Monday, March 10, 2008

Should You Pierce Your Baby's Ears?

While taking Danielle's baby carrier quiz, I came across an interesting slideshow about piercing baby girls' ears.

check it out

I have always been opposed to piercing a baby's ears for many reasons. I heard somewhere that all of the nerve endings in their heads are very closely connected and pain in their ears can be felt all over. Also I know that there is no way I can sleep at night with earrings in because of the backs of them poking in my head while I am laying down. It hurts! Imagine how annoying this is to a baby. Also the earrings often get tangled in the baby's blankets and clothing and can possibly rip out.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like the child should be old enough to make this decision themselves. My 2 year old niece had her ears pierced and was very upset about it and was begging for us to take them out. She is ok now but I was traumatized looking at the pictures of her getting her ears pierced. I also feel like people do it mostly for the selfish reason that others can't tell that their baby is a girl. I feel like maybe wearing pink or purple clothing or a hair bow would solve this problem much easier.

I also know that the accessory stores in the mall will pierce a baby's ears and I think that is just wrong. I feel that if you absolutely need to have this done then your child's pediatrician should do it (most are qualified and trained).


14 comments:

Lori said...

not that I have to worry about this seeing as I'm going to be the mommy of 2 boys, but my feeling is the child should have the choice to do it. Make it a special treat when they are 5 or 6 and can understand and help in the care of the ears.. but that is JMO!

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Adamantly against it. I feel that a permament hole in a person's body should be of their own choosing. At least when they're old enough to ASK for them, and help in the care, you know? It may be held off till 1st or 2nd grade... we'll see...

Danielle said...

Blogger ate my first post. I would def. wait until Eliza asks. I don't think it is a good idea to pierce them too young.

PletcherFamily said...

You don't know me, but I enjoy reading your blog! I found you through my cousin Elaine's blog!
Anyway, I have two daughters (and a boy) and would never pierce their ears as a baby. I agree with all of your reasons 100%. Plus if they fall out, the baby could pick it up and swallow it! That is why they usually aren't allowed in daycares. But I agree!
Jennifer
www.pletcher5journey.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Personally, I am not in any great hurry to permanently change my child's body in any way that isn't necessary for their health. It just seems... ridiculous.

I had my ears pierced when I was a baby, and it was a big problem. The earrings kept coming out and getting lost, and the holes kept closing up. My mom had my ears re-pierced twice before giving up. I finally got them pierced (for good) in the 2nd grade, but now I never wear earrings. Go figure.

My husband used to be a professional piercer. Not like in the mall, but with a real needle in a tattoo shop. (I would never let my child get her ears pierced with a piercing gun at the mall -- it's unsanitary! Tattoo shops are heavily regulated, and respectable ones are very clean. Plus, the needles can be sanitized -- the piercing gun can't!) When he was working in this job, he would refuse to pierce babies or small children, because he is opposed to it.

For our own daughters (we have 3), we have made the rule that they must be old enough and responsible enough to take care of their piercing by themselves. And we take that seriously -- we don't want them to get an infection! My oldest daughter is turning 10 this month, and her ears are still not pierced.

My husband wants me to mention that babies tend to get things in their ears (milk running down their face, etc.) and an ear infection would probably spread to the ear lobe if their ears were recently pierced.

Pam said...

I would not pierce a baby girl's ears...I am with you. I can't imagine doing to that my baby girl. My daughter is 4 and I still won't do it. When she is old enough to take care of it herself (of course I'll help, but you know what I mean) then she can do it. Her daddy's says not until she is 30, but I think I can convince him to do it sooner ;)

Anonymous said...

I would not pierce Kaelin's ears until she is old enough to want it done. It would kill me to hear her screaming in pain! In my hometown, lots of families would stop on the way home from the hospital and have it done at "Mary Jane's Salon of Beauty"!

Andrea said...

Yeah...I am definitely on the same page about this! I think they should be old enough to decide for themselves if they want their ears pierced or not...so I'm quite against doing it when they are babies or young children!!

Anonymous said...

The decision to pierce (or not pierce) a baby's ears seems very closely tied to culture (or at least that has been my experience). I come from a culture/family (Irish American) that is adamantly opposed to the idea of piercing a child's ears. My ears were pierced at 13 yrs old or so and that was a BIG deal. My husband comes from a culture/family (Mexican) that is much more comfortable with the idea of piercing a baby's ears. As a result, a few of his family members have wondered when we would be piercing Becca's ears and weren't quite sure why we haven't done so yet. Their reasoning is that it is easier when the baby is younger than older because the baby won't remember it and won't be scared by the experience.

I have gone back and forth on whether or not I should pierce her ears. I really like the idea of waiting until she is older and making an 'event' out of it. So as of now, we haven't pierced her ears. However, I might consider it if it was really important to my husband.

BTW, I have seen a number of babies with pierced ears and it doesn't seem to bother them (which really surprised me).

Anonymous said...

Okay so I was never into small children with ear piercings. Once my first daughter was born I learned that my husband really had his heart set on getting little Madison's ears pierced. He even went as far as to check with the doctor to see when it was okay. Sure enough after her first outing with Daddy Madison came home with holes punched through her tiny, perfect little ears. I eventually got over what my husband did and dealt with the fact that I now had to take care of these things so they would heal properly. We never once had a problem with an earing getting infected, falling out or any of the other tramatic issues that you here of. Just lucky I guess.
When I