Mamas of girls: Ear piercing?

Corinneallyson · February 2009

Who's doing it within the first year? Pros...cons?

Heather&Carl · February 2009

If I do have a girl I will do it as soon as I can becasue the younger they are the less chance they will play with there ears and infect them!

Laura&Mikey · February 2009

I did it for my daughter for her second b-day. I would totally wait if I had to do it over again. She was too young to care, and they fall out and she loses them (even now at 6). If I have another girl I am going to wait till she is older and can change them out herself.

meelar8 · February 2009

Not me, this is one of my sore spots. I'm not going to subject my baby to that pain unless she is old enough to know if she wants it.

TheBrowns · February 2009

I will not pierce my daughter's ears until she is old enough to care for them herself. I think there are some health risks involved and I also think it would be a fun thing to look forward to when she is older.....I think 10 is a good age.

AudNicole · February 2009

Biggest con i've got.

Allergic reactions. More and more people are allergic to nickel, and other metals. I wouldn't want to deal with that in a baby.

If we have a girl she won't be getting her ears pierced until she's old enough to deal with them herself. I have a pretty severe metal allergy (nothing less than 24K gold for me, baby!), even my bro has a slight one, and the likihood of passing it on is enough to keep me away from getting it done on a baby.

meelar8 · February 2009

TheBrowns:
I will not pierce my daughter's ears until she is old enough to care for them herself. I think there are some health risks involved and I also think it would be a fun thing to look forward to when she is older.....I think 10 is a good age.

Same here..I think 10 is my rule too.

BlondePrincess · February 2009

I'm having a boy but if I were having a girl, I would NOT do that - I think it's cruel. Any why does a BABY need earings??????

zoieglow · February 2009

I wouldn't do it. I don't like the way it looks on babies at all. I'd let her do it when she was older if she wanted to though.

Andrea Isaacs · February 2009

I had Emily's ears pierced at 6 months, and am really glad that I did. She has not messed with them or anything. I have heard that the younger they are, the less they mess with them, and won't get infected as easily.

Breezer80 · February 2009

meelar8:

TheBrowns:
I will not pierce my daughter's ears until she is old enough to care for them herself. I think there are some health risks involved and I also think it would be a fun thing to look forward to when she is older.....I think 10 is a good age.

Same here..I think 10 is my rule too.

Me too. I kind of equate it with those giant bows that moms put on their little girls - I just don't like the way it looks. I want to let my baby be a baby and not have to worry about being a girl until she's ready to. We all know that can be enough of a burden!

Of course, absolutely no offense to those who decide to, its just totally not my style ...

hula_lula · February 2009

I assumed that I would with my DD. I talked to the pedi about it and everything. When it came time to do it, DH and I both decided against it. I'm kinda glad we haven't now.

Andrea Isaacs · February 2009

AudNicole:

Biggest con i've got.

Allergic reactions. More and more people are allergic to nickel, and other metals. I wouldn't want to deal with that in a baby.

If we have a girl she won't be getting her ears pierced until she's old enough to deal with them herself. I have a pretty severe metal allergy (nothing less than 24K gold for me, baby!), even my bro has a slight one, and the likihood of passing it on is enough to keep me away from getting it done on a baby.

Emily's dr done hers, and the earrings were plastic for allergy reasons.

lglastorl · February 2009

TheBrowns:
I will not pierce my daughter's ears until she is old enough to care for them herself.

Ditto this.

Mrs_mam · February 2009

I will not do it until she's old enough to request it and care for them.

The New Mrs. · February 2009

emmysmommy07:
AudNicole:

Biggest con i've got.

Allergic reactions. More and more people are allergic to nickel, and other metals. I wouldn't want to deal with that in a baby.

If we have a girl she won't be getting her ears pierced until she's old enough to deal with them herself. I have a pretty severe metal allergy (nothing less than 24K gold for me, baby!), even my bro has a slight one, and the likihood of passing it on is enough to keep me away from getting it done on a baby.

Emily's dr done hers, and the earrings were plastic for allergy reasons.

