ear piercing - Page 2

[kama'aina mama]

Oh, one other thing as long as I am on my high horse . If at all possible you should really bring your kids to a real piercing parlor and get the job done properly. The joints in the mall use that gun which is totally unsanitary. It is actually impossible to sterilize it. Also it doesn't so much pierce the ear as crush a hole with a piece of fast moving metal. The crushing and bruising is painful and takes a long time to heal. The nice 'freaks' at the piercing parlor will use a sterile, one use only hollow needle that is very sharp to cleanly cut a tiny hole in the ear. They usually have an autoclave on the premises and sterilize all their other tools between each use and are obsessive about washing and using latex gloves. The pain is much less and the healing time shorter.

[miasmom]

My mother's father was in the Air Force and they were staitioned in Turkey where ear piercing is done right after your baby is born. By the time she had me she still wanted to do that and peirced mine at 10 days old and i peirced my DD at 3 months. the only reason I waited is because of my DH. I would have done it sooner and if we have another girl I will do the same. She nor I have ever had any problems keeping up with her earings. I do however leave the studs in all the time. They are harder for babies to get off and help reduce an infection.

[Mom2Max]

Hi Pina - you and I sound alike -- my DH's family is from Italy and I am the anglo-mutt, vegetarian, breastfeeding, co-sleeping weirdo in the family.

They are all into the piercing and my niece has her ears pierced, had them done at the dr's office.

I wouldn't do it, though. I think, as with most aspects of parenting, it is all a matter of choice. But if I ever have a girl, she'll get her ears pierced if/when she requests it, not by default.

[TripkeHughes]

I didn't have a chance to read all the posts but I wanted to add a story a Ped. told me when ds was in the hospital.

He is from Porta Rico (okay, don't grill me, I can't for the life of me think of how to spell it correctly) and said that all daughters get their ears pierced in the HOSPITAL before they even leave. He said this was done for a long time without the parent concent (just assumed all daughters would get them), until there were a few issues. Now they ask first about circ and pierce. Funny to me!

[Alexander]

When dd was two, I found some ear rings that would have gone very well with her totally cool outfit.

DW said no. And quite right too.

1) There is no excuse for causing un-necessary pain on a child, no matter the age.

2) As far as possible, our children should be in charge of their own bodies, (gee, we take such liberties without even thinking about it!), and without their permision, it is an abuse of power.

So now, every month or so I show dd the ear-rings, but there is yet any interest!!!

a

[Ms. Mom]

I'm really enjoying the hearing the cultural views on this.

When dd was a baby I had NO intention of piercing her ears. When she was 3 she started asking to have it done 'like mommy'. I skiped around it, then when she turned 4 she said "I'm 4 now and I don't drink milky anymore, I want my ears pierced. I know it hurts and that's ok" (did I mention she's actually 34 trapped in a 4 yro. body?)

Well, I told her that it will hurt and would that be ok? She said yes, and we hit the mall. I totally expected her to back out - but she didn't! Two women did it at the same time. She started to cry and I asked if she was ok. She stuck out her chest and said "I'm fine, I have sparkles in my ears now, can we go to the Hello Kitty store now?"

She LOVES her earrings and makes sure I clean them EVERY day and turn them. I'm still not sure it was thre right choice, but I feel that she made the decision and she's proud of it.

[Julie]

My DD is now 7 months old and I havnt had her ears done yet, Shes cute with out earings and would be cute with them but I just havnt had a chance to get to my favorite piercing place, but I am thinking of getting them done. I was about 3 when I had mine done, I knew it hurt cause i had seen my sister have hers done the week before but I wanted them, it pinched but didnt hurt. I've had my ears done (and re-done 3 times cause I let the grow over) and my nose pierced for almost 6 years now, I dont see it as a big deal, My main concern is that with the ear peircing gun you cant be a precise about the placement. Which is why When do get DD's ears done she will have it done at a professional piercers (If I trust the guy to put rings thru other body parts I definatly trust him to put them thru DD ears )

[kibbles]

I would never put earrings on a child too young to speak up about it AND understand the pain.

I think it is cruel, and unnecessary. Stick a bow on your kid's head if you are worried about gender mix-ups.

I waited until my daughter was old enough to ask, I explained that it was like sticking a needle in your ear and leaving it in there, that it hurts for a while (I had mine done at 6, I remember), but if she wanted to, I would take her.

She decided against it. If she wants it, I will gladly take her.

I know someone who had her son done at under a year. That drove me nuts. That is DEFINATELY something that should be left up to the individual!

