[justmama]

Okay so my daughter has been bugging me about wanting earrings for about the last 18 months or so. (She's 38months by the way). I dont' want to incite debate on ear piercing or such other cosmetic practices on small children but has anyone had their daughter's ears done? How did it go? Where did you do it? Do they pull on them?
The way I figure it, my daughter is old enough now to be not pulling on her ears(she listens well enough I believe that if I told her not to, she wouldn't, at least until I had to tell her again!) and if you incorporate the cleaning of the ears into daily routines same as toothbrushing, I think it would be fine. I want to ask her pedi if she would do it(I know some places do, I don't know if ours does) to be safer than going to the mall and haivng some teenager do it. We were walking in the mall and walked by one of those teenager stores that does ear piercing and a little girl was getting hers done. M watched with interest and I told her how they take a little needle and put holes in your ears for the earrings to go in and how it does hurt. She STILL wants them done. I was thinking of making a big deal out of it and getting them done for Christmas. What does everyone think? Any experiences for me? I'm not really decided, just thinking about it.
Meg

 

[Peppermint]

I think if she wants it and has been made aware of the pain involved, and you are prepared for the fact that she may come out of there with one ear pierced:LOL , then you could go for it.

So long as she is good about other hygeine things (allows her teeth to be brushed and hair to be brushed with no problems), she should be ok with this.

You also *may* be able to get your pediatrcian to prescribe an EMLA cream to make it less painful

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Good luck!

 

[hhurd]

I had my ears pierced when I was 3, after begging my Mom ceaselessly for months. There weren't any problems with infection, but it did hurt. I remember thinking it was worth it though, and that was 30 years ago!

 

[alsoSarah]

Your post made it clear that you are not interested in debating the practice of piercing small children, so I'll keep my mouth shut about that.

As someone who used to work in body mod. though, I will say that you are right on in avoiding the mall! Piercing guns carry a risk of hepatitis transmission (which, based on your OP, I'm guessing you already knew, but maybe someone else who's reading might not have known).
It's important to find a piercer who uses only single-use, disposable needles, implant-grade steel (or gold, if allergy is less of a worry) jewelry, and who can show you their current autoclave spore-test certificate. Barring that (in my experience, most "good" body mod. shops won't pierce little kids), your ped is a good choice, provided that you get to eyeball the placement of the piercings (their eye for "even" may not be better than anyone else's).
During the initial healing process, please consider captive bead rings. Captive bead rings allow for greater air flow to the healing area, as well as easier, more effective cleaning/rinsing of the new piercings. They also allow tissue to swell without being restricting or irritating to the edges of the wound (which could cause further swelling). A butterfly-back type post can tend to trap bacteria next to the piercing, and the edges of those 'butterfly' backs can be sharp-edged enough to annoy an already swollen lobe.

I'll stop now. Thank you for reading.
peace,
alsoSarah

 

[3 Little Monkeys]

We had dd's ears pierced at 28 months, she only cried for about 3 minutes and then went on to other things and forgot all about them. She had problems when we went to clean them though. She didn't like me messing with them, I guess she was afraid it would hurt again. We literally had to hold her down to clean her ears but once it was done she was fine. She doesn't pull on them at all and really loves to show them off. My older daughter was 5 when we had hers done. She didn't cry at all and never had any problems. I was 10 when I got mine done and I think because I was older I had more anticipation of pain so it was more difficult for me. I kept sitting down and then saying no I wasn't ready, it took almost 2 hours to finally work up the nerve to do it. I'm glad I had my girls' done while they were smaller.

 

[sleepies]

i dont see an issue

she understands.

i even think is ok for babies to get them (though i wouldn't get a little baby done because personally i worry about choking)

but, her age. let her.

you'll have to keep them clean for her and rotate them at first.

 

[Penelope]

I had my ears pierced at three because too many people mistook me for a boy after a short haircut. My dad was apparently upset...

I liked how they looked, but was not old enough to take care of them myself and my mom got stuck with it.

