Baby Piercing?

[crazydaycarelady]

I think ears are fine but nothing else on a baby. If I had a daughter I would let her do a hair streak or those little glitter strips in the summer.

[Starburst]

My mom says that she had my pediatrician pierce my ears when I was 3 months old. I don't remember a thing. I heard in some places it is cultural because the moms don't want people to think that their baby girls are boys (because of the short hair and in some places they just assume all babies are boys). Your just not supposed to do it when they are too young, you have to wait a few months so they can build up enough immunity to fight the possibility of infection. As long as it is done in the bottom part of the ear lobes (where its just a flab of skin) and not on the top part (hard cartilage) I think its okay for a baby but anymore than that and I think you should wait until they are older. I thought it was weird that one of my friends in elementry school didnt have her ears pierced, she always wore clips or magnets- I just always assumed it was something that girls had done when they were babies.

If you are going to do it I would either get it done at a doctors office or a professional tattoo and piercing parlor, or possibly do it yourself as long as you have sterile nickle-free starter earrings (those ones with the sharp endings) and a piercing gun that has never been used on anyone else. I got more piercings on my ear when I was 13 (I have a total of 6 piercings in each ear) and I keep getting keloids (small scar tissue cysts) because I got them done at Walmart (with a piercing gun in the jewlery department) and everytime I try to put earrings in them now they have a clear fluid come out of them- before I knew that there is not a 100% way to sterilize those guns after use. But I never got keloids or fluid in my lip or nose that were done professionally (they use fresh needles every time- they never use guns). And if you do get it done on a baby or toddler need to make sure that you are always turning it for her and cleaning it.

If a kid in my daycare had pierced ears I wouldn't mind as long as it wasn't a distraction to others or wasn't a present or potential hazard to others (like if she kept playing with them or taking them out). But I would not allow clips or magnants because they can come off too easily.

[AmyKidsCo]

I think it's cultural, too. I didn't have my girls' ears pierced until they were 7 or 8 but I don't judge parents who do it younger.

[daycarediva]

My daughter had her ears pierced at 4 years old. She had wanted to do it since she was 2.

Before becoming a mom, I would have said I wouldn't allow it until at least teens. My daughter has some internal health issues (liver, lungs-you would never know to look at her). She goes to a childrens hospital to monitor her condition. Right now, she is doing great. What tomorrow holds...who knows. A mom there with a really sick child told me she let her 6 year old get her ears pierced and dye a pink streak in her hair, because life is short. I guess you see things differently when your child has health issues. Later doesn't always come. You aren't promised tomorrow. After seeing the look on my daughter's face when she saw her diamond earrings in her ears and then get tears in her eyes and say "It's my dream come true!", I knew we made the right choice.

Piercings other than ears...no way.

I let my dd decide, she was in ICU 3 times in the first 6 years of her life. We had a blue streak in her hair at 4, and no jewelry at all. She is 13 now, and STILL doesn't have/want any. :: Still has streaks in her hair though. Last time she had them done they were teal/purple. Hair is changeable.

I am also the Mom who let my ds get a mohawk because he wanted it (at 5). It isn't permanent, and it belongs to them.

I grew up in a culture that was common place to wear gold jewelry. I had a gold bracelet and earrings in 3 month baby photos. I also see lots of children in that same culture with 2 piercings in each ear, bracelets and necklaces (choking hazard). I have had this come up in child care, and I banned them for safety reasons. All earrings and jewelry come out for daycare.

[Meeko]

I had my ears pierced when I was 19. I only had them done then because my great grandmother had some earrings that nobody else wanted because they didn't have pierced ears and I loved them!

I wanted my daughters to decide for themselves. One had it done at 15, and then let them heal over! My youngest had hers done last year on her 16th birthday and LOVES wearing earrings every single day.

[Patches]

I would not choose to pierce my daughters ears. In my mind its not my choice to make but if my daughter asked say tomorrow to get them pierced I would in a heartbeat as I think little girls with pierced ears are soooo cute! It's her body she can make that choice. She may not ever want them pierced... And that's her choice.

This! I would never pierce my baby's ears. I don't judge people that do, just wouldn't do it to my kid.
This is just a funny story:
I once ha d a baby boy in my class who was just pretty and if he was in nuetral colors, you might have thought he was a girl....Then, his parents decided to get his ears pierced (Yes, EARS...plural) with these big fake diamond studs. He was just too pretty for that. Poor boy looked like a girl in all blue after that ::

[Candy]

My family does baby girl ears at 6 months i think. There is no way i would have gotten my ears pierced if my mom hadn't done it when i was a baby. I would have kept getting scared. Better it done when they are babies. We do pierce boys ears in my family but most of them are 1 and 2 when it happens.

[Starburst]

My family does baby girl ears at 6 months i think. There is no way i would have gotten my ears pierced if my mom hadn't done it when i was a baby. I would have kept getting scared. Better it done when they are babies. We do pierce boys ears in my family but most of them are 1 and 2 when it happens.

My brother got his ear pierced when he was about 8 or 9 cuz he really wanted one, now I think he has both ears pierced.

This! I would never pierce my baby's ears. I don't judge people that do, just wouldn't do it to my kid.
This is just a funny story:
I once ha d a baby boy in my class who was just pretty and if he was in nuetral colors, you might have thought he was a girl....Then, his parents decided to get his ears pierced (Yes, EARS...plural) with these big fake diamond studs. He was just too pretty for that. Poor boy looked like a girl in all blue after that ::

I think having both ears pierced now isn't as taboo for guys as it used to be. Most male rappers/rockers have both ears pierced (i.e. 50 Cent, Eminem, Dave Navarro, Tommy Lee...). Guys can always just wear one if they want or both (or none), and some guys gage them. I heard some male actors have them done so they can play more roles (i.e. Howie Mandel, Johnny Depp).

