To pierce or not to pierce???

Question

I know this question has been asked many times but I haven't read where anyone regretted their decision.

My little girl is 10 months and I'd like to get her ears pierced, but I do have my reservations.

I've read the pros and cons, yet I'm still torn. I'd like to because it's what my mom did for me and her mom did for her and it seems to be a pretty common thing to do for little girls.

On the other hand I think it would be sweet if one day she came up to me and asked if she could get her ears pierced?

What do you think?

Has anyone ever regretted getting their daughter's ears pierced at a young age? Specifically why?

Thanks for your input :)

Answer 1

When getting your baby's ears pierced at such a young age - are you getting them because *they* want them? No, *her* ears pierced because *you* want them done.  Do you think that God somehow made your baby deficient? No.  God made her perfect the way she is, and if she wants to alter her body, it should be because she wants to do so.

Answer 2

I asked to have my ears peirced when I was 10. I wont be peircing my daughters ears when she is a baby, Ill be waiting for her to ask me.

Answer 3

Mine were done at a year old, and we did my daughter's at the same age.

My husband wanted to wait til she could ask for them herself.  Based on the interest she was already showing in other people's "pretties", I figured it wouldnt be long before she was wanting some of her own.  I decided that I wanted them done while she was still little.  If we waited til she was age 3 or so, she'd have her grubby little hands all over them.  

We took her in to a pro piercer and had them done with piercing needles.  I know it sounds mean, but its better in the long run.  They heal faster and have less risk of infection that way.  I brought along some treats, and she forgot all about it as soon as I gave them to her!  After that, she forgot they even existed!  Her ears were only pink for 3 days, and she never touched them.  She never acted like they were sore or anything.  By the time she started noticing that she had earrings, they were long since healed!  We had tiny captive bead hoops put in so that they wouldnt poke behind her ears while she lays down.  Also, because they are nearly impossible for a child to take out on their own!  If you're not sure what type of earring that is, you can see here:  http://tinyurl.com/5zt33o  Just ask your piercer if they have little bitty ones!

Our daughter is 3 now, and loves her earrings!!!  We are very happy with the age that we had them done at.  One of my neices got them done when she was older, and wouldnt stop playing with them.  Had to be taken out because they got so infected.  Get them done young enough, and your child wont even know they are there!

No regrets here.  Our 2nd daughter is 5 months old now, and we plan on doing hers at about the same age.

PS: We made sure we went to a reputable piercer.  My husband and I had even had our own piercings done by her, so we knew we could trust her equipment to be sterile.  I was amazed at how well it went!  When I had my 2nd ear holes done as a teen with a gun, they took weeks to heal!  My daughter's ears seemed to barely notice they had been pierced.  Also, one person mentioned how uncomfortable it is to sleep in earrings.  If you check out the type I recommended, they shouldn't cause any discomfort when she is laying down.  Good luck!

Answer 4

my mom pierced my ears when i was a baby, and i wanted to have my twin daughters' ears pierced too. my pediatrician told me that piercing was available in the office and that after my girls completed their first rounds of vaccinations it would be safe to do it. so my girls were around 7 months old. the pediatrician who pierced one of the girls ears first pierced one side higher than the other and told me she wanted to re-pierce it. i consented because my daughter's ear was numb and she didnt seem to be bothered at all by the piercing. on the second attempt, the doctor jammed the piercing gun with my daughters ear half pierced and then proceeded to crank on the gun until she freed it. by this point, i dont know who was crying harder, my daughter or myself. i told the doctor to stop once she removed the gun, but she went ahead and re-pierced her ear before i could stop her. when all was said and done, she had pierced her ears crooked again. i was enraged and demanded she remove the earrings. the idiot doctor then offered to re-pierce them again--of course i declined. she then had the nerve to say *well, dont worry, we wont charge you for this procedure*. ::sigh:: so i guess the long and short of this rant is that after it happened, i regretted putting my child through unnecessary pain just because i thought earrings looked sweet on a baby girl. i felt like a criminal for thinking that i had the right to put my baby through unnecessary pain or to force my ideals on my child by putting holes in her. who's to say how she'll feel about being pierced when she grows up? anyway, when it was all said and done, i ended up feeling pleased that she ended up without earrings because shes just perfect the way she came to me. once i saw the earrings on her, it sort of looked unnatural and barbaric to me, even thought i have pierced ears myself. so im going to wait until my girls are old enough to chose for themselves.

Answer 5

Let her ask you. I wish my mom would have let me choose. she did mine when i was little and i hate earrings and have problems with them .

