Piercing A Baby/Toddler's Ears Vent

I had my daughters ears pierced when she was six weeks old. I'm glad I did it that young because I can recall my little sister getting hers pierced at 4 and she bothered them so much, they had to be taken out. She has had them done two more times since then, and only recently has she been able to 'deal' with them. She WANTED them because she thought they were pretty.

My baby is only fourteen months and she loves her earrings. She claps and poses when I put them in. And call me vain, but they are just too cute.

And, she has two big brothers, they wrestle and get dirty all of the time and we have never had a problem with them.

I understand the wanting them to be old enough to choose on their own. But really, a 12 or 13 year old isn't thinking of the big picture and if they'll want them in the future. All they think is that it's cool and something they want now. I had my ears pierced when I was 3 and I played with them wayy too much. They were always getting infected. That being said...as much as the infections hurt, they weren't like life threatening or anything. I don't consider it a big danger for them to get slightly infected from touching them.

I was never upset with my parents piercing my ears and maybe when I have kids I'll decide to get theirs pierced young too, but at the moment I think I'd just wait until they started asking about it.

Its all a personal choice. People are going to do what they want with their children when they want to do it. Both of my girls at 5months old. No problem

Glad, I don't have a girl lol.... I agree there's a lot of things that parents do to their children... my son was a few weeks when we circumcised him... and some people are against that. People also say if you don't breastfeed your causing harm to your child and cloth diapering is better ... on and on. I always let people parent how they want it's their child, and you might think they are a horrible parent, but maybe they are a great one. That's the best thing about having your own child, you raise them how you want. My son is two and has never had infections or ear infections and he hardly ever gets sick and I didn't breastfeed for that long. He says thank you, and working on the please's, always says hello and goodbye. Your kid, your way. No need for disrespectful people and name calling. You wouldn't want your child doing that either!

I don't agree at all with modifying anyone's body without their express consent. This includes piercing, tattooing, cutting, circumcision, etc... Every person has a right to bodily integrity and just because someone is a child that does not make them less deserving...in fact they are moreso in my opinion because they do not have a voice to defend themselves.

My dad took me, without my mom's permission, to get my ears pierced when I was a toddler. I don't remember it but when the "gun" peirced my right ear, I jumped. So now rather than having a hole in that ear, I have a line that is about an inch long.

I can't believe she was irresponsible enough to get the ears pierced at a WalMart! If you want to have your childs ears pierced, so be it. But at least get it done by a real professional who knows what they are doing and is certified!

Jennifer, not to ruin your idea of a professional, but ear piercing is not something you go to school for.. Its a short class where you practice on peers and volunteers... Every place has their own amount of skilled and not so skilled eat piercers. I think mine were done at claires when I was 4 and second holes were done at piercing pagota later on.. My second whole on my left ear has always been a problem because they didnt punch straight. Point is, there really isnt such thing as a super spevial certified ear piercer.. Maybe body piercing? Ears are pretty straight forward.. Also, take it easy on the wal mart employees. A lot of them are intelligent beings just trying to get by while they.are in working through life and have the umfortunate task of putting up with the idiot customers they attract with their low prices and late hours. That doesnt make them less qualified than people that do the same job somewhere else.

Now... I wouldnt pierce my baby's ears but I dont judge.

I know about the class. Been there, done that. That being said, you get what you pay for. I wouldn't let anybody at Walmart tattoo me either just because they took an online class and "practiced" a couple of times. There are different levels of certification for piercing and although it isn't rocket science it does take some skill. Hence the reason yours are not straight. There is nothing wrong with being a Walmart employee, and I never said there was. It is just not a safe environment to do something delicate. Time and place and a little common sense.