They hurt a lot. I would not let a child choose to pierce her ears before she's about 10.

 

[momto l&a]

Wal-Mart when I just went in to have second holes put in my ears said if I was afraid of the pain the could do both ears at once. They said they do that for all children.

As to the piercing guns, both times I have had my ears done they didnt use a needle, the earring was actually shot through the ear. So its pretty sterile.

I was much happier with the way my first set was done over 15 years then with the ones just done a couple of months ago. The new holes just arent healing well. They also give you this stuff to use to clean them which IMO is useless. I went back to using alcohol.

I think little girls with pierced ears are very pretty. My oldest dd I think would like to have hers done but we are waiting till she is more adament about it.:LOL

 

[alsoSarah]

The issue of hep. risk with piercing guns is this: by forcing a relatively blunt piercing stud through the skin at high speed, they cause "microsplatter", which contaminates the gun itself, which is not autoclaved (Most of them can't be 'claved, even if mall stores cared enough to 'clave, due to the makeup of their plastic-y bits). So, yes, the jewelry starts out sterile, until it comes into contact with the gun.

peace,
alsoSarah

 

[kama'aina mama]

I totally agree with alsoSarah. Go to a place that specializes in piercing. The difference in initial pain, wound cleanliness and healing time is worth the extra money. They us a sterile, one use needle that is quite sharp to neatly make a hole as opposed to a blunt tipped earring being forced at high pressure thru the flesh. It is roughly the difference between a scalpel and a sorta pointy rock. Besides, it nice to support the local freaks rather than throw money at a trashy chain store in the mall.

 

[minnowmomma]

What is a captive bead ring?

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[alsoSarah]

Anatometal has a pretty user-friendly site, and all of their jewelry is very
good.
http://www.anatometal.com/index2_fl.htm

To see captive bead rings, go to the upper left and click 'products and retail prices', then select 'captives'.
They also have a link to the Association of Professional Piercers at the bottom of their page that has tons of great info!
Honestly though, if someone was only interested in captive bead rings, Revolution
http://www.captivebead.com/index2.htm

has the very best "captives". Their other body jewelry isn't quite as good as Anatometal, though.... so Anatometal is a good all-pupose site.
Hope that helps,
alsoSarah
ps ~ fyi: The "piercing studs" that most places use are roughly equivalent to 16 gauge body jewelry.

 

[seren]

I had dd done at 2.5 months. I wanted them done and that was when her ped recommended. He siad that way they would just be another part of her body and they are. We did it at Wal-Mart and they did both at once. The gun made a noise as it did the peircing. I was more traumatized than she was. I felt her jump and then she started crying. She cried, honestly, for less than 30 seconds. As soon as I cuddled her, she was fine. I, on the other hand, cried for 10 minutes. She never had any problems with infection and never cried when I cleaned them. I am planning to do my future dd's ears as well.

 

[Sustainer]

I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but if my daughter told me she wanted to pierce her ears (or any other part of her body), I would tell her that it is unhealthy to want to puncture her body. I would explain that some people choose to injure themselves, and that I think it is very unhealthy. I think that piercing should be illegal for anyone under 18, and I discourage it for people over that age.

 

[Nikki Christina]

I had Kayden's done at 9 months old.. would have done it sooner But DH didnt want me too
I finally got my way by arguing it would be much better to do it before she was old enough to notice them , want to touch them , & get them dirty & infected while they where healing.. & that it would be easy to clean them while she nursed

they did them both at the same time.. she cried 10 seconds & that was it..
they healed beautifully.. & she loves to look at them & says they are her "pretties"

 

[Lucysmama]

Quote:

Originally posted by Devrock I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but if my daughter told me she wanted to pierce her ears (or any other part of her body), I would tell her that it is unhealthy to want to puncture her body. I would explain that some people choose to injure themselves, and that I think it is very unhealthy. I think that piercing should be illegal for anyone under 18, and I discourage it for people over that age.

