What are your feelings about piercing your newborn baby girl's ears?

[faye83]

Where I come from its almost a tradition to get your baby girl ears' pierced shortly after she is born. As a matter of fact, most hospitals in Latin America do it before they release the baby (of course they ask you first but no one says no).
So what do you girls think? Also, I don't think they do that here in the US, right??
Btw, ITS A GIRL! 10000% sure this time! yaaaayy!

[JoyRenee]

In the US babies need to be 2 months old and have their vaccines to-date (specifically Hep B).

I got my first girl's ears on her 2nd bday. Her baby sister got them done the same day at 2 months old. Daddy wants me to wait to do Zoë's till her 1st bday. But I think that is better to do when they're younger and won't reach up to yank on them.

[gokuangel]

Well if i can ever get to that point i say yes i will have it done as soon as i can! I went through He$$ with my ears and had them pierced numerous times throughout childhood it was only as an adult i learned i have sensitive ears! So now that i know that if i can have a girl someday i will get it done as soon as i can with hypoallergenic earrings and take very good care of them for her!

[NicMom]

Congrats on having a girl! I'm going to wait until my daughter is older like 10 or so.

[blueeyedtabbycat]

Well I just had my first little girl and had planned on getting them done as soon as she turned 2 months old but havent gotten around to it yet. In my opinion I think if you want to get them done it is best to do it early so they leave them alone. But its a very personal desision.  Some argue that their daughter should deside when they are old enough.  Very personal desision.

[faye83]

Thank you ladies! So what kind of earrings should I get? gold ones? Also, where did you get them done? At the mall?

[tiredbuthappy]

i am waiting. I never wear earrings, so these holes in my ears are pointless. My sister's were done as an infant and she's had to have hers redone.

gokuangel- just curious- if you went through h.ell with the piercing problems, why would you potentially subject an infant to that?

Another thing to consider if you have to work- the daycare i worked at prohibited earrings on all children because they are a choking hazard. A poster on the MC forum had her baby's done and she found the earring loose in the baby's crib near her head. Eeek!

Body piercing is body modification. It lasts a lifetime. I personally would wait until the child decides she wants it.

[Ashelen]

My mom waited until I got my period....it was sort of a celebration of womanhood, if you will, and I plan to do the same for my daughter. Also; a lot of sports won't allow your girl to play with earrings in. I played varsity sports all through middle and high school and had to take them out or tape them and it was a pain....so maybe wait and see if she's athletic? I dunno I like letting it be my daughter's choice, but that's just me, LOL. I also don't believe a girl should shave above mid-thigh until she's at least 12, so maybe I'm old-fashioned.

[tiredbuthappy]

ooo... i LIKE that idea a lot. I might steal it :)

[Charity22]

i think anytime you like, i've had my ears pierced since i was 4 months old.. dad said it was easier, because my sis had hers when she was 12, he said i forgot about the pain and he didnt have to worry about me playing with them, which came for no infections.. Its up to you really

[spade22]

I agree with Tired.

Earpiercing is a form of body modification can there can be risks associated with it.  My daughter will be the one to decide it she wants her ears pierced.

[Sunkissed19]

i think it looks adorable and i want to do it but i dont know yet if i will or not....i have to have a daughter first i suppose lol ; ) i like the idea of doing it when their little so u can control the cleaning and so they dont mess with them but i also like the idea of them being able to choose weather or not they want their ears pierced. i got mine done in 4th grade for my 9th birthday. my mom asked me what i wanted for my birthday and i said i wanted my ears pierced so she said okay and we went to the mall and got them done...with my birth stones....i think just telling this story wants to make me wait just because i myself like the memory of when i went with my mom to get them done. i think id like my daughter to have an equally nice memory.

[Victoria01]

If I had a girl I would let them decide whether they want it done or not. I didn't get my done until I was 12 and my mother made sure I was old enough so I could take care of them myself.

[Megs2girls7]

I just saw an episode of The Doctors and they talked briefly about this subject. They said that if you are going to do it to wait until they are 2 months and vaccinated (like JoyRenee said). They also said that it is best to have their ears pierced first with gold because of all the metals is it the least irritating.

