When to Pierce?

I did my now 16yo daughter the day she got out of the hospital, she was sleep and didn't even flinch. I think now you have to wait until the get a certain age (at least that is what I've heard)

i got my first ear piercing at 8 and my second at 14, and now i can't even wear earrings cause my ears are sensitive to all metals except gold which i can't afford. my daughter is almost two, and for a while i went back and forth about getting her ears pierced, but i waited too long, and now i can't get them done for a while. she's at that age now, where she wouldn't leave them alone if i did it now and it would just cause problems. I don't really see the reason to wait until age 14 for something as simple as an ear piercing. nowadays, its not a fashion statement or a rebellion, its just a way to look and feel pretty and pull together an outfit. I think doing it as very young babies is best. before they really have the coordination to reach and grab their ears. by the time they do, the piercings will be healed and they will be used to them.

Personally, I am against peircing babies, but there are many people who do it. My oldest daughter wanted her ears pierced at 5, she kept bugging me and bugging me and for her 6th Birthday I gave in, but I know it is her body and SHE wanted it done. I told her that is painful and she would have to take really good care of her ears.
She is very proud of her earings and I feel okay that it was her decision.
My personal opinion is to have the child make the choice, it is their body. I did think that 6 was young, but she asked me if should could have it done and had been asking.

My four year old has not asked and seems to have no interest. I think that she should be able to have that right to choose if she wants earings(there are some girls who don't) I wouldn't want her to resent me if I made that choice for her and she didn't like it. If she decides in a year that she wants it done, I let a lot of time go by and see if it is something that she brings up over and over. If she really wants it then I will do the same thing with her as I did with my 8 year old.
Hope this helps.

P.S. 14 seems a little old to put a minimum age, there will also be resentment as a pre-teen if she wants it done and Dad says no. My Dad said no and I pierced them myself at 10 years old, they got infected and it was painful. I got them done professionally 6 mos later. I don't think my parents wanted to pay the insurance deductable again.

Congrats on your new baby!!!!

I don't agree with piercing babies at all. You should wait until she can make the choice herself. I look at it like this, what would you say to a mother who wanted to get her babies nose or lip pierced because she thought "it's cute!" Or what about tattooing a baby? I definatly think that you should no pierce your babies ears. Wait.

When my dsd was around 7, her Mom got her ears pierced. At first, I disagreed as I thought we should wait til she was old enough to clean them daily and take care of them herself. Kind of a rite of passage like someone else mentioned. When she was with us, she cleaned them completely on her own. When she was at her Mom's, her Mom took care of them. This is pretty much the way it is, to this day. Here, she takes care of herself, there, her Mom does and she is 16.

I have a daughter and I got her ears done when she was about 7 months. I thought it was good this way because she has never even played with them. I also got mine done when I was a baby, my mom thought it was better this was becuase she new someday I would want it, and might be too scared and chicken out (as she did for years!) Either way, if you do it young, some people will always disagree with your decision...oh well. Just make sure you and your spouse agree!

I am not in favor of piercing a baby's ears. (Why inflict pain and risk infection on a baby for the sake of the mother's vanity?) I'd wait until she is old enough to understand the ramifications of the decision INCLUDING being old enough to take care of her ears - depending on her maturity levels, I'd predict this will be around age 10. (Waiting until 14 seems a little excessive - and she may surprise your husband by piercing her own ears at a friend's house before then!)

I'm kinda in the same boat...
my daughter is now 4 years and I wanted to have them done when she was baby. My hubby wasn't comfortable with that so we chose to wait. I'm just going wait until she asks to get them done. Its kinda a "right of passage" for little girls to have their ears pierced. My hubby hasn't set an age limit but, I wanted to respect his opinion when she was a baby.

My girlfriend had her little girls ears done as a "prize" for potty training. So getting her ears pierced might come in handy as "incentive" for when she is older!

(btw, I had them done when I was around 8 or 9)

I don't think my mom would have ever let me get my ears pierced if it weren't for my friend getting hers done first. I think I was 12. As a mother of all boys, I don't think I will ever have to deal with this myself. But, if I were to ever be in your situation I would make sure that she was definately old enough to take care of them herself. You could make a fun day out of it. Just a mom and daughter day. Do lunch too. It could be alot of fun. I think if you do it when they are babies you are taking that special moment away that you and your daughter could be sharing. Good Luck

Hello,

I had my daughters ears pierced when she was 3 months old. She cried only for a minute, not any worse than when they get their immunizations! She has never pulled on them, they dont cause her problems when she sleeps and believe me she looks adorable! I think the younger the better! My husband was hesitant at first but now he is glad we had them done.

L.
____@____.com

I have two little girls, ages 2 1/2 and 11 months and I got both their ears pierced as babies.

I will give a opinion from some of the professional piercers that I have known the main rule of thumb for them is no piercings until the person is old enough to choose and take care of the piercing. now these are not people who work in jewelry stores that pierce with guns these are people who are OSHA certified and pierce all body parts for a living. and yes ears are just as important as any other part even though they are more socially acceptable does not make them at any less risk of infection in fact the worst infection I had from a piercing was when my mom let me pierce my ear (for a second time first I was 6 mo)at 12 and the piercing gun went too deep into my skin and the metal they used was not appropriate this can happen to your baby. it is best to stay away from piercing guns in general since they can not be sterilized properly and you donot want to expose your daughter to diseases My opinion is when she starts getting older if she asks for them then you should look at her maturity level and how well she takes care of herself. does she remember to brush her teeth without being told. does she take regular showers on her own. 14 may be to old to wait if she shows maturity or you could decide that she is too young and needs to wait. but this should be her decision as it is her body

I pierced my daughters ears for her 1st birthday. I know people can do it a lot earlier that. My daughter didn't pick at them, pull at them, nothing. She really didn't even cry when we got them pierced. She wasn't phased by the first one at all and when the lady did the second ear she was just about to start crying but the lady gave her a sucker and she was fine.

I think you either have to do it early or wait till they are older. Sophia was young enough that she didn't really notice them, but if I would have tried to do them say now, (she is almost 2) I know it would be a lot bigger challenge.

Personally, I'm not a fan of piercing babies' ears.

My parents made me wait until I was a teenager. I wanted them pierced as a pre-teen, then didn't want to do it as a young teen, and finally had them done when I was 17. I'm glad I got to choose when to pierce my own ears though I wish my parents had let me choose a bit sooner.

I think with our girls, we're going to let them choose to have their ears pierced (if they want to, of course) around the time when they hit puberty - so around pre-teen age. That's when I wanted mine done and they should be old enough to take care of their ears themselves.

A friend of mine lets her girls get their ears pierced for their 7th birthday. It has worked well for them. So maybe a compromise like that would work for your husband :)

Best wishes deciding!
~B.

I agree that a parent should allow the child to decide if they want their ears pierced at all.
I have a four year old daughter now, and she has told me she wants hers pierced some day.
I told her that she is allowed to do that when she is old enough to take care of cleaning her ears herself. You never know what kind of allergies one might have to the metal in earrings. I myself had a terrible experience when I was young with earring allergies and infections.

Both of my girls had their ears pierced at just 6-8 weeks old. It's a cultural preference. It's customary in Mexican/American families to have the ears done in infancy. I would imagine because babies are so resiliant and will quickly forget the pain. It's just something you and your spouse will have to compromise. Good Luck!