Ear piercing in children

I have a friend who is married to an Italian and they had their girls done as tiny babies. I was quite annoyed as many years ago she took my daughter who was 9 at the time and had her ears pierced without my permission.

@LadyDuck Especially as she had a lot of trouble with one ear. There were lots of tears and she lost sleep because of the soreness.

@sprite1950 This is something that would have made me mad. I understand you were annoyed.

I tend to worry as a little girl I know ended up in hospital and had to have part of her ear lobe removed because she had such a bad infection.

@lynnief It's not usual but it did stick in my mind. She was 8 at the time and I worked with her mum. The back of her ear grew over the stud fastening.

@sprite1950 Wow, that's not good.

@sprite1950 I found an image for you Image Source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VS5gMUMVwU

@allknowing The baby looks happy too . Thank you.

It was quite hard to find a picture of a child with piercings but the little girl in the picture was one of the few I found on Pixabay. She's very cute

Yes lots of people have said that but my granddaughter is a bit of a drama queen about pain.

@sprite1950 ohhh then why does she want to have ear piercing... now this is the advantage of piercing at early age

@Mavic123456 She thinks they look nice but she doesn't realise they could be sore after.

@LilyBeBack I think I would probably end up taking care of them and she does have a sensitive skin like me. I can only wear silver.

@LilyBeBack Cleanliness could be an issue with her if her teeth brushing is anything to go by! My daughter had a lot of piercings like you but her lip one caused a problem as it started to affect her bottom teeth and her dentist told it would cause permanent damage if she continued with it so she took it out.

@sprite1950 I think an 11 year old is much more responsible than the average 15 year old However if you're not sure then maybe just wait a year and see how you feel then. I've always had problems with my left earlobe and my right one has been absolutely fine, it's really annoying because now I can't even get an earring in my left one at all Yet I've got the top of my ear pierced, and my tragus, my lip, and my septum, and I've never had a single problem with any of them. I think piercings through cartilage heal better than ones that are just through skin

That's how it was for me. I got my ears pierced when I was older and by then my parents were ok with it.

@sprite1950

@sprite1950 good idea.

She's not very good with cleaning her teeth. I've told her if her teeth brushing improves I will think about it.

@sprite1950 Things have changed here too since I was born. Then, all babies were baptized before they were 1 month old. Now it is completely different.

It isn't usual over her to do that but I will let my granddaughter have hers done soon.

@marguicha When is it done now? Here we sometimes let the child decide for him/herself when they want to be baptised which can be at any age.

@sprite1950 Ah, she has forgotten about it and that is what I would do as well just let it drop and see what happens.

@lovinangelsinstead21 Yes kids get an obsession abut something and then they move on to something else.

I will in the next year. She's stopped talking about it so I might leave it a bit longer

I was thinking in about a year as then I will be slightly more comfortable with it. They are allowed to wear sleepers at school as these can be pulled out during play, they can only wear studs.

@silvermist I think I will. She will probably forget about it soon but perhaps I can persuade her to wait by saying she can have it done for her 12th birthday.

@sprite1950 If you are not comfortable with it,then do wait for one more year.

She's already has those fake tattoos on her arms when she goes to the school disco. I don't even want to think about the real thing!

@nanette64

@sprite1950 Oh lordy. If she wants pain, that'll do it.

Well, maybe you have swayed me a bit. Did they all have gold earrings? I can only wear silver, even gold will irritate me a little.

@Morleyhunt Children here are not allowed to wear hoops (we call them sleepers) at school in case they get ripped out while they are playing. They have to wear studs.

@sprite1950 I think they all had little gold studs which were replaced with tiny hoops (keepers) within a few months.

@HazySue I guess so. She's 12 in November. Maybe I will let her have it done for her birthday.

@sprite1950

I can't imagine that my parents would have let me have mine pierced young. They would have been horrified. It wasn't that popular when I was young.

@anikoonline How old were you at the time?

@sprite1950 My aunt had her ears pierced and I saw that she has nice earrings. It took a long time to convince my mom. And I remember that she let me do this, she held my hands while they pierced my ears, but she didn't maintained this.

Yeah I want my granddaughter to wait until she is 12 but she would like it done now. It's her birthday in November so I might let her then.

I think it's a very personal thing. What age do you think you will let her?

People are very divided on the right age to have it done but I am beginning to come round to the idea.

Perhaps I shall let her soon then. Maybe for her 12th birthday.

Well yes she's far too young for anything else. I actually hope she doesn't decide to do too many piercings when she gets old enough to make her own decisions.

I hope she won't get an infection but I know it happens. I want to find the best place to have it done so that the risk will be minimal.