Ear Piercing - Kirkland,WA

My one daughter had it done at age 5, the other at 6. I waited for them to tell me they wanted it done simply because I remember how excited how was to have my ears pierced and I wanted them to experience the same joy I experienced. We made a day of it...shopping, piercing, lunch.

I just remember that they got uncomfortable to have in at times and I could feel the post poking in me at times when sleeping and I would not want to do that to a baby.

I'm OK with seeing little girls with their ears pierced, but I don't like infants with their ears pierced. It just has a cheesy look that's usually accompanied by the scrunchy headbands with the rosettes at the front. I hate it.

At this point in life, anything that starts up with more 'mommy wars' stuff should likely be ignored. It's not helping.

I have a son. I feel like, if he wants to ever pierce his ears, he shows responsibility to assure me that I will not be the one taking care of his ears. He will.

As to what anyone else does--- I know a lot of people who pierce their baby's ears for cultural reasons. I know some who let their kid decide, or who wait and treat it as a rite of passage going into middle school or after a bat mitzvah. Once again, like a lot of parenting 'debates' , I've come to the conclusion that this is more noise about nothing.

Parents make choices for our children every single day. Some are important choices and some not so much. Ear piercing falls into the not so much in my opinion. I had mine done at 15 after begging my mom forever. All of my daughters and granddaughter had theirs done by age 6. I don't understand why its a big deal other than people disagreeing about things just to disagree about things.

I saw that one the home page calling it a new "mommy war." Gads but I wish people would stop perpetuating that everything is a battle with parents who have different parenting styles.
In any case, I'm a fan of tattoos & peircings (having multiple of each) personally but want to let our daughter's make that decision for themselves. My oldest had hers done at 4 after asking for about a year. My youngest hasn't done hers yet, she's still back & forth about whether she wants them or not. We'll wait until she consistently asks to have them done.
Whatever works for each family - no "war" here!

not a fan.
and that article is shrill and defensive.
poke holes in your babies if you want, but don't expect me to coo about how cute it is.
khairete
S.

I prefer waiting until older....I also see it as a rite if passage for the girl and something she can decide she wants.

That isn't a choice I as a mother need to take away from her.

but whatever.. I won't make a big deal if you chose different.

I think some cultures assign more meaning to it than others

But whatever ...yo

I hate seeing babies come into my unit with pierced ears - then i, as the nurse, have to worry about the choking hazard, losing the earrings, caring for the sites (if recently done), etc.

But other than that, I figure it's not my baby, so not my problem.

I'm against piercing infants' ears. Just thinking about it makes me cringe. I have a daughter and I'll probably wait to get her ears pierced until she asks for it.

At the same time, I understand that it's done in some cultures. When I see infants with pierced ears, I just try to ignore and not think about it.

I think infants with pierced ears look cheap/sleazy. Yes I know they had no say in the matter but still. And definitely goes with that headband, cheap fake flower thing. Of course I don't say anything - not my kid. I got mine pierced in high school. My mom went with me and got hers done at the same time. My son can get his done if he really wants to when he is in middle school. He is 9 and hasn't asked.

But certainly the topic doesn't rise to the 'mommy war' level.

My 5 year old daughter has had her's pierced for about a year. She asked when she was three and I told her she needed to think about it, that it would hurt, etc. She would bring it up from time to time so for her fourth birthday we let her get them pierced. She didn't even flinch when they did it. She loves them.

I don't care one way or the other about babies having earrings. But I personally decided to leave it up to my children. I have an eight year old daughter who has no interest whatsoever in earrings.

I am totally fine with it...any age is fine with me and I don't judge when I see babies or small children with pierced ears. I had my ears pierced when I was 11 and it was a very exciting day. I was leaning towards waiting till then, but I'm willing to let my daughter do it earlier than that if she is ready. Right now my 5 year old adores pierced ears and wishes she had them, but she is very squeamish about the actual piercing part. She is not interested in doing it yet. That's fine. She is a little jealous of the couple of friends who already can wear little sparkly earrings.

I've asked my daughter if she wants her ears pierced for her 5th birthday- the same age I had mine pierced. She doesn't seem to really care much, so I'll wait until she asks. I want her to want them pierced so she'll take good care of them.
I didn't even consider getting her ears pierced as a baby or toddler. Mainly, because a good friend of mine advised me not to do so. She had her ears pierced as a baby, and the hole ended up in a weird place as she grew. That may not happen to everyone, but her holes are kind of high up on her lobe.

We did my DD on her 4th birthday. She asked for it.

It's a minor thing, IMO. My DH didn't like it. I didn't care more than he did. We are waiting for our DD to want them, same as with SD (she got hers when she was 8). In some cultures gold earrings are a gift to the child and they are pierced at home. I don't think it needs to be legislated. We have bigger fish than infant ear piercing.

I had mine done as a baby. I had the starter studs til I was old enough not to pull them out.

My view:: daughter's body = daughter's choice.

She chose to get her ears pierced around 8 yrs old, had allergic reaction to almost everything she tried. She allowed them to grow back up.

Around 13 she had them pierced again and had the same issues and let them grow back up.

At 18 as a college freshman, she wanted 3 piercings for each ear. She went to a high end tattoo/piercing location, got it done and only has issues, occasionally with the lower lobe which is where her first 2 piercings were. She HAS to wear specific type of steel that she buys at the tattoo/piercing location.