My niece's all have gold ones. Nickel definitely isn't the only option.

dbsk8dance · February 2009

I am having a boy, but I thought I'd chime in.

My ears were peirced as a child. One day my mom go tme up and I had blood all down my sleeper. I had ripped the earing though (well almost through) during the night.

I still have a scar. If I ever have a girl, we will wait until it is her choice.

dmstar79 · February 2009

I agree with doing it young. I had mine pierced when I was 3 and the holes will never close and never get infected unless I put something from my second piercing in the first hole. My second piercing I got when I turned 15 and I can only wear gold earings. They will close if I don't wear earrings in them 24/7.

infinite_love44 · February 2009

meelar8:
Not me, this is one of my sore spots. I'm not going to subject my baby to that pain unless she is old enough to know if she wants it.

I completely agree. It is her body. If I had a girl I would wait until she could make a decision of her own. However it is really cute!

Vixey529 · February 2009

I am going to wait until she is like 10 or so, and then let her decide if she wants to get it done.... if I have a girl, that is....

mrsDinMarch07 · February 2009

Aside from my emotional reasons not to and worries about pain/infection/injury, my friend had hers done as a baby and she said that when done that early, the holes end up growing different and now she can only wear hooks or hoop type, no studs because the holes elongated and the studs droop.

MrsAO · February 2009

If I have a girl I will be having hers done in the dr's office while she's a baby.

lzybeanie · February 2009

I'm doing it in the first 2 months!! We did this with my niece and it was great! She cried for about 2 minutes and then moved on. My sister said it was perfect because my niece didn't mess with the earrings at all since she was so little, and you didn't have to wrestle with a squirmy toddler who might be a little fearful. She checked with her pediatrician and he said anywhere after 2 months is fine.

Chrisy-Wyobride · February 2009

No, it'll wait until they are much older & want/can care for it themselves. On top of that DDs are both child models & that is not something their agency/clients want.

pillowbling · February 2009

My mom had mine done when I was a baby (my dad was not happy!). Anyway, apparently the holes were a teeny tiny bit uneven (one hole was slightly higher than the one on the other side). You couldn't tell when I was a baby, but as I got bigger, it became more apparent. My mom took them out when I was about 7 (it was really noticably uneven then), but they wouldn't close.

The only way they could be fixed was to make a second hole in each ear (one hole above the original and one below on the other ear). After they did that, they were perfectly even, except they looked really low. So when I was about 11 I got a third hole in each ear, and now they are perfect

Moral of the story - WAIT until baby is older!!

chrissyellen · February 2009

TheBrowns:
I will not pierce my daughter's ears until she is old enough to care for them herself. I think there are some health risks involved and I also think it would be a fun thing to look forward to when she is older.....I think 10 is a good age.

This is exactly how I feel; they are aborable on newborns/babies Buuuut I dont think so. It was such a BIG deal for me when I was like 6 so, I think I will save that moment for a birthday gift Smile

Mrs.Foreste · February 2009

I'm completely in the minority I guess. I will have my daughter's pierced as soon as the doctor says it is safe. My mom had mine pierced when I was 1 month old & I've never had a problem with them. I guess in my family it's the norm to pierce a baby girl's ears as early as doctor's will allow.

I don't understand why pp's say "it's cruel". Everyone has their own opinion though.

JCM052707 · February 2009

BlondePrincess:
I'm having a boy but if I were having a girl, I would NOT do that - I think it's cruel. Any why does a BABY need earings??????

I agree. I don't see the reasoning behind putting holes in a baby.

cmw&tdm · February 2009

We're not. I'm going to wait for her to be able to make the decision for herself when she's at least 5.

mrsDinMarch07 · February 2009

I don't think it's cruel, (certainly can't be worse than circ'ing a boy) but it creeps me out, to me it looks like trying to make them look older. Kind of like those heels for babies, mixing sexiness with cuteness is icky IMO. Let babies be babies.

festivalhippie · February 2009

I'll find out in 2 and a half weeks what I'm having... but if it's a girl I will definitely get them pierced. ?They are easier to care for... they don't get infected as easily as older children's do. ??

