Piercing A Baby/Toddler's Ears Vent

@ Melanie, it's cultural. I couldn't imagine having a baby naming ceremony ( another cultural thing) without my baby's girls ears pierced. You have your traditions, I have mine.

I am an OB nurse. I've seen lots of circumcisions. Some of them get really ugly, especially when the residents do them. Since DH is set of circumcising any boys we have, I will be very choosy about who does it.

Also, I will go to an OB who does ear piercings pretty early. She's also from where I am from.

I don't have any children but my mom had my ears done when I was 6 months old. I am glad that she did.

i would do it too if I did have children.

Now i wouldn't be piercing anywhere else and no tattoos at all until they over 18 and not living in my house.

Babies have super strong imune systems, that's why they have less risk of infection. I didn't get mine until I was in 3rd grade after begging and begging my mom because I had friends who had theirs since they were babies.

I've been giving it a lot of thought because FH and I keep talking about having a child and it came up that if we had a girl her ears would be pierced almost immediately. When I questioned it he told me, "well, then you better never leave her alone with my mother or sister-in-law" I laughed but I think he may have been serious.

Thanks TinaBobina, that helps :-) It just seemed to me that many responses were along the lines of "better to do it when the child is small than later". That makes it sound like something that has to happen sooner or later. So I was just wondering if I have been deprived lol!

I'm also hoping for a baby girl some day lol!

It is the parent's decision but for me I would not do it to my daughter. I figure that she has the right to decide if she wants holes in her body and when she is older she can make the choice herself. My mom never did it to me and I never got it done and don't have any regrets. I would not have appreciated it if my mom had put her preference on me when I was a baby because I am simply not a jewelry person and would not have wanted to have any unnecessary piercings.

@ Mrs. S you have not been deprived. Clip ons work just fine

I didn't have mine done till I was four and I wanted them done, but than i wanted to shave my head so people could see my pretty ears. I think that its up to the parents to decide, but personally I regret the shaved head more than the ears.

But at 13 I HAD to have my belly button pierced, and i regret that! I see the scar it leaves, especially have having a baby and I really regret it. Although at 13 I didn't care when they told me it would scar.

It's just my personal opinion that it shouldn't be done until the child is old enough to actually say, "Hey Mommy, I really want my ears to be pierced. Can we PLEASE go to get them done?"

However, it is the choice of the parent, I suppose and to each his/her own. I wouldn't ever say something to someone about it unless they asked my opinion.

I got my daughter done at 6 weeks and she is 5 now with no problems i didnt want to wait because if she knew they were there that would cause more issues. and i pierce ears at my job and we can do them as long as the parent signs off on it. i pierced a baby that was only 7 days old. so it is all personal preference

I got both my daughters ears pierced at 2 mos. with no problems at all. I just think its a personal choice for parents & everyone has their own opinions about it. I don't see it as taking a risk at all. As someone stated above, babies have very strong immune systems and are not at high risk for an infection.

To me, it was just a personal choice. I don't think its a big deal. My daughters never played them & never got infections.

I had mine done at some point before my first birthday...not really sure when. I never had any problems with it.

That being said, I also have 4 holes in my ear, and those were all my idea and I had to wait for certain milestones/ages and beg my parents for.

FH and I never really talked about it, and I would like to say that if I have a daughter I'll get hers done when she is a baby- but like others have stated, it's hard to comment on anything "parenting" related, if you aren't actually a parent.

Just to clarify, if you've already had your ear piercings for awhile, deciding to take them out as an adult or older kid is not going to allow the holes to grow over as someone else said. My holes are there for good!

My baby was 3 months when we he her ears pierced. Since they're little it doesn't hurt them as much... as long as you take good care of them nothing happens. Mine is 4 right now and love wearing her earings...

I had my 2nd and 3rd ear piercings done when I was 12 and 13 I kept them for quite awhile and then I went one week without and they all closed. I still have to poke earrings through the first ones everyday to make sure they don't close and it's been 27 years. I think the closing is different on everyone. My non ear peircings also closed super fast, my eyebrows and lip just within a couple hours and my tongue by day 2 of taking it out. Where FH use to leave his tongue out for weeks and beable to put it back in.

Something else to also consider..my brother and I got our ears (well his ear) lol when we were older (in late teens), cleaned them regularly, etc. However, now I can't wear earrings, because sometimes scar tissue grows when people get their ears pierced..I have it on one ear, which caused my piercing to split so I can't wear earrings. My brother has it also. Luckily for us they are not really noticeable. Doctors said it's genetic and in some people it just grows no matter how much they clean them, even when not infected

..I could get my ear pierced again or get the tissue removed but they said it could grow back even bigger. I've seen people on the street before with HUGE ones..so if anyone in your family has one of those, think twice about it..However I think they are relatively rare.

@ Ab Z. - those are called keloids and they're not as rare as you may think. My sister has them from her second set of holes that she got when she was a teen. The ones she got as a baby, however, are perfectly fine....hmmm interesting...lol

Hmmmm interesting find:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keloid

Keloids are very unlikely to form on children under the age of 11 when it comes to ear piercings...guess I'll thank my mom for getting mine pierced before then haha

My best friend got her daughters ears pierced when she was 4 months. I see nothing wrong with it. I had my third hole in my ear pierced by the time I was in 5th grade along with my first tattoo at the age of 15. My besti friend had her belly button pierced at the age of 12, YES 6th grade. I had my tongue pierced at 16. Nothing wrong with it at all!!

In my family, having my ears pierced was something that I had to earn. I didn't have my ears pierced until I was in 6th grade and I had earned the right to a responsibility that large of cleaning and taking care of them. It was more of a situation that my mother said that if I stopped sucking my thumb (yes, that continued until I was nine-- blushing!) then I could have my ears pierced. So when I stopped (for a year) I could have them pierced. I kind of liked the challenge and I felt awesome when I had stopped my childish habit and could show off my wonderful earrings!

With that said, I will not pierce my kids ears until they start letting me know that they would like it done. It was an important step in growing up for me, I'd like my children to have that step as well.

In my family's Italian culture, our ears were pierced VERY early (I think between 4-6 weeks) and I intend to do the same if I have daughters. It's just a matter of personal preference, period.

Ear piercings don't hurt and babies certainly don't remember any of the discomfort associated with them, speaking from experience. I barely remember the discomfort associated with my second earring, cartlidge, or tongue piercing.

People are permitted different opinions, and to me it is not for us to judge one way or the other how people parent their children or what people feel is appropriate for them and their families (unless there is clear abuse/negligence)