1.14.2013

Mommy Advice: Pierced Ears?

So, I have been considering having Elise's ears pierced, but my Mom made me wait until I was 10 and old enough to take care of them myself. I'm curious to see what other Moms have done for their little girls, or what your thoughts are on the subject in general. Are your little girl's ears pierced? How old was she when you had them done? Am I being vain? Should I wait to let her make the decision herself? Will I be missing out on a Mommy/Daughter bonding experience if she isn't old enough to remember having them done? What if she gets older and doesn't like pierced ears, will she resent that I made the decision for her?

Help me out--you don't have to have a daughter, maybe your ears were pierced as a child, how old were you? I'm just trying to gather info and opinions before I make a decision. What is your take on the subject?

4 comments:

Janette @ The Johanson Journey said...

I had my ears peered <- that's how I said it when I was 5. I have friends who have pierced their daughter's ears as a baby while others have said they'd wait till they were old enough to ask for them. We haven't pierced our girls ears mainly b/c Erik wouldn't let me which puts me in the category of having to wait till the girls are old enough to ask. I think they are cute either way.... I have not helped at all but I'm down for it and I'm also down with waiting. Guess it just depends on you and the Mister.

Emmy said...

I couldn't have mine pierced until I was 12-- my sister snuck me over when I was 11 :) My daughter's ears aren't pierced and I am more waiting until she is older/asks sort of thing, seems like one more thing to worry about when they are little. I rarely ever wear earring myself and so it might be a while until my daughter asks anyway.

Sarah Shumate said...

We made Lexie wait until she was 8. She wasn't even interested in it until she was about 6, but we wanted her to be able to get really excited about it and see it as a BIG milestone. :o)

Anonymous said...

Stacie,

I got my daughters done at around 2 months. You are not being vain nor selfish, but a smart mommy for considering having them done early when mommy can properly care for them. By doing them, she'll just grow up with them and be a part of her never playing with later when they can become infected. You are not missing out on bonding experience doing them now, in fact I had an additional piercing to celebrate the event when my dd, Sandi, had her first earrings. Ninety five percent of women have pierced ears and ALL LITTLE girls want them after seeing their peers with darking earrings. Promise she'll thank you later for doing them as an infant. Here is my two cents and two reasons I went ahead:

First, I asked my pediatrician, and she said the younger the better. They won’t play with them (less infection risk) you can make sure they are cleaned, and it will hurt less when they are younger (less emotional ‘pain’ or fear). Modern sterile methods with disposable ear piercing earrings make it more desirable and better done as an infant. This is true because mommy is caring for them. How do they really do having it done as babies? Well, she cried just long enough for me to pick her up, and it was over. She is 15 months, and we have never had any issues. Our ped gave me some tips on finding the right person, place and even type of earrings to use for her first piercing.

Second, why did I decide to have our dd's ears as an infant vs older? Well, I kept seeing more and more babies and little girls with cute earrings and that pushed me to go ahead. I followed our ped's tips on finding the right place, type of earrings to use and aftercare of newly pierced ears. I took her to Piercing Pagoda and she did fine and looks adorable.

Stacie, your mommy intuition is telling you earlier is better. Go ahead now and you won't regret it!
If you are still on the fence and want some more info, then write me an e-mail for our ped's tips.

Angie
angietune@hotmail.com