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01 August 2012

Children's Ear Piercing - right or wrong?

The 6 week holiday is the perfect opportunity to have your child's ears pierced before starting or returning to school... but would you let your child have theirs done?

Minxy is nearly 8 and a half and despite a lot of her friends having their ears pierced she is far from keen on the idea. She loves jewellery, making and wearing it, yet the thought of a needle making a tiny hole in her ear lobe does not appeal to her at all!

I feel as though she is at the age where she is old enough to make the decision herself as to whether she wants them done or not, and if she did I would let her get them done now before heading back to school in September. She is old enough to be able to care for them herself and change them herself so I would be happy for her to get them if she wanted to. However, I often see babies and toddlers with little gold studs and rings and I always wonder if there should be an age limit for them like there is for belly button piercings.

How do you feel about ear piercing in babies and children?
If your child has theirs done how old were they and what made you decide to have them?
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12 comments

  1. As much as I think each to their own I think letting the child decide is the fairest way :)

    great post x

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  2. I agree, a child should be allowed to decide. I was 5 when I had mine done and I had asked for it to be done for my birthday, although I needed a bit of help to start with it was my choice :)

    Good post! Should get some interesting responses!

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  3. Madam had hers done for her 5th birthday she was very grown up and sensible about them. I warned her it would hurt a bit at first yet she was still adamant. I am a bit mixed in my opinions here; I don't like earrings in babies/toddlers yet in Ireland it generally seems the norm. In India it is so much the norm that they are often done on newborns before they leave hospital. I think it's mostly harmless and should be a matter of personal choice some would say that of the child and not the parents but the child could always take them out when older.
    xx

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  4. I don't like it on small babies/toddlers and parents should wait until they are old enough to make an informed choice.
    Babies are lovely enough without being adorned with jewellery. Apart from that its really painful and i find it odd that parents who cringe at their little baby having their jabs are happy to get their ears pierced.

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  5. I was happy to let my daughter have hers done at ten, but her Dad said no. Which is only odd as he has multiple body piercings and tattoos! He didn't relent til she was 13!

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  6. I think my daughter was 7. She had them done start of the holidays as you say. The only problem with having them done too young is that they can no longer just tape them up for PE they have to be able to take them in and out themselves. I used to take daughters out on PE day morning but sometimes if her 'playground equipment day' she forgot, she wasn't allowed on it. Admitedly she went to a Health and Safety mad school but it did cause her problems sometimes.

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  7. I do not like to see it on babies and young children,I would worry it would get caught and ripped off. I think they should be secondary school age when they have stopped "playing" as much in the playground, my ruling for mine was 14. Hate even more young kids with noses or other parts of the anatomy done

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  8. I begged and begged my mum for pierced ears and was finally allowed them at 15 I was so happy. Six months later I hated them and didn't wear earrings for about 20 years until I got them repierced.

    I know things are different with child led parenting nowadays but surely 8 is too young to make a decision to scar yourself, Glad Minxy doesn't want it done yet.

    Sorry but you did ask ask...

    My sister in law had all four of her boys ears pierced as babies, just one ear not both and as adults hated the fact it was done to them, one was bullied for having an earring.

    I refused to let my son get his eyebrow pierced, at 16 he went out and got it done plus his lip, by 17 he stopped wearing then as it was affecting getting a job, he's never worn them simce.

    Obviously face piercings are a lot different from ear piercing but I've not got a daughter.

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  9. My eldest daughter has been asking for her ears pierced ever since she was five and all her school friends had them done. I felt that was a little young so I promised if she still really wanted it done she could have her ears pierced at 8 - well she turns 8 next week, so I guess I'll have to stick to my word. The trouble is the other three are going to jump on the band wagon now!

    Personally I feel its up to the individual but I have to say I don't like seeing tiny babies with studs in their ears, but each to their own I suppose.

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  10. i hate seeing it done on young children. it should be their choice not their parents!

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  11. I agree with you, everyone has right to decide about it so, why not children !!!!

    Ear piercing is not a problem for anyone so I think they may decide to pierce or not. Even a child suffer less pain in ear piercing as compare to the elders.

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  12. Don't read this since I'm in the minority here and I might change your mind :)

    Like many moms, I was unsure when to pierce our dd's ears. Admittedly, my bias was initially against having babies ears pierced at an early age. However,I did something that I never would have thought I’d be interested in: I had Sandi’s ears pierced. It’s honestly not something I expected of myself, but I found that every time I saw a baby girl with pierced ears I was blinded by cuteness and consumed with jealousy. Plus, she had this unique sort of whimper/cry that I could only interpret s “Mommy, pleeeeease, I neeeeed earrings” (A mother just knows these things). I’m aware that, much like every decision a parent makes, this was a controversial decision. I’m not going to get into the various pros and cons of infant ear piercing as I don’t feel the
    need to justify my decision and the web is already packed with articles and debates on the subject, as I discovered when trying to find the best place to take her.

    What changed my mind? One day, in our playgroup of moms with little girls, one of the moms came in unannounced with her 2 month daughter sporting little gold balls in her pretty newly pierced ears. She was totally adorable and looked
    very feminine. Needless to say, all of the moms including myself were in envy asking her a 100 questions. She said it was very easy and her dd barely cried.
    I went home and asked dh what he thought. Surprisingly, he said that really wanted our dd to have earrings since it was traditional in her family, but thought I was opposed to having our baby ears pierced, so he didn't say anything. However, he smile, was happy when I asked and would respect my wishes about it.

    At this point, being a "white bread mommy," I was unsure how I felt about it, but knew how darling it looked. Well, I said that I would ask our ped for her thoughts at the next visit in a a week. When I asked our ped for her opinion about having our dd’s ears pierced, she reached in her pocket and took out a picture of her six month little girl with pearls in each ear, saying,” …this is what I think.” She encouraged me to go ahead and said it was best as an infant when mommy could care for them. According to our ped, she has never had a baby with a pierced ear infection, but has had quite a few older girls ages 2-5 who said they wanted it done, but failed to care for them. She gave me some ” Care Tips for Newly Pierced Ears ” since she had so many moms ask about having their infants and little girls ears pierced. Our dd now has pretty pierced ears at 3 months old :)

    I'd say if any moms are thinking about it, then your mommy intuition is telling earlier is better and I go ahead now as a newborn or infant.

    Still on the fence about your decision? Want to know our ped's tips for moms having their dd's ears pierced and where our ped took her dd and recommended? If your're a little curious, then write me an e-mail

    Angie
    angietune@hotmail.com

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