OT: At What Age Did You Pierce Your Daughter's Ears?

[lulugirl]

DD is three years old and I don't plan to pierce her ears until she's at least ten. I don't care for the look of earrings on babies and little girls.

I agree, I just don't get the appeal of an infant/toddler wearing earrings, looks absurd IMO.

 

[MyZoeJane]

Oh, one more thing. The thread states " OT: At What Age Did You Pierce Your Daughter's Ears?" not weather or not it is right or wrong.

Let me help you with your reading comprehension...

Yes, the OP did ask at what age... yet you will note that not one person said they felt ear piercing was WRONG as you suggest... the opinions expressed merely differ insofar as what age it is appropriate. Again, very MUCH relates to the OP's original question.

If you pierce a child's ears before they are old enough to truly consent, then you are making a cosmetic decision about their body before they can consent. Period. There is no room for debate. It's just a fact.

If you can live with making that decision for your child, then that's all that matters, though, right? The only risk you really run is having to answer to your child who, later in life, might not want the holes that you put in her ears without her consent.

 

[JVL1018]

I had my daughters done at 9 months.
I think it looks so cute--and truly I have never in 35 years heard of anyone being upset that their ears were pierced without their consent as a baby.
I would think it was pretty odd if some girl got mad at her mother years down the line for having her ears pierced.

It seems like the vast majority of girls end up asking for pierced ears anyway, so that argument holds no water for me.

My DD loves having earrings, its a total non issue IMO--then again I *mutilated* my son by circumsizing him, so take that into consideration

 

[Not so Dumbo]

For those who pierced their DD's ears when they were around 8-9 months, did they play with them afterward or did they forget they were there? I'm starting to wonder if it may already be too late in regards to her touching them and getting them infected.

 

[Tink561]

For those who pierced their DD's ears when they were around 8-9 months, did they play with them afterward or did they forget they were there? I'm starting to wonder if it may already be too late in regards to her touching them and getting them infected.

I don't know about 8-9 months but I had my dd's done about two weeks ago, the day after she turned 1. She doesn't play with them and they're doing great. No infection, no pain.

 

[va32h]

I'm sure it's all a matter of what you are used to. I don't have pierced ears, so it never even occurred to me to pierce my daughters' ears.

They are now 10 and 3, and neither has even mentioned the idea of getting pierced ears - again, probably because they don't see me wearing them, so it's a non-issue in our house.

If I had wanted them to have pierced ears, looking back, it probably would have worked with my oldest, as she was a calm sort of child and would have let me keep them clean, etc. My youngest pretty much hates all forms of hygeine, washing her hair and trimming her nails are torture! She has huge tantrums. So I definitely wouldn't have wanted to add cleaning her ear piercings to that list.

We are also a family that frequently loses socks, belts, hair bows, and other accessories, so we'd probably be losing earrings left and right also.

For me, assuming I wanted it done in the first place, it would depend on the type of child I had and whether I wanted to add in the chore of keeping them clean, keeping track of the earrings, etc.

 

[jennifer293]

DD got hers done when she was 5, we always said we will get them when she asks for them. Well after 3 times of taking her to the store to have it done she finally did it with no pressure from us. This was all her dealings. She never cried or even leaked a tear..well all was good until Sept 15th of last year.one ripped through, but apparently it ripped through over a period of time and I just never noticed. The dr. said it was pierced too low to begin with. So in October we had to have surgery to have her ear lobes stitched back together. We thought that was very traumatic for her and she would not want anymore earrings for a while...WRONG!!! Her father just took her last weekend to have them pierced again..This time he made sure that they were done high enough and not pierced on her scars from the surgery.

JUST BE VERY CAREFUL.....

First ear piercing..... $ 28.00
Surgery to correct the torn ears...$800.00
Second ear piercing....$40.00

My child's happiness....PRICELESS!!!! (or so I tell myself.. )

 

[sdrsdd]

I am waiting until my daughter asks me for them. Then we will talk about the care and responsibility that goes with it.

 

[zdesiree]

In our culture is to do it ASAP. It's like, the boys gets circumsized, and the girls, her ears pierced. My girl got her ears pierced when she was a couple of weeks. The difference is that the ears are very tender, so it hurts less, they won't remember, they don't touch their ears, the first months you hardly go out in public, and her hygiene depends on you. This way she will grow with the habit of taking care of her ears, and that is easier than trying to start a new one when she is bigger. Most of my family members are females and all of them, including me, did it the same way and we don't have record of any infection at all.

