Piercing baby's ears??

[MPWife153]

I didn't get my ears pierced till I was able to ask tohave them done. I cried for 15mins on the carride home from the mall & another 30 mins once home. I had my DD's ears pireced at 6 mos & she cried only for as long as it to for me to get the bottle back in her mouth after it was finished! I am so glad I did this b/c she is scared to death of shots & would never want to get her ears pierced on her own. She wearing her earrings & we never had a problem with her taking them out or playing with them even as an infant. Go with your gut! That's what I did & both DD & I are glad.

 

[Motherofboys]

DD got her ears pierced at 4 months. The only problem we have ever had was when she was older and we changed her earrings, we found out she was allergic to nickel and had to switch back to 14K gold earrings. She never touched them, but I bough the locking backs for them in case she did. She cried for maybe a minute when it happened.


As with anything, t's a decision you have to make, and to not listen to other people. I had so many people belittle my decision to have her ears pierced. Now she talks about how her friends are getting theirs done and they talk about how it hurts, and she doesn't remember.

The OP asked for thoughts. Maybe it is important for her to know that there ARE girls out there who never wanted their ears pierced and would have been very upset if their mother had made that decision for them, at a time when they had no voice in the matter.

I don't see how it is your decision to make a purely cosmetic, permanent change to your daughter's body when she is not old enough to have a say in the matter

I respect that some people have their daughter's pierced b/c it is part of their culture, but a lot of these seem to be "everyone around here has their daughter's ears pierced"......is that a good reason? That's for each mom to decide for herself.

It just makes me sad that you are deciding it for your daughter too.

Maybe all of your daughter's will grow up to want pierced ears, great for them, but why not give them the choice?

FWIW, I don't know very few women and girls under the age of 40 that have pierced ears...it's not really in style here and hasn't been for many years. So I guess that shows you how different each culture/region is.

 

[Fintastic]

Oh, and we did circumsize our son. I just don't like how earrings look on babies.

 

[mjkacmom]

It just makes me sad that you are deciding it for your daughter too.

Maybe all of your daughter's will grow up to want pierced ears, great for them, but why not give them the choice?

FWIW, I don't know very few women and girls under the age of 40 that have pierced ears...it's not really in style here and hasn't been for many years. So I guess that shows you how different each culture/region is.

Oh for goodness sake! It's a pierced ear, not foot binding - no need to be sad! I know my girls are sad I didn't get their ears pierced when they were babies, because they told me so. If someone is resentful of their mom over pierced ears, there are other issues going on in the relationship.

I honestly never met a grown woman without pierced ears - I believe about 80% of women in the US have them pierced at some point.

 

[locolala]

Most of the girls I grew up with had at least one hole in each ear. I had 4 holes in each at one point, all but two have completely closed up with no visible mark I ever had them. Ear piercing isn't a permanent thing, so honestly I would get my daughter's ears pierced at a young age. I wish my parents had gotten mine done when I was really young, instead I remember the pain. A little baby isn't going to remember it.

Word of caution though, don't have them done with the gun. It can cause keloid scarring.

 

[Chelley00]

The OP asked for thoughts.

I don't see how it is your decision to make a purely cosmetic, permanent change to your daughter's body when she is not old enough to have a say in the matter.

It just makes me sad that you are deciding it for your daughter too.

My comment about not listening to other people is more for people who have people belittle them after they've made a decision for their child, kind of like what you did to me. I'm sure my daughter will have all kinds of issues with my parenting skills as she gets older. If her being mad over her pierced ears is the smallest issue we have, I'll be thrilled.

 

[maraki527]

I really cant believe how rude some people on this board are being. Please ladies grow up

 

[Motherofboys]

My comment about not listening to other people is more for people who have people belittle them after they've made a decision for their child, kind of like what you did to me. I'm sure my daughter will have all kinds of issues with my parenting skills as she gets older. If her being mad over her pierced ears is the smallest issue we have, I'll be thrilled.

I am sorry if you took it as "belittling" you. That was not the intention. I feel strongly on this issue, I realize that others think it is no big deal.

I don't have a problem with presenting the other side of the issue, even if it is not the popular one. I think it is important to stand up for something you believe in, that's why I bothered to answer on this thread. Maybe it ticked you off, maybe it gave some people a moment's pause and something to think about - that's the great thing about this forum, it provides us with an avenue to do that outside of our immediate surroundings.

OP, I hope that our discussions have shed some light on the matter for you and given you something to think about.

 

[2binak]

I have a 20 month old DD and the decision to get earrings or not will be hers to make when she's older.