I think it's really cute to see little girls with ear rings, but that's just my personal opinion. Form of mutilation or not. They're only ear rings.

[JoyRenee]

Megs2girls7- well they said modification, not mutilation. ;-p

I like Ashelen's idea to wait until puberty to get it done and celebrate their womanhood. So that's a really neat idea!

But I also think little girls with earrings are incredibly adorable. My oldest wanted her ears pierced but of course her baby sister didn't have a choice or preference. Now that Abigail is old enough to have opinions she loves having earrings and picking out new ones. I just bought them some earrings for their stockings for Christmas.

If you do end up getting it done, you can see if your Ped's office will do them. Or you can get them done at a place that specializes in infant ear piercings (such as Claire's). Make sure you have someone who is actually certified to pierce infant ears.

Gold or titanium will be the best to pierce with as they should not cause allergic reactions.  

I've been debating about Zoë's ears. I might get hers done as her Christmas present since she'll be 2 months at Christmas and doesn't really need gifts to unwrap at this age.

[motherofan18month]

here in Kentucky the babies have to be 2 months old and have a statement signed by notary public.....my best friend is a notary public though so DH & i were thinking about getting hers done at Christmas since she will be 4 months old. our wal-mart does the piercing so it's not hard to find a place to do them.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

My personal opinion is to wait until they are old enough to decide on their own.  Both of my girls didn't get their ears pierced until they were right around their 5th birthdays.  Starting around age 4 I would periodically ask them if they wanted their ears pierced and explain the process to them.  I wanted to make SURE it was something THEY wanted.  

[rebekah385]

My oldest is a boy, but his dad has an earring, so he wanted to get one at 4 1/2 too, and I let him he did great with the cleaning and has never had any problems with it. My daughter was 2 1/2 when her brother had it done and watched him get it done and wanted to get it done too. I talked with her about it since she was still pretty young, but she had seen the process and was sure. i let her get her ears pierced for her 3rd birthday and she loves it. I have nothad any problems with infections with either one of them. I do agree that babies look cute with earring, but I perfer to wait untl they are old enough to know what is going on and choose. i also do not think they get less infections in my experience my sister-in-law got two of her daughter done at 4 or 5 months and they were constinantly playing with them and getting infections, and one endedhaving to take them out and letting the holes grow out. she did th other 3 at about 3 1/2 to 4 and they did fine. i think it is each moms person choice and none are wrong or bad. congrats on the girl!

[faye83]

But if the girl end up not wanting it, she can always take it out and the hole will disappear after some time ! (I used to have 6 piercings and now only 4 :-( )
The only reason of why I'd prefer to get this done when she's little is that around 2 months I don't think the baby is going to be able to reach for her ears and play with them, you know? So almost no probability of infection. While if the girl is older then there's more chances for it to get infected...

[JoyRenee]

Faye- then 2 months is a great age. As I said my second daughter got them done at 2 months old and she never touches them or plays with them at all (she's 2 1/2 yrs old now).

[Nire161]

if you want to get them done do it. I can remember when my mum took me to get my ears pierced when i was 4 and it wasn't a nice memory. So if you do it now she wont be haunted by the fact, of course i can laugh now but it wasn't funny at the time!

[rebekah385]

yeah, I don't think they would be messing with them too much at 2 months old either.  It's more when they start getting in that grabby stage.

[faye83]

lol ok thank you girls for your input! I'll get gold ones!

[Lance06]

Sarah got hers at 10 weeks old (after her first shots) and she hasnt bothered them once. I wanted to get them while she was young enough to let them heal before finding them..and she looks to darn cute! I will do the same this time around with my daughter on the way.

[Ashelen]

They sure do look cute...good choice faye, nothin' but the best for your baby, hehe ;). I'm still gonna wait for my little one's AF so we can make a big celebration out of it. I have 6 piercings and I still regret getting them in high school because I had to take them out every day for varsity sports/shaolin goju. I <3 them but I wish I had waited until college.