Ear piercing - What age?

grapfruit wrote: So we're on vacation in NJ and my mom wants to get Isabelle's ears pierced. She's almost 23 months (on the 11th)

Now I think it'll be adorable and all that but I'm afraid she's at that ackward age. Too young and too old. She pulls her hair down all the time and DH thinks she'll pull them out. Then there's the whole keeping them clean thing.

What do you guys think?

~Roo'sMama~ replied: well in our case we won't let Allie get her ears pieced until she's old enough to take care of them herself. I don't really like the way they look on little babies anyways - it ruins their naturally innocent look imo. But if you like the way they look and don't mind taking care of them I don't see why not - unless you really think she would pull them out.

One thing from my personal experience that makes me more disinclined to want to get Allie's ears pierced before she can take care of them herself is that she's also too young to know if she wants it done or not - to me putting holes in my kid's ears when I have no idea if she's going to want them there when she's older or not doesn't seem right. My ears were pierced when I was 4 - my 6 year old sister was getting hers done and I wanted to be like her. But, even though my mom was good about cleaning them every day, I ended up having all kinds of problems with infections and nickle sensitivity and eventually earrings were more of a pain and a bother than anything to me. Now I hardly ever wear any because even my diamond earrings from Dh irritate my ears, and so I just have empty holes and I don't like the way they look. I know that even if I'd gotten my ears pierced when I was much older I probably still would have had the sensitivity issues, but at least then it would have been my choice.

msoulz replied: My honest opinion (please, not directed specifically at you or anyone else) is in the absence of some cultural/religious meaning, piercing a young girl's ears usually makes a statement about her mother's vanity.

I even heard one mother once say she got her baby daughter's ears pierced so others would know she is a girl. Really?!? You care that much about what strangers think??

I can't see any good reason to put a child through pain (albeit not long lasted) and the risk of infection and/or more pain when the child plays with/tugs at/tears out the earrings.

Cute?? Sure! But an unnecessary risk.

So IMHO, wait until she is old enough to make an informed decision for herself and can properly care for them.

stella6979 replied:
I agree with this.
With that being said, I did let Avery get her ears pierced for her 4th birthday because she asked for them. And we did talk about it and I asked her why she wanted them and she said because she thinks they are pretty and because she really wanted butterflies in her ears. LOL! Now, had she said she wanted them because her friends had them, I would have told her no. She did cry when she got them done but afterwards she was super proud of herself.

mckayleesmom replied: I would wait. We got Macks done at 24 months because her cousin got hers done and she wanted pretty's too. She messed with them and messed with them. They itch because of the healing process. I finally took them out and let them close because she wouldn't leave them in. I'm not against babies having their ears pierced at all, but I think 2 is a bad age. They are aware they are there and want to mess with them.

When Mckaylee was 4 she asked for them to be done for xmas and we got them done again. She takes care of them herself.

mom21kid2dogs replied: My niece got them done at 6 months. She pulls them out all the time. She's 4 now. My sister took out the earrings several months ago because she was afraid she'd find one in the bed and swallow it.

Our Lil' Family replied: Along with the others, I think that's too young for all the reasons stated.

ALSO, I used to work at Claire's in High School and pierced tons of ears and can tell you that even if they are evenly pierced now (and it's hard to get it even on a child that young), that might not be the case later. As she grows they will/can change in how it looks.....so for that reason, along with the others, I wouldn't pierce a child's ears until at least 4 or 5 years old.

bluebear replied: I had my ears pierced at ONE month old. I hate earrings and I haven't worn them in years. Since they were done that early of course they don't close up now.

luvbug00 replied: Mya was two when she got hers..she has since had them and pulled them out twice. It wasn't until she was 9 that she got into earrings for real.
It's up to you, I didn't think twice about getting it done.

Sarah&Mackenzie replied: Mackenzie got hers done a month before her 6th Birthday. She has done fine with them and we haven't had any problems.

coasterqueen replied: I always said my girls could get theirs done when THEY asked to have them done, not when I wanted them done. Megan SERIOUSLY asked when she was around 2 to 3 years old. She wouldn't stop asking me to get them done so I said fine. We went to have them done. She only cried long enough to get the piercing, stopped immediately, and gave me no grief about cleaning them, anything. She's been very mature about them all and all. Kylie got hers done around her 6th birthday and it was a PITA because she wanted them done, got them done but gave me nothing but grief about cleaning them. So age had nothing to do with it, really. Some don't mind taking care of them, some do. Kylie has had a lot of problems with infections, Megan has had NONE.

stella6979 replied:
This should have said 5th birthday not 4th. I guess I'm still not used to my baby being 5 yet.

HuskerMom replied: I'm hoping Summer doesn't ask to get her ears pierced for a long time, I love her perfect little ears! I'd like to wait til she's older, maybe 10 or even older than that.

cameragirl21 replied: Obviously, this is a matter of personal preference.
I personally have never been a fan of piercing a baby's ears and have always thought it looks rather tacky...to me jewelry on a baby ruins the effect of innocence and perfection that babies have naturally.
Ear piercing in infancy is very common in Hispanic culture so I see babies well under a year old with pierced ears all the time...I've never warmed up to the idea though, and I have to say it's one of very few aspects of Hispanic culture that I don't care for.
Another thing is that they spray perfume on children...my godson's mom (who is Cuban) was buying him cologne from Banana Republic when he was still a baby...she and I got into a bit of an argument about that because I thought it was obscene to be spraying perfume on a child's sensitive skin but obviously I lost that battle and she told me that if I were Hispanic I would understand.
At any rate, my godson is now 12 and does not seem to be any worse for the wear as far as having worn cologne his whole life and the Hispanic babies who get their ears pierced in infancy seem to turn out just fine so at the end of the day, whatever you feel is right will be right for you.
edited for a typo....