Oh yes, my holes are closed up now because I didnt get to wear them for a while, so now to get them fixed I have to go through scar tissue. A child isn't always responsible with earrings and the care needed. Plus when you first get them, you have to sleep with them, which is not comfortable, and I would think even more dangerous/painful on a small child, having a piece of metal poked into the back of their head/neck.

And I am Italian, in Brooklyn, so it *is* kind of common, but not as much as it used to be.

[USAmma]

We are a Hindu family and ear piercing is a very traditional thing that is done for both boys and girls at the age of 1 year. It is supposed to be an acupuncture point. Gold has a special quality that when put at this point and the blood of the body flows around it, is supposed to be good for health. We are going to have dd's ears done in about 2-3 weeks. Although it's traditional to have them done with a thorn we are going the more modern route of a piercing gun with numbing cream applied first. When I had my nose done at this same shop it didn't hurt at all. I also observed a boy getting his ears done and he actually slept through the first side and awoke to the sound of the gun on the second ear!

Darshani

[Teresa]

I wasn't allowed to have my ears pierced until I was a teenager. It was a sort of coming-of-age ritual and that's what we will do with my daughter--if she chooses to. I know that a lot of cultures do this to determine gender and to indicate a family's economic status, but I don't mind when my daughter is mistaken for a little boy (I avoid pink & frills) and if someone wants to determine our economic status they can always look at our car, LOL! I'm afraid, though (and this is not intended to offend) that I really don't think pierced ears on a child are any more attractive than a circumcised penis. They are both cosmetic procedures and parents can justify them or not based on what they think is attractive & appropriate for their family. Right now our son and daughter are both whole and I'm not going to choose to alter that for either of them.
Although. . . my husband & I do know someone who has had (of all things) his foreskin pierced! I can't imagine how that . . . um . . . ah . . . how that effects his 'functioning' though! On reconsideration, I guess that the difference is that at least a piercing can close back up given time, right?

[lilyka]

I want my dd to feel the excitement and anticipation i did when I got mine pierced. I still remember it as one of the few nice things my mom did for me.

I also heard a Dr. say once "If I have to pry one more ear ring loose from a baby's throat i am giong to scream" she then went on to deescribe how not only is it a choking hazard, but once they are swallowed they can pierce the throat and are really hard to extract (not to mention leave you eith a very sore throat.

That pretty much settled it for me.

[Kat20]

Teresa,
Actually, the holes will never close back up. A plastic surgeon told me this. He said, "Once skin is apart, it will never grow back together. For example, if you take two fingers and tape them together, they will not grow together."

I had my ears pierced when I was nine, in 3rd grade. At the time(1989), there were not very many girls my age who had their ears pierced. It seems like more girls got their ears pierced in 5th-7th grade back then.

[Ilaria]

I am from Italy and only in Southern Italy it is customary to pierce little girls' years when they are young. In the North it is very rare.
I am from Milan and i begged my parents for years to let me get my pierced.
I did when I was 12.5 years old.

I do not have a girl (yet) but would never pierce a baby's years! I thin they (my own future daughters) should be at least 10.

[AmaLari]

We are Hindu and it is common in our culture to pierce, but my 19 month old DD's ears are intact. I explained to my ILs that we were going to wait until she asked to have them pierced and everyone seemed to think that was a sensible approach. We've certainly not gotten any negative comments about it. We've received several pairs of 24k gold earrings as gifts for her to wear once she's been pierced, and I have tucked them away in her special jewelry box.

If/when she does decide to get her ears pierced, we will have it done by a piercer rather than a shop that uses guns.

Larissa
ama to Pravin (3 years) and Priya (19 months)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"When you're doing it right, your needs are the same as the child's and you don't have to choose between them." - Jean Liedloff

[Beth]

I like the coming-of-age ritual idea. My parents didn't let me get my ears pierced until I was 7 yo. There were other things that had to wait, too, like wearing pantyhose, high-heels, and make-up. I grew up in the 80's GLAM era. And I always wanted to grow up too quickly, I think b/c I have a sister 2 years older and I wanted to be like her. I ended up with 5 holes in one ear and 4 holes in the other. Never pierced anything else.

Anyway, I don't mind telling people that my babies are girls not boys. And I don't get offended when others think they are boys. Sometimes it is actually kind of funny. So piercing for gender i.d. is not something I worry about.

I live in Utah and my girls' 3 girl cousins all had their ears pierced as babies. I don't know if it is a cultural thing here or just our extended families' preference.

I will have my girls wait til a certain age if they want it done. I would prefer them not get them at all.