Josh & Calendi · February 2009

I'm not sure if we're having a girl or not, but if we do I will wait until she makes the decision. My mom waited, and I'm glad she did. It was nice to have a mother/daughter day to go get it done. Also I was able to make the choice of if I wanted holes in my ears for the rest of my life. I actually decided to get several holes haha.

sloanzookpr · February 2009

I don't know what I'm having yet. As the mom of two boys you wouldn't think this would be a huge dilema for me and my hubby! I want to pierce them as soon as she (please Lord!) is old enough to have them done. Hubby though is the type that he doesn't what her wearing a two piece bathing suit ever. He doesn't want to pierce her ears until she's 13. I got my first out of four done when I made the honor roll every six weeks in first grade. My second holes I got done for my 13th bday. The others were done in high school. So yeah it's a huge topic in our "If it's a girl discussions"! Just food for thought.

sept9thbride · February 2009

I think I will. In fact, DH wanted to know if they would do it in the hospital! I highly doubt they would do that but I guess he was thinking it would be the safest place. I think I'll get them pierced at about 4-5 months. I want to make sure she has had all her shots and is a little older. Maybe in time for the holidays.

zoieglow · February 2009

I don't think it's cruel either BUT I am 28 now and would be super pissed if I had holes in my ears because my mom did it when I was a baby. I don't like pierced ears and would wish that I would be allowed to make my own decisions about my body. That's great if you had them when you were a baby and like them now but it sucks for people who are on the other end of the spectrum and wouldn't like it.

peachypear · February 2009

AudNicole:
Biggest con i've got.
Allergic reactions. More and more people are allergic to nickel, and other metals. I wouldn't want to deal with that in a baby.
If we have a girl she won't be getting her ears pierced until she's old enough to deal with them herself. I have a pretty severe metal allergy (nothing less than 24K gold for me, baby!), even my bro has a slight one, and the likihood of passing it on is enough to keep me away from getting it done on a baby.

Ditto. My parents made me wait until I was 10 years old. I was so eager that I did it on my birthday - and then had horrible, awful problems with them. I ended up letting them grow back after about a year or painful, icky sores. I re-pierced when I was 18 (at the same time I pierced my nose) and have to wear solid gold or titanium, which eliminates the cutesy, cheap earrings that I wanted to wear when I was young. Plus, solid gold earrings are fairly expensive, and I lost a ton of earrings that one year, even at the age of 10.

Allergy reactions aside (since I now know what to do and wouldn't expect a problem), I will still make my daughter wait. (1) I simply see no reason to do it. (2) I think she should be old enough to make a thoughtful decision on whether or not to put a hole through her body. (3) I wouldn't pierce anything else (such as eyebrow, nose, or belly button) until later, so having a different rule for ears is hypocritical/unreasonable.

I basically didn't have pierced ears until I was 18, and I turned out okay.

hero · February 2009

We're having a boy but I think piercings on baby girls look tacky. It's almost as if the parents are more concerned about the baby looking like a girl than looking like a healthy baby.

JCM · February 2009

If I have a girl I will have it done early. I had mine done when I was a baby by my doc. I have never had any issues. I had my ears double pierced when I was 13 and boy what a mess. I constantly had to mess with them to keep them from getting infected and they never healed up properly. Finally I just gave up and let them close up a few years later.

WendyBird&Chris · February 2009

Mine were pierced when I was an infant. They never got infected and they never close. I can go a year or longer and not wear anything and they dont close. I plan on doing the same for my future DD (don't know what we are having yet) but I do plan on spending more money and getting gold.

aniticipation · February 2009

I agree with hero. Maybe it's a regional thing but I think it looks weird on a baby.

Mysticblossom21 · February 2009

I am one of three girls and so me and my two sisters all had our ears pierced when we were babies. Everything was fine. No horror stories of earings being ripped out or infections.

DH and I had this talk yesterday in fact and have decided to pierce Sophia's ears.

Babies will not remember any pain associated to the piercing. I don't think it is cruel or something that is a huge deal. If she doesn't like having earings in as she gets older, then she doesn't have to.

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