Answer 6

I took my daughter and get her ears pierced when she was 4 months old.  When we got there, she was asleep in the stroller.  I had to pick her up and hold her while they pierced her ears (they had 2 people so they could do them both at the same time) and she never even woke up.  I put her back in the stroller after they were done and it was like nothing even happened to her.  That day I also got my cartilidge pierced so that when she gets older I can tell her we got them on the same day (I thought that would be cute)  Her ears healed up very quickly, never had a problem with them.  At the age of 18 months I took her to JcPenneys and got her first pair of birthstone earrings and put them in.  She is 21 months old now and has never messed with them or anything.  My mother got my sister and I's ears pierced when we were 6 months old and she said we never bothered them either.  I don't regret it at all.  Every parent is different though.  I wanted to get it done at an earlier age for 2 reasons:

1. Babies don't seem to bother them as much as older children do because they aren't old enough to be facinated by them.

2. I have went with 3 of my cousin's (all seperate occasions) to get their ears pierced at an older age.  

Only one of them walked out with 2 earrings.  

I was 15 when we took my then 4 year old cousin,  she freaked out and jerked her head causing the first hole to tear and REFUSED to let them near her to do the other one.  She is now 11 and still doesnt have them done cause she is scared.

I was 16 when we took my then 9 year old cousin, she did mainly the same thing but she didn't jerk and tear her first hole.  She just walked around for almost 3 years with only 1 ear pierced before she would go back and let them do the other one (she is now 15 and says she is never getting anymore peircings).

I was only 12 when we took my then 7 year old cousin....and she sat there and took it like a champ, didn't complain or anything.  She is now 17 and  has 15 holes total in her ears  I actually have 11 now and all but 3 of them  I have went and got done with her.

I just didnt want to take the chance of something like what happened to my 2 cousins happening to my daughter.  If I have another girl later on down the road, I would do it the same way.  

Answer 7

i haven't pierced my daughter's and she is 1 year & 10 months. i want to wait for her to ask me when she is older when she is ready. i just don't think its worth it let's say their ears get infected or just something happens. i would not forgive myself just for being selfish. i don't even notice when little girls have ears pierced. i would say not to do it.

Answer 8

I got mine pierced then I was 16.  it was a big event for me and my friend to go get it done, My baby is 5 months now, I will wait - let her have memories and choose when and what earrings - so it will be an event for her too. And by the way - to me it just makes little cute girl look much older with earrings, well it is just my opinion.

Answer 9

well i dont have a kid but my parents did get my ears periced when i was a baby and the good thing is i dont remember any pain and all that but as i got older and my ears grew the holes where my earrings were seemed to be in different spots so now my holes are not the same. i think you should wait so when there ears grow they can have there holes even with each other.  

Answer 10

The only problem with getting them done at a young age is they tend to grow keloids - those big ugly skin scars, and they usually grow over the earrings. Then they have to have the earrings or backs removed by the doctor, and they FREAK. My friend had her daughter's ears pierced at six months old, and had to have the earrings cut out at 10 months and she had to be repierced at 3 years old.

It would be cute if she asked.  

Answer 11

I wouldn't do it because they have no idea why someone is sticking a needle through there ear and they are in pain.  Just wait until she is old enough to ask you ( I asked my mom when I was 5 ) and then take her..weather it's 3 or 13.

Answer 12

I don't know of any regrets. I understand how cute it would be and it is also cute in their pictures and when you see her now with pierced ears. Loads of people have been saying, "Why or you decorating her" or "Let her make that choice". But if she doesn't like it, let them close. Most likely, if she doesn't have them pierced, seeing other little girls with them pierced makes her want them. And they will hurt less now than later. I say do it now.

Answer 13

We had our daughter's ears pierced when she was 3 months old.  I don't have any regrets.  She has never had an infection, cried for all of 30 seconds when we got them pierced, has never messed with them, never complained about them.  

I don't know of any little girls that don't want their ears pierced at some point.  And IF your daughter doesn't want them pierced when she's older, she can always remove the earrings and the holes will close.

Answer 14

I think you should wait until she can decide for herself and that way she will have that memory of getting her ears pierced when she gets older.  

Answer 15

I think you should wait and let her ask you. It should be her own decision as to whether or not she wants them peirced. I dont like seeing little babys with earrings in there ears. Because when they are trying to sleep its very aggervating because they cant take them out and so on...I know myself when I sleep in my earrings its aggervating and I cant imagine on a little babys ear.

So, If I were you, I would hold off until she is older. Plus, what if the percing needle wasnt sterile? There are to many cons at her age. Hope this answer helped.  

Answer 16

I honestly think you should wait until she is old enough to decide to do it on her own,then take her to an actual piercing studio and have it done. it's less painful with the needle than the gun because the instrument is sharper and it is not pushed through,but rather cuts through. NEVER get a piercing with a piercing gun. The gun cannot be autoclaved (full sterilized) and will spray tiny pieces of other people's blood and flesh (and maybe even hepatitis or AIDS) when used again on you or whomever else, and also hurts more because it causes more blunt force flesh trauma, which can cause bruises, hypertrophic scarring, or even shattered cartilage. Do yourself a favor, shell out the money and go to the piercing studio and have it done the sterile safe way, with a new clean needle, by a licensed professional, without the use of a spring-loaded, needle-wielding disease machine.

Answer 17

I want to do it but my husband/their daddy is 100% against it and said that they need to ask.

So I'm trying to teach them to say:

"Earrings."

lol