whats the correct age to pierce a childs ears?
By amylou8521
@amylou8521 (324)
April 19, 2007 11:38am CST
This is a subject very close to my own heart, i would imagine i will find people either strongly agreeing or strongly disagreeing.
I walked passed claires accesories today and a woman was holding a new baby in her arms, maybe 5 or 6 months old, the sales assistant then held her piercing gun at the childs ear, and pierced it!
The cry from the child was unbearable, i mean i struggle listening to a baby cry at the best of times and i want to make them better so bad! However hearing this kind of cry, and knowing that the parent caused it! Caused this kind of pain, made me feel sick!
The grandmother or the party then shoved a bottle in the baby's mouth to sooth it and calm it down, while tears poured down its cheek!
I had to bite my lip so hard and i walked out from the shop, they lost my business!
What age do you think is acceptable to have a childs ears pierced? I personally dont think its right until they can make the decision for themselves, again it is debatable about what age this is!
Do you think there should be a law for businesses to turn down this down? Or a minimum age limit, even with the parents permission?
I know a few people who have had there toddlers ears pierced and would look at me funny if i said something, and im sure there are some of you reading this who have done the same, didnt you feel bad?
I myself have had my ears pierced several times and even as an adult there is still pain associated with it!
It does make me angry!
9 people like this
39 responses
@jillmalitz (5131)
• United States
19 Apr 07
I'm not in favor of babies having pierced ears. I see a lot of them, but I would not do it. I think a child should be old enough to take responsibility of cleaning the ears and keeping track of the earrings. It does no good to buy earrings if the kid is going to keep losing them. I can also remember the screams of my granddaughter when she first had her ears pierced. It was not pretty.
3 people like this
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
Those kind of cries are heartbreaking arent they!?
Thank you for taking the time to reply
Amy :)
2 people like this
@Nebuloso (179)
• United States
19 Apr 07
I live in the Southwest, on the Border, and it's pretty common in the Mexican culture for parents to pierce a baby's ears shortly after birth.
Personally, I think I'd much rather the parents take the baby to the mall and have it done with sterile instruments than the more traditional way - an ice cube and a sewing needle.
We had my daughter's ears pierced shortly after she was born. True, she cried a bit immediately after they were pierced, but I think it was more from the surprise of it than any lingering pain. She was fine within about 30 minutes and it never seemed to bother her after that. In fact, there were times when she seemed to suffer much longer after getting an immunization shot than she did when her ears were pierced.
One last point that I'd like to bring up that others touched upon. It was mentioned that it would be better to wait until the child was old enough to make their own decision and old enough to be responsible for keeping them clean and all that. My personal experience is that it's MUCH easier to keep a baby clean than it is to keep a toddler...or a grade schooler...or even a teenager clean! lol
3 people like this
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
Lol yes i agree, they get dirtier quicker but its much easier to clean them up! And they dont argue as much when they do!
Thanks for you're input :)
2 people like this
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
19 Apr 07
I had 3 boys and then finally got my daughter. I would take her out of the house all dressed in pink and someone would always call her a boy. I decided to get her ears pierced when she was 6 months old. I am so glad that I did. I took her when she was going to be ready for a bottle soon. They pierced both ears at the same time. She let out a cry and took the bottle. No tears at all. I am so glad that I had them done when she was so little so I could be the one to clean them and make sure that the proper care was taken in the healing of them. I have had friends who wait till their girls are 13 and they don't clean them properly so they get infections.
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
Thank you kindly for you're view on the other side of the debate, i see where you're coming from about being the one able to clean it up.
Congratulations on getting a girl in the end! I love dressing my daughter in pink too :)
2 people like this
@MJJ1011 (107)
• United States
19 Apr 07
I can really see both sides to this and am having this same dilemma right now. I have a 6 month old daughter and am trying to decide what is the right age to pierce her ears. I can see why people have it done at a young age, mostly so that they don't remember the pain. However, I think there is something to be said for waiting until a child is old enough to ask to get the piercing and to take responsibility for caring for their ears themselves. My mom had my ears pierced when I was 4 years old. I remember screaming and crying when they did it. I don't think 4 is a good age because I was old enough to remember the pain, but too young to really care for my piercings myself. This is something that my husband and I will have to discuss.
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
Thank you for a comment, and for been neutral on the subject, you can see both sides of it! At the end of the day the child wont remember i do agree with that.