Here, here! I won't flame you! I never got the whole "punching holes in your newborn" thing.

: Older children who want it, I believe should be discouraged until they are old enough to understand what they are really doing. (Plus, I really think it looks trashy.)

I was pierced as a child. (My mom wanted it done to proclaim my girliness to the world...people thought little bald me was a boy.) I remember it as traumatic and painful. I was about 4. I recall screaming afterward for a long time, and everyone was trying to quiet me down - but it hurt!!! Yikes.

If you decide to do it, I would say to go to a place that isn't the mall or a super-store - where your child may feel uncomfortable or unable to cry, vent, etc from the pain.

 

[tausborn]

I had my daughter's done this summer. She was very excited about it, even knowing that they would be poking holes in her ears. The place did them both at once, and she was very brave, didn't cry (she did look a little stunned though). She just LOVED them. The holes healed up perfectly... no infections, no pain, no problems. But, as a four year old who has developed a touchy squeamishness about all things medical, once we took out the original earrings, she wouldn't let me put them back in. Apparently, it feels "weird" to have something going in the hole to her so she freaks out... I even bought little horses on posts and dangling butterflies.

If I had known that my daughter wouldn't be able to handle them, I wouldn't have gotten them done yet. Even so, she now has permanent holes that are ready to use when she is ready.

Someone made the point that ear piercing is hurting the body... otherwise known as ritual mutilation... It is our society's most popular, least painful, and most accepted form of puncturing ourselves. Humans from all societies find ways to decorate themselves, sometimes even at great cost to their health. We've all seen pictures of those African tribes with huge wood posts through their lips and ears. Eeeeek! What about that tattoo-scarring done with needles and cow dung?! In comparison, our society's current obsession with piercing seems almost harmless.

 

[Peppermint]

"If I had known that my daughter wouldn't be able to handle them, I wouldn't have gotten them done yet. Even so, she now has permanent holes that are ready to use when she is ready. "

I hope it does work out that way for your dd, I had my ears peirced at 13 (the earliest my parents would allow) and I wore earrings all the way up until I had dd, who used to pull at them, so I stopped wearing them, and my holes closed up, she is 3.5 (I probably stopped wearing them when she was 6 months or so), anyway, now my holes are closed, but the "scar tissue" is in there (I can feel it) and I'm sure I can't get a decent hole placement there again, b/c of the scar tissue. Anyway, enough about me, I just wanted the pp to know before she does it that if her dd doesn't want to wear them what happened to me could happen to her. Something to consider.

 

[justmama]

Wow. Thank you everyone for replying to my original post. You have all given me something to think about.
Thank you alsoSarah for your informative post on Hepatitis and piercing guns. I did know that but it WAS good to hear from you also just to keep it in the forefront of my mind. I did not know that piercing studs are 16gauge in most places! That is HUGE! Okay well it's not enormous but it's pretty big. I mean, I personally have a 20gauge captive ball ring in my eyebrow and have never changed it because I didn't see the need to have a 16 gauge hanging from my face because it looks so thick!
Devrock, I won't flame you! I respect you for standing up for your views and for sharing your opinion with me though I obviously don't share that same opinion with you. I do agree that piercing holes in newborns seems a bit extreme though I won't go into a debate with anyone about that. I guess it just comes down to your views on circumcision and such, whether you believe it's mutilation or not. That's why in my original post I stated that I did not want to get into a debate regarding cosmetic "altering" of children.
From all these posts I guess I should think a bit longer about it. I read all these posts and realized that I'm really not certain I'M ready for her to get her ears pierced though I think she wouldn't pull on them and would let me clean them. I will call the pediatrician today and ask if they do them. If they do not, the answer is no. In the state I live in, there is a law against anyone under 18 in a piercing place and for good reason I believe. I refuse to bring her into those places in the mall for a piercing. It's just not safe. Thank you again for everyone's opinions. I appreciate the other points of view on this subject.
Meg

 

[USAmma]

Oops I edited the wrong post!

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