[Candy]

My mom says that she had my pediatrician pierce my ears when I was 3 months old. I don't remember a thing. I heard in some places it is cultural because the moms don't want people to think that their baby girls are boys (because of the short hair and in some places they just assume all babies are boys). Your just not supposed to do it when they are too young, you have to wait a few months so they can build up enough immunity to fight the possibility of infection. As long as it is done in the bottom part of the ear lobes (where its just a flab of skin) and not on the top part (hard cartilage) I think its okay for a baby but anymore than that and I think you should wait until they are older. I thought it was weird that one of my friends in elementry school didnt have her ears pierced, she always wore clips or magnets- I just always assumed it was something that girls had done when they were babies.

If you are going to do it I would either get it done at a doctors office or a professional tattoo and piercing parlor, or possibly do it yourself as long as you have sterile nickle-free starter earrings (those ones with the sharp endings) and a piercing gun that has never been used on anyone else. I got more piercings on my ear when I was 13 (I have a total of 6 piercings in each ear) and I keep getting keloids (small scar tissue cysts) because I got them done at Walmart (with a piercing gun in the jewlery department) and everytime I try to put earrings in them now they have a clear fluid come out of them- before I knew that there is not a 100% way to sterilize those guns after use. But I never got keloids or fluid in my lip or nose that were done professionally (they use fresh needles every time- they never use guns). And if you do get it done on a baby or toddler need to make sure that you are always turning it for her and cleaning it.

If a kid in my daycare had pierced ears I wouldn't mind as long as it wasn't a distraction to others or wasn't a present or potential hazard to others (like if she kept playing with them or taking them out). But I would not allow clips or magnants because they can come off too easily.

Keloids come if you have a certain type of skin. It has nothing to with where or how you get them pierced. Its actually rare, there is only one person in my family that i can think of that has them. They also don't appear everywhere

[Candy]

My brother got his ear pierced when he was about 8 or 9 cuz he really wanted one, now I think he has both ears pierced.

Dont you just love men in earrings::

[Starburst]

Dont you just love men in earrings::

I would love it if my FH had piercings (or tattoos ) but he doesnt for a few reasons:
1) he is terrified of needles (I couldn't convince him to donate blood with me)
2) he comes from a semi-conservative family (he went to a private catholic school, and his mom panics anytime he talks with a girl's voice just joking around{then again it doesn't help that its usually when I ask him to hand me my purse})
3) he wants to go into the agriculture business where he will be working for very conservative businesses and some of them may not approve of piercings/tattoos

I wouldn't mind piercing my future son's ears if they wanted them done but I am not sure if my FH would allow it.

[Starburst]

Keloids come if you have a certain type of skin. It has nothing to with where or how you get them pierced. Its actually rare, there is only one person in my family that i can think of that has them. They also don't appear everywhere

I think it was an infection that caused them. They werent very big and my ears were very swollen, red and would even bleed- some of them come and go but I mostly don't have them anymore, I still do get them sometimes when I try to wear all of them. Some of those piercings have closed up even though I wore them for the minimum amount of time and I always have to re-pierce some of them when I want to wear them.

[TheGoodLife]

My daughter had her ears pierced at 4 years old. She had wanted to do it since she was 2.

Before becoming a mom, I would have said I wouldn't allow it until at least teens. My daughter has some internal health issues (liver, lungs-you would never know to look at her). She goes to a childrens hospital to monitor her condition. Right now, she is doing great. What tomorrow holds...who knows. A mom there with a really sick child told me she let her 6 year old get her ears pierced and dye a pink streak in her hair, because life is short. I guess you see things differently when your child has health issues. Later doesn't always come. You aren't promised tomorrow. After seeing the look on my daughter's face when she saw her diamond earrings in her ears and then get tears in her eyes and say "It's my dream come true!", I knew we made the right choice.

Piercings other than ears...no way.

:hug: beautiful thought!

[Blackcat31]

I have only had 1 child in daycare that had her ears pierced and she was 13 months. They had it done when she was 3 months old.

As long as she wore studs and had backs that were harder to get off, she could attend.

If she pulled at them or tugged at them, my stipulation was the mom needed to come immediately and take them out or take her home.

It was never an issue while in attendance.

All of my girls including myself have our ears pierced. I got mine when I was 6 as did 2 of my girls and the other was 7 before we chose to get them done.

They are responsible for taking care of them themselves.

My DD as well as a most the DCG's I've had that have their ears pierced have the type of earrings where the backs actually screw on and cannot be pulled off.

It actually takes a long time to unscrew the back off and as long as the parent is diligent about checking to make sure they are clean and secure, I too have never had an issue while in attendance.

Similar to these:

[Candy]

I would love it if my FH had piercings (or tattoos ) but he doesnt for a few reasons:
1) he is terrified of needles (I couldn't convince him to donate blood with me)
2) he comes from a semi-conservative family (he went to a private catholic school, and his mom panics anytime he talks with a girl's voice just joking around{then again it doesn't help that its usually when I ask him to hand me my purse})
3) he wants to go into the agriculture business where he will be working for very conservative businesses and some of them may not approve of piercings/tattoos

I wouldn't mind piercing my future son's ears if they wanted them done but I am not sure if my FH would allow it.

We usually start off with just one ear first(the left one) then when they are older they can get the other if they want. For my cousins head start pictures he sported huge black onix studs with a very tall mohawk cutest thing i had ever seen.