ear piercing a non vaxed child...

[amyandelle]

OK so at my birthday party last week our friends brought their 10 week old dd and we saw that her ears are pierced. My two grandmothers were saying how cute she looked and that I should get Elle's ears pierced. I explained that my dh and I decided to let Elle make that decision when she is old enough and that we will not be piercing her ears until that time. Then my one grandmother says "well, you can't get her ears pierced anyway because she is not vaccinated" I asked her why not and she said "because she could tetnus" I just said "oh well, I never heard of that before" and then luckily my best friend changed the subject.

She is wrong, right?

Thanks,
Amy

[Jen123]

Yes she is wrong.

Funny some of the misconceptions we have about diseases isn't it ?

[DevaMajka]

My tetanus vax had long been worn off when I got my 10+ piercings. I imagine the same is true for the vast majority of adults and older teens who get pierced.
You could probably get tetanus from getting pierced if you dropped the needle in horse poo, then didn't clean it well before sticking it through your skin.

[alegna]

So no one pierced ears before the tetanus vax? Totally absurd of course.

-Angela

[Plummeting]

A ten week old baby is not vaccinated for tetanus either. She may have been in for her first round of shots before she got her ears pierced, but even if she was, she wouldn't be protected from tetanus after one shot.

[LongIsland]

Many cultures (including mine) pierce their infant's ears before tetanus vaccine "protection" . . . and still no incidence of tetanus.

Sterile equipment is going to reduce of the chances of contracting anything, including tetanus, which is unlikely to begin with.

[CallMeMommy]

I *have* heard of people saying they couldn't get their DD's ears pierced before 2 years because whatever place then went to wanted them to have their 2-month vaxes first, but I obviously never had my son's ears pierced so I don't know for sure.

[TheJoyfulMom]

My girls just got their ears pierced. They're not vax'd. I even mentioned it to the woman piercing them and she said there was no problem. Of course she was also amazed that I didn't get them done as a baby and let them make the decision.