:)
1 person likes this
@wendee (359)
• Canada
19 Apr 07
My daughter is 5 and has wanted her ears peirce for as long as I can remember! I explained to her how they do it and when she asked if it hurt, i told her the truth. Since that conversation she has not wanted her ears peirced. My 4 year old SD also had asked about peircing and I had the same cenversation with her and she still wanted them peirced. DH took her and watched someone get their ears peirced and she still wanted it done so DH got hers done. She was excellent about it and is very good when it comes to cleaning to. I think it is def. up to the child to decide if/when this happens and babies are to young to decide!
2 people like this
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
Thank you for you're comment, im glad she was good at cleaning it, i remember when i got the one side done (due to the pain)!! it went funny because i neglected it, i hated it so much!
lol
thanks again
x
1 person likes this
@xoShannonNCxo (146)
• United States
19 Apr 07
I personally would never pierce my childs ears until she told me she wanted to get them pierced! I got mine pierced in the 1st grade and I begged my mom and she gave in but I had a horrible allergic reaction and my skin swelled up over the earings so my mom took them out and didn't let me get them pierced until I was older.
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
I had a similar experience, at 12 i begged and begged, my mum finally gave in, when i got there, i got sat down, all ready for it.
Then they did the first ear! At that point id never experienced anything like it, and i wouldnt let them do the other side!
I was stuck for 6 weeks feeling like a boy, with only one ear pierced, before it was well enough for me to remove it!
Thanks for you're experience :)
2 people like this
@emisle (3822)
• Ireland
19 Apr 07
I personally wouldn't pierce my child's ears, I'd let them decide when they were older. But if another parent went ahead with it I wouldn't say anything. Yes it's painful (I've had my ears pierced twice) but at least the worst of the pain doesn't last too long, and it saves the child going through that pain in future if they wanted to get their ears pierced...I think it's still a bit mean though to do it in my culture.
1 person likes this
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
Thank you kindly for you're input, yes i agree that is a good point out of it, that the pain doesnt last too long, :)
@texasclassygal (5305)
• United States
19 Apr 07
I didn't get my ears pierced until I was in high school, unsure why my Mom waited since everyone in our family (the girls) had there's pierced. My granddaughter had her pierced when she was 2 years old and didn't even cry and we only had one problem when the earring fell out in the evening but we were able to put it right back in. She is almost 3 years old now and has never had any problems. I think girls should get it done early in life where it does not hurt them.
1 person likes this
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
Thank you for taking the time to comment :) im glad you're grand daughter didnt cry thats nice to hear, it might not have hurt her as much as it did me!
But i am a big girls blouse lol!
:D
1 person likes this
@vanities (11395)
• Davao, Philippines
20 Apr 07
well yeah! that was awful to see babies crying because of pain!..i have pierced the ears of my daughters when they are old enough to understand what is it in their ears and can handle pain and that was surely when they start to be conscious of their appearance and requested to buy an earrings.
1 person likes this
@SpitFire179 (2536)
• Canada
20 Apr 07
when i was 5 or 6 weeks old my mom had my ears pierced, and though it's the best time to do it, because the child doesn't yet really feel pain, usually until about 2-3 months anyway is what i hear, i don't think i would ever do that to my kids.
I have a few reasons for that, first, because i found out that i have allergies to any kind of metal or plastic ANYTHING that goes into the ears at all period, gold, silver, Stirling silver, titanium, hypoallergenic, anything, I'm seriously allergic to it, so i wouldn't take the chance of a child of mine having the same problem.
Second, because i want my child to have choice in the matter, there's many who want them done, and many who don't, it's up to them indefinitely
Third, i would not be able to bear the thought of any child being in pain like that even for a second, especially one of my own, and i would never be the root cause of this.
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@amylou8521 (324)
•
20 Apr 07
Many thanks for you're comments, a lot of them are the same as to how i feel, i am sorry you are so allergic to these things! Some things in my ears do irritate me dont think im allergic though, thanks for sharing you're thoughts :):)
@denden (802)
• Philippines
20 Apr 07
I dont think its a good idea that 5 months or 6 months is a good age for peircing a child ears because in that age the baby is very young.Me,i peirced my ears when i was five years old and until now i cant imagine how painful it was.But im glad that they made me peirce at a young age because now i am afraid of peircing.
@amylou8521 (324)
•
20 Apr 07
Its a good job you got it done before you became frightened of it, do you think it could be connected? Maybe that it imprinted in you're mind that it was quite painful and now you are scared to have it done subconsciously?
Or is it just the thought of having it done you dont like?