I'm in my 30's and growing up, the rule was that you could not get your ears pierced until you were 15. My older sister begged my parents to get my ears pierced for years but they never gave in and I'm so glad they didn't! I finally gave in to my sister's begging when I was 17 and I hated every minute of the 8 weeks I wore those earrings. I finally took them out and let the holes close up. I honestly found them annoying and they were such a pain to take care of.

 

[RMulieri]

I waited with my daughter and it is up to her to decide if and when she wants it done.She is now 5 yrs old and for now says she doesn't want to.

 

[wmharley]

our DD4 got it at 6 months... she didn't scream because of the pain, she screamed because the "gun" was loud as heck.. it startled her.. less than a minute later she was fine...

didn't even try and touch her ears..

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

It isn't rude to give an opinion. I don't think any child is going to wind up in therapy over being pierced or circed. But I think it is funny to say "to each his own" when making lifetime physical changes that affect other people. Even small people.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

My DD got her ears pierced at 8 months. She yelled for about 30 seconds total. The lady that pierced her ears even remarked how well she did for such a young age, so not all babies scream for 30 minutes.

And my son was circed as in infant for purely cosmetic reasons.

For the record, my DD is now 6 and loves her pierced ears, sorry never really discussed my sons (whos now 11) circ with him to see how he felt.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

My DD got her ears pierced at 8 months. She yelled for about 30 seconds total. The lady that pierced her ears even remarked how well she did for such a young age, so not all babies scream for 30 minutes.

And my son was circed as in infant for purely cosmetic reasons.

For the record, my DD is now 6 and loves her pierced ears, sorry never really discussed my sons (whos now 11) circ with him to see how he felt.

LOL, wait a few years until he hears about it! My son about died!

My daughter also decided at 11 that she wanted her ears pierced. We went out, got mani/pedi's, had lunch, picked up gold studs and went to the docs ofc. I worked at Spencer's through college. I'd never go to a retail store to have it done. We weren't allowed to pierce babies.

 

[Juliet25]

I don't think it's a terrible thing, but the thought of piercing my girls' ears when they were babies is a bit disturbing. I know we all hate giving them shots; I don't like the idea of causing them pain electively. It's a decision I wouldn't make, but I don't think it would cause permanent damage (besides the ear hole, lol).

 

[DisneyBabies]

I got my ears pierced when I was 12. I had to wait because my older sister had hers for two years before I was born and (according to mom) had neumerous infections because she wouldn't leave them alone and mom didn't want to deal with another round of ears. I hated waiting. Begged for YEARS! But I still had to wait until I was 12. And I still remember how bad it hurt .

So I decided not to do that to my DD. We got hers done at 4 months. Gave her tylenol right before, the two girls at the store each took an ear and did it at the same time. DD started crying till DS came up and patted her leg and told her it would be ok that he was there and would take care of her . . . then DH and I realized DS was the one crying, not DD . They were both fine after a couple of minutes.

We haven't had any problems with DD's ears. She has never messed with them; she just seemed to take it as they were part of her so no big deal. We have always bought 14k gold earrings with safety backs so we don't worry about an allergic reaction or her pulling them off and eating them. She is 3 years old now and is starting to help clean her ears every night even if she doesn't wear earrings that day, although those days are few and far between since she usually asks to put in earrings right after we brush teeth.

 

[duffy]

I always feel sorry for them when I see little babies with pierced ears. Mentally, I'm thinking, "poor lil things-aww!" *sniff*

 

[kevschickee]

It isn't rude to give an opinion. I don't think any child is going to wind up in therapy over being pierced or circed. But I think it is funny to say "to each his own" when making lifetime physical changes that affect other people. Even small people.

Its pierced ears for god sake they close up. I have 2 piercings in each ear and 1 set closed up.

 

[santa's surpriz]

I was told by mom that I had to be 13, my dad was a softy and took me to the mall a few days before Christmas when I was in the 2nd grade. I can still remember how ticked my mom was!( and that was 30 years ago!)

For my dd, I am sticking to the 13 year old rule. I hear all about it already, but I am the momma in this house! The way I see my dd is just like me and by age 13 my daughter will probably do something that will I want to add another hole in her head! (forgive me that is really how I feel about and I laugh everytime! I remember that antics I put my mother through at that age!) In all seriousness, I have chosen to wait bc both my ex and I agree on this, she is already 6 going on 16, there is just so much that encourages her to grow up too fast, since I can leverage a little control here I am.

 

[playswithstars]

I'm all for having babies ears pierced. I had my ears pierced before I was even a year old and I turned out fine. I'm actually really glad that my mom had it done because I wouldn't have had the courage to do it now. I hate, hate needles.