But one thing for sure. Make sure if you do pierce ears that keep the area clean. We used the Melaleuca oil for our daughters ears when she got them pierced. There was no infection & the holes healed quicker.

We let our daughter choose when she wanted them. It was kind of fun. It gave us another idea for presents!

It's really up to the parents. If your hubby says wait, then I would respect his wishes.

J.

The rule in my household is that you can get your ears pierced as a rite of passage when she gets her period. That way, I get the benefit of making my six year old wait, AND we get a way to celebrate her growth and take away some of the fear and apprehension about menstruation. It works for us.

Hi Mamatatwo
My daughter was about the same age when she insisted she needed her ears pierced. I told it would hurt and explained what they would do and that you need to clean them EVERY day and all of the other stuff that comes with haveing your ears pierced. Well we did it at 4 and it was not very easy on any of us. I would have two people pierce at the same time we only had one and need to fight with her to pierce the other one. She ended up being allergic to nickel so she broke out from all earrings until I realized what she was allergic too. We had to fight with her to clean them and she is almost 6 and her holes have pretty much closed up even though she wore her earings way longer than the time suggested. I just wanted to tell you my story and let you know if I could do it over we would wait until she is older. Your daughter may be fine Good luck this is not an easy decision :)T.

My 6 year old got hers done yesterday at Claire's. She is the youngest of our 4 daughters. The RULE in our home has been "9" to get your your ears pierced, but being the youngest, and quite spoiled, I gave in (thanks to pressure from every one from her 21 year old sister to her father!). She did ok with the procedure, itself, but the remainder of yesterday and today were not good. She was whiney and refused to let anyone touch her ears. I am an RN and an EMT. I guess I would not advocate having a young child's ears pierced. We are now battling the cleansing with antiseptic 3 times a day for 2 months. And, yes it does sting. Personally, we have to make our own decisions, but I sincerely wish I would have put my foot down harder on the other members in my family who agreed to this. Good luck with what you decide to do. Being a mom is never easy, especially when dealing with Divas!

C.

Well, I may get a bunch of comments, but I had both my girls' ears pierced when they were babies. I think I did Savannahs around 3 months and Shelby was 6 weeks. They NEVER pulled or picked at them at all. I never had any issues with them and still don't. Neither one cried when they had them done. The each have little (and I mean little) diamond studs that they wear all the time. I will never put cheap earrings in, only real gold to help prevent infections. But I have to say they also both wear a ring (real gold) with their birthstone and also a necklace. One is 7 and the other is 4. I have never lost anything.

I've never met a girl who didn't want her ears pierced or was mad because her mom had her ears pierced.

The only time I would make the child wait to make a responsible decision choice like that is if it's a boy. Just because a boy may regret it or not want it later on in life.

I had my daughter's ears pierced at 4mos.old. It was the perfect age, she didn't cry just winced for a second til I got her pacifier out and never touched or messed with her ears therefore we never had any problems. She is now 6 years old and begged all of last summer for a second hole so she would have two earrings in each ear. I made sure it wasn't a quick decision and that she really wanted it. So I let her. This time around she's been old enough to clean them herself etc, but we did have alot of problems with this set getting infected etc.

I have 7 holes in my ears and I usually don't wear but one set of earrings and you can't tell I have the rest of the holes unless you were two inches from my face. I have my nose pierced right now and in the past I had pierced my eyebrow two different times. And when I was a teenager and my dad wouldn't let me get my belly button pierced I did it myself behind his back. Looks botched and there is a scar now.

So anyways I'm very easy going with what my daughter wants. And I can't be a hypocrite and tell her no when I have something. I just make sure it's something she truely wants and go with it. I do have stipulations with any more piercings my daughter has to wait til she's like 12 or 13.

My parent's didn't let me pierce my ears until my 18th birthday. They don't believe in piercings/tattoos because it's abusing the body God gave me. I don't particularly follow that idea, but I understand where they're coming from.

Pardon my bluntness, but I don't agree in piercing a child's ears when they're that young. My friend did it to her daughter when she was only 10 months old because they thought she looked too "boyish". She's ripped them out twice now (she's 2 1/2) and has had to have antibiotics prescribed to treat an infection from playing/pulling on them too much.

True, I think it's cute, but at the same time, why do we make our children think they need to decorate themselves to be pretty? What's wrong with walking around with Daddy's eyes and Mommy's smile? Let her hit 8 or so, like your husband said, when she can make an informed decision about what it means to get them pierced. (ie the momentary pain, the cleaning and care, the long term effects, etc) It's HER body. Help her grow to respect it and to be proud of it so she can be confident to know she's doing the right thing for HER.

HI!

You know it is purely your decision on whether you want to deal with the daily cleaning & maintenance. My niece had it done at about 4 & she did not keep up on them & they closed up. She tried it again on her 7th Birthday & so far so good. When they are this young you need to be the one to clean them & everything but when they are a bit older they can help out more. I am debating on piercing my 5 year olds ears but still not sure if she is ready. Take care!

We decided our daughter cannot get her ears pierced until she is old enough to take care of them herself.

My daughter got hers done at 3. In her case we did them because she was so fascinated with earings she'd try to take other people's out and put them in her ears! There was only one person working the day we went so they couldn't do both ears at the same time. She cried a lot but the saleslady and I both told her repeatedly that we could come back another day and do the other one (or not do the other one at all) but she wasn't having any of that! Anyway she didn't at all for the second ear, I think because she knew what to expect. My only regret was she got in a fight with a boy when she was 5 and her earring got ripped out. She's almost 17 now and still has to be careful about what earrings she wears. On the plus side I don't have to worry about her wearing huge earings that make her look like a skank because they weigh to much and will rip her ear again.

My daughter waited until she was 7yrs old. When she turned 7yrs old, she was than afraid to get them done...lol.... But we ended up getting them done and she was fine with it. She was able to help take care of them and at that age she didn't play with them at all, so I didn't have to worry as much about infection.

I had to wait until I was 13yrs old to get mine done.. I got mine double pierced when I was 27yrs old...

It really the decision between you and your husband. I wouldn't start a argument bewteen the 2 of you over this. She is only 3 1/2 yrs old and I am sure she want' alot of thing she can't have...lol

My parents got my ears pierce when I was about 1 yrs old. Not sure why they had it done??? Anyhow, I very rarely wear earrings now, but it certainly doesn't bother me having them pierced.

Perhaps make sure she understands that it will hurt a little bit. If anything the noise will scare her.

good luck!

The previous response was a bit harsh! I wouldn't call it disrespect to pierce her ears. My oldest daughter was about 3 when she asked to have her ears pierced. She may have been 2 1/2, but she was almost potty trained and I used it as the big reward when she was dry for a week. She sat in the chair at the jewelry store like she was so big and didn't even flinch when they did it. She walked around the mall afterward so proud of herself and her earrings. She never picked at them and we have never had a problem. She did go through a phase where she didn't wear them for a year or two-but now at 12 years old she wears little birthstones. If you do decide to do it I would just encourage you to only let her wear small stud-like styles. You want to avoid heavy earrings. Hope this is helpful!