The weird thing is that she got her belly pierced and never once had an issue with that. She did that at the same tattoo/piercing location.

My 12 year old got her first piercings when she was 14 months old, her second right before going in to 5th grade, and then her third when she started 6th grade. We told her definitely no more and no other body piercings, but she loves them. She paid for her 3rd holes herself too. She is responsible with them and takes good care of them...rarely does she wear all 3 sets of earrings though.

Neither of my nieces have theirs done, one is 6 and one is 16 months...my sister's call on those ears.

My first holes I had done for my 10th birthday at Foleys Department Store. My second holes I got when I was 18 right before I graduated from HS. I still have both sets. Love them.

My dd was also 10 when she got hers pierced. We had problems and had to let the grow back and re-pierce. She got her belly button pierced when she was 19 and in college. Her body her choice. Not one I would make because frankly it looked like it hurt!!! She has since taken the piercing out because it was getting caught on her pants.

No problems if a parent wants to pierce the ears as an infant.

My Mom made me wait till I was 16.
To this day I have precisely one hole per ear lobe.
My sister has got her ears pieced like Swiss cheese and has had to have reconstructive surgery to repair a lot of damage she's done to herself.
I think waiting till they are older (like mid teens) is a good idea.
Some people have their kids pierced almost right from birth.
I don't think any little kid needs any holes anywhere.
The number of piercings, ear plugs (stretched out ear lobes) and tattoos I see on teens is not an attractive look.

I don't have a strong opinion about it, but I think in general it is better to wait till the child has a say in the matter.

If you are piercing a very young child's ear, you are putting permanent holes in their body without their consent - mostly for the sole purpose of looking cute. They might have grown up to prefer not to have pierced ears. And just one more thing you have to worry about when they are little as far as infections, etc.

My younger daughter (4) is begging to get her ears pierced and I will let her when she turns 5. My 7yr old has no interest.

My daughter is 7. I asked for advice from my pediatrician on this several years ago and she was against it. Frankly, I did not want the extra work having to take care of them. I got mine done at 8 and got lazy about the holes. I then had a growth spurt and my ears literally grew over the backs of the earrings...I had to go to a doctor to have them cut out. It was awful and that experience has stayed with me. My daughter has not asked for them yet. My thought is to wait several more years to have them done.

I pierced my daughter's ears when SHE decided SHE wanted it done. She was four and wanted to wear my earrings. I told her that my edarrings were for pierced ears. She said she wanted her ears pierced, then asked if it would hurt. I told her that it would hurt a little, and asked if she wanted to see how it felt. She said she did, and I gave her earlobe a short, sharp pinch with my fingernails. She yelped. rubbed her ear for a couple of seconds, then asked, "Is that it?" I told her it was and asked if she still wanted to do it. She did, and I took her the next day.
HER body, HER informed decision.

I have boys...but I would not have pierced my daughter's ears (if I had one). I would have waited and let it be her choice. I think it's more meaningful if they are around 8 or 10 and get to do it.

I know multiple women who have never wanted their ears pierced. I've had piercings and have seen the scars that are left behind if a person chooses to let them grow closed. So I personally feel it should be the person's choice. I wouldn't make that choice for a person, even if it was my child. But I don't choose to fight this particular battle. For some reason it is a "right" that many parents defend vehemently. I don't get it. But it has nothing to do with me.

My older daughter wanted her ears pierced when she was 4, so I took her to get them pierced. I also had my younger daughter's ears pierced at the same time (she was almost 2 at the time). My older daughter loves earrings to this day (she's in junior high now). My younger daughter rarely wants to wear them, but the holes are there when she does want to wear them. When she's not wearing earrings, you can't even see the holes, so even if she decided she never wanted to wear earrings again, it's not like she's scarred for life or anything. Me personally, I don't remember having my ears pierced, so I must have been very young. I have an enormous collection of earrings and wear earrings every day.

I think it's entirely a personal choice and I have no problems with parents who want to pierce their babies, toddlers, or pre-school age kids.

I would have problems if they were piercing anything except ears though....lo. Didn't think of that one I bet.

To be honest, who's going to police it? I can heat up a needle and poke a hole in a kids ear if I want to poke a hole...taking away the ability to go to the store and get someone who knows what to do and how to do it quickly and sanitary....well, why in the world would anyone want to take that away from anyone?

If a parent chooses to pierce their child's ears no one has the right to tell them no, no one. That is their child and they have the last say as to what happens to them, I think there ARE extenuating circumstances that takes that right away though. If a child is sick and in need of medical treatment and the parents refuse to seek medical care then there needs to be a legal way for the state or someone to step in and seek treatment for that child. IF there is a team that includes the parents so they can be heard then the child can receive the best options to help them heal if at all possible.

Other than those life threatening situations a parent has the right to do what they want. Piercing a kids ears is a silly thing to make laws about.

My ears were pierced as a baby. I loved it. I never have to worry about them healing over. My little friends in elementary school were jealous that I could wear real earrings. My grandparents and one aunt and uncle are all jewelers and focus on designs that are significant to our heritage. Since jewelry is such a huge part of our family's culture, I would not hesitate to pierce my daughter's ears...if I had one! I have 2 boys. I would be fine if they chose to pierce their ears, but I don't feel that it is a "must" like it would be for a girl in our family. Sexist, sure, but there it is.

My oldest ask for them to get pierced for Xmas when she was almost 5.