When I found out I was having a girl, I had so many things I couldn’t wait to do, including starting to build that strong mother-daughter bond. It never occurred to me that getting her ears pierced was something I needed to consider until my aunt brought it up. Getting my daughter’s ears pierced was her gift to my daughter.
There are a lot of mixed opinion and ideas on this and everyone is definitely entitled to their own opinion. Ultimately, it comes down to what works best for you and your family. The opinions of others should not matter when making your decision.
If piercing your child’s ear is something you choose to do, here are some things you may want to do before hand:
Find a reputable place that specializes in Infant Ear Piercings
Do your research and look up different businesses in your local area that will pierce your child’s ear. Most places will only pierce your infant’s ear if they are three months old and up.
Ask what equipment they use to actually complete the piercing
Once you have found a place that you are comfortable with, ask what type of equipment they use to complete the piercing. Is it brand new equipment per child? Do they sterilize one ear piercing gun after each use (If using the same gun on multiple people)? And What type of earring do they provide? Most places will provide free ear piercings when you purchase an earring and most often then not, the earrings are real gold to prevent irritation and infections.
Book an appointment
When you have finally made your decision, you should book an appointment for the day and time you are planning to go. Especially if your location is in a mall, you don’t want to show up all ready to go and be disappointed because they have no available times for you. Be proactive and secure your spot ahead of time.
Once you arrive for your appointment, you will usually be asked to fill out some information and provide a signature, allowing them to complete the ear piercing on a minor (under the age of 16). You will be directed sit on a chair, with your infant in your lap (back to you), while they mark each ear and measure to make sure it is even. You will then be asked to hug your infant with one arm, securing their arms, and holding their head still with the other hand. It’s important that your infant does not move when this is happening.
The actual ear piercing is quite fast and is completed with one press of a button on each ear. Having a bottle ready is a good idea to help soothe your infant and minimize any discomfort that they might be feeling.
After Care
The business where you choose to have the piercing done should provide you with a solution to clean the ear lobe, behind the earring, so no infections arise. If they do not, you may want to ask how you can keep the area clean and disinfected. You will want to clean the area at least once a day, both the front and the back, for approximately 8 weeks. If any irritation arises and it’s something that you know should not be there, may sure to check with your doctor.
Now that you have piercing completed, it is recommended that it is not removed for at least a year. If it is removed, you are risking the hole closing up and will have to repeat this process again in the future. Let’s spare our little ones the pain of having to do this more than one time and leave that bling on.
The last and final step is to take lots of pictures because you know your little one will look beautiful with that extra little bit of sparkle.
This was a wonderfully written and informative blog post. Admittedly, piercing an infants ears can be perceived in many ways, both positive and negative. I know a lot of people have strong feelings when to pierce a child's ear. "Let them decide" is being replaced by parental decision when mommy intuition knows, "earlier is better" from either personal or friend's experiences of unpleasant childhood ear piercing. I agree with Savvy Mommies that it just depends on your own personal choice whether or not you wish your baby or little girl to have pierced ears. Some feel perceived gender of their child is important while others find it a cultural tradition where all infant girls have pierced ears.
Answering some of…