Kind thanks for you're contribution though, it is much appreciated :)
@mari123 (1861)
• China
20 Apr 07
i don;t know the correct age to pierce a child ears,i am a man, and in my country if a men pierce a ear,people feel you a bad man.but my gril friend pierced her ears,in my mind she pierced her ears in 13.i think pierce ear is too bad,and make child crying.
1 person likes this
@xtothez (93)
• United States
20 Apr 07
i think it should be up to the child... i have had friends who were pierced when they were born and they didn't really care that their ears where pierced it was just something else to take care of. However when some one who has never been pierced, decides to get it done it is a big deal....
1 person likes this
@cgfrench28 (6)
• United States
20 Apr 07
Hi, I do see where you are coming from. BUT, I had my daughters ears pierced when she was 10 months old. And it wasnt so bad...I felt bad for her cuz of the pain, but she didnt cry that long. Just a couple minutes. She did really good. I dont like to hear babies cry when they are in pain too, but I felt it was good to do it then because she wouldnt remember the pain. She was too young to remember having it done.
1 person likes this
@amylou8521 (324)
•
20 Apr 07
Thank you for replying and telling us about you're experiences on this one, much appreciated :)
@dlucia (208)
• United States
19 Apr 07
I'm 100% agreeable with you on this one. I think having a baby's ears pierced is just insane. Having your ears pierced should be a decision of the person involved. It should be an individual choice. What if later on in life, they dont want them pierced, then it's too late. I just dont know what goes through parents minds having babies go through this pain. I probably would have not walked out of Claires without saying something. I have pierced ears myself but I made the decision well into my 20's. I"m now 50.
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
Thank you very much for you're opinion on this one, as i suspected its more or less 50 / 50, i did struggle not to say something but i didnt feel it was my place, and was worried the parent might have kicked me or something! lol
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
Thank you very much for you're opinion on this one, as i suspected its more or less 50 / 50, i did struggle not to say something but i didnt feel it was my place, and was worried the parent might have kicked me or something! lol
@Foxxee (3651)
• United States
19 Apr 07
I think if a mother/gardian wants her little girls ears pierced, then that is up to the parent.
I never had my daughters ears pierced. I have thought about it, but just never had it done. My daughter is 4 now and she has asked for her ears to be pierced and I might do it during summer break for her.
So I think if you want it done, either wait until the child is old enough to ask for her ears to be done or do it as a baby.
@jojogirl (289)
• Philippines
20 Apr 07
my daughter was only three days old when i had her ears pierced. does that make me a bad mother? i don't think so. she only shrieked twice, no tears at all. had i waited for two more years before doing that, she would have slapped the one who's doing the piercing and kicked me who would be holding her. i'm not saying that it is wrong to wait for children to make decisions for themselves, it just so happened that it is a custom in our place that girl's ears be pierced at an early age. and i really think that short haired or almost bald baby girls really look cute with tiny earrings.
most five month old babies, like the one you saw at that store, cry whenever they are in the presence of strangers.
my ears were pierced when i was about three years old. i couldn't even remember how it felt. i guess it was not very remarkable.
@amylou8521 (324)
•
20 Apr 07
Thank you for you're answer, and i am in no position to judge if anyone is a good or bad mother to be piercing theire childs ear, some of the things i do, other may not be too happy about.
Everyone has their own opinions and preferable way of doing things.
Thank you for you response :)
@mememama (3076)
• United States
19 Apr 07
If I ever have a daughter (I have a son), I'd let her decide when she is ready and wants to have her ears pierced. I know a lot of adult women who have crooked ear piercings because they got them pierced as babies. You never know how the ears are going to grow. I hate walking by those jewelery stores when I see that, if I worked at one I wouldn't be able to pierce babies.
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
I dont think i would either if this was my job! I never thought of that, about having wonky piercings! I wonder if it happens often.
Thank you :)
@dancediva24 (19)
• United States
19 Apr 07
I pierced my daughters ears when she was 9 months old she cried for 2 minutes and was over it i wouldnt have pierced them when she was a newborn, i got mine when i was 8.
@amylou8521 (324)
•
19 Apr 07
I think i wasnt far off the age of 8 when i had my first piercing experience! It didnt go down well and was a massive let down for me lol!
Thanks
@YoungInLove (1254)
• Canada
20 Apr 07
I dont like seeing babies with their ears peirced. It just doesnt look right, not at their age atleast. I think that a childs ears should not be pierced until they are ATLEAST around 4 years old.
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