 

[Alyssa88]

I had mine done at 6 months and I am very happy. I never had an infection and they never closed up (even going through very long periods of not wearing earrings). I always like having pierced ears, but I hated the thought of pain. I almost had my second holes done at 13 and I freaked out, lol. I would definitely have my daughter's done before she is 1.

 

[tomshortridge]

my dd had hers done when she was about a year.

it really helped since she was a bald baby and most people couldnt tell if she was a boy or gir without!

She doesnt even remember it now (she is 3.5 now) and we just keep in one nice gold stud pair. She doesnt mess with them and they are great!

 

[WildGrits]

Both my daughters had theirs done at 3 months. They never palyed with them. I don't think there was any pain because one actually slept through it.

I took them to the piercing Pagoda at the mall. They where smart. They did both ears at the same time.

 

[pperfectmom]

My daughter is 4. I won't get her ears pierced until she is old enough to ask to have them done - if she wants them at all.

The way I see it is they are HER ears so she should decide if/when she wants holes in them! (just my opinon)

I totally agree and will only do it when she is old enough to take care of them on her own.

 

[c4alymom]

I had my daughter's ears done at three months. She was fine and never cried. She never touched her ears and we have had no problems (she is 4.5 now)

I love that these are "opinion" polls, and yet lots of people tend to strongly "voice" their opinions. (Trying to let everyone know that they believe they are right)

I agree it is up to you. But do not try to say that I did something wrong and must live with the fact that I made a cosmetic decision for my daughter without her consent. My daughter loves her earrings, but if she didn't, we would take them out and let the holes close. No harm done.

 

[AwaitingTheMagic]

I got my ears pierced when I was about 3 months old. Nothing wrong with my piercing, never got infected etc.

I have no hard feelings about my mom for doing this to me. I'm glad she did, because I like earings, but would be too much of a wuss to get them done if I was older...I'm glad I don't remember the pain

So yeah, I don't think as my mom as a bad parent for doing it without my consent!

 

[LisaNJ25]

3 months old for my oldest dd and 11 months for the youngest. Would of done them earlier but she was having surgery and didnt want to take them out and have them close.

 

[LisaNJ25]

Wow, you suffered that much pain?

So, at what age did you all get your son's tongue pierced? Infant, or did you let him decide? Do you all do nipples on the babies, too? Stretch their necks, or carve up their privates?

Your comparing piercing your ears with all of that

yeah all my kids have their nipples pierced

 

[TheDizMom]

I had my daughter's ears pierced at 31/2 months. She never has had any problems and loves having her ears pierced now . When we had them done we went to Claire's and they had her sit on my lap and they did both ears at the same time for minimal trauma . We picked a basic gold ball with the screw on backs so they usually don't lose them. She was so young she didn't even know they were there and never bothered them. It is partally a cultural thing as my mom is from the Philippines and they do them in the hospital at birth. She had us in the states and when we were kids she couldn't get them done when we were babies, so I had to wait til 10. It hurt like hell and I had major infection problems for months afterward. So I like younger. My sister had her girls done around the same age and no problems there either.
Funny story . When DD had hers done she was sitting on my lap so she couldn't see me. My sister was standing in front of her when they pierced her ears. She wouldn't go near my sister for several weeks without crying We think she thought my sister was the one who hurt her ears.

 

[KimKamMom]

I had my DD's done at 7 years old. We wanted them done for her first holy communion. As soon as she got out of the chair, my other DD, age 5 hopped up and said she wanted hers done. So we did it.

 

[aes74]

Your comparing piercing your ears with all of that

yeah all my kids have their nipples pierced

Well, it is extreme, but I think her point is that we have to admit that we are allowing our child to feel some level of pain in order to impose our idea of beauty and fashion on them. It is purely for cosmetic reasons, and so really is a selfish decision. Same reason why people start stretching their daughter's necks in other countries as babies. Again, an extreme example, but it is the same reasoning.

I am not saying it is evil, you automatically join the "bad mom club," I'm just saying, it's not a medical necessity.