I don't have kids so I can't speak to weather it right or wrong, but I can speak from a professional ear piercing perspective as I used to do it many years ago. If you do chose to have your childs ears pierced it's recommended to do them between 3-6 months, this way they grow with them and are used to having them by the time they are a toddler to avoid the tugging, scratching and pulling phase. I do agree that piercing a toddler is not a good idea bc of the reasons you stated. They are messy when playing, they will pull them out and they are much more prone to getting infected. While I never minded piercing ears, I absolutely hated to pierce children. I have some horror stories and some mothers I simply just had to turn away bc they basically expected me to torture their child. Babies are easy for the most part, the sleep and barely flinch. If they do cry it's usually only for a few minutes and then they are over it. Toddlers on the other hand, it's like pure torture to them (cont)

Sometimes. The best practice is to do a toddlers both at the same time (using two people piercing) so that way it's done and over. But many times there was only one professional available and parents wanted them done anyway. Once you get the first the child never wants the 2nd done, so parents would hold their child down and keep them there for an amount of time just trying to talk them or bribe them into it. I often had to tell the parents, listen I tried but at this point I can no longer attempt to pierce your child. She is clearly unhappy and I'm just not doing this while you hold your child in a straight jacket position.

To each their own but thank god I no longer pierce ears.

@Jennifer G- Yes, I agree! NEVER EVER take your child to Wal mart to get them pierced! They do not go through training to pierce ears and usually it is just on the fly training. And if you are going to do it I highly recommend getting your child the little gold balls rather than a pretty diamond looking stud bc of the prongs around it, they will scratch your baby. I used to be a District Manager for Claire's stores and the training they go through is very good and I also know the training that's done at Piercing Pagoda stores are good as well, as they are owned by Zales Corp. I would ask when the Manager was available to pierce your ears, make sure to ask questions so you don't end up with the seasonal employee that doesn't pierce a lot. Also, never go during peak times when they have lots of customers to tend to as well as piercing. Often these stores are under staffed and you want them to be able to focus on your child.

Nicole S - if you want to go around calling not only the mothers on this forum, but many of their mothers as well - including the wonderful woman who birthed me - a moron because of their cultural beliefs, WW may not be the right place for you, perhaps TheKnot. I know that most of us were raised to respect others as individuals and their cultural/religious beliefs and practices, even if we disagree, as long as the child isn't being put in danger. My mother piercing both mine and my sister's ears when we were babies is hardly what most reasonable adults would consider "damage to a child's body". Again, we can all agree to disagree. But one thing I'm sure that we can all agree with is that this is a site that we all would like to be able to come to without being attacked with name calling.

*Edited because I was a bit fired up from the choice of words used but don't want to contribute to making this site like TK *

I got my ears pierced when I was 11, and I think that's pretty normal for most of the white girls I know. A lot of my Latino friends have their daughters' ears pierced when they're babies though. Just a difference in culture. My sister never had her ears pierced, and the only time she regretted it was on her wedding day. To each their own I guess.

I def have mixed feelings but I guess when I really think about it i'll probably have my daughter's done young, that way she won't remember it. If she gets older and doesn't want her ears pierced (highly doubtful) she can take them out. I just remember getting mine done at 7 years old and it was TRAUMATIC lol I can remember the glue gun looking thing they used and getting the first one done after which I ran lol My mom had to spend 20 minutes convincing me I needed the other one done too or i'd look like a boy!

I don't think its a big deal. I think its a bigger deal to circumcise your baby boy at day two of life. In my culture, baby girls get jewerly as gifts before they are born. Some of them start wearing them the day they are born. I got my ears pierced when I was one month old.

To each their own. I know you've stated your opinion, but piercings can get infected at 30 years old or 1 year old.

I never realized so many people got their ears pierced so young!

I wouldn't agree with it, but that's mostly because I had awful, awful infections for weeks when I had my ears pierced. And the holes never fully closed - my ears still look pierced although I haven't worn earrings in decades. I also think it should be the child's decision when he/she is old enough to make it.

But at the same time it doesn't seem to me you can actually say anything to her. It seems to me it's one of those you-disagree-with-it but it's not actually harming the child type cases.

I am with you Pan, I would wait until the child could decide for themself. That being said, its turning into the norm for months-old babies to get it done because "they wont remember the pain". I dont get it, though. It sounds like ear piercing is turning into a necessary procedure, like its a circumcision.

Also, a baby may not be able to "remember" the pain, but babies can be affected by traumatic experiences (including pain) in ways a person might not even relate to the experience... Just an extta thought.

I say people are free to do what they want with their children. I don't think you can be mad at her for doing that to her daughter. I think it's a personal choice

My sister had my niece's ears pierced when she was just a couple months old. I don't really mind it, as Karla said above me it's a personal choice. I have two daughters and I won't have their ears pierced until they decide on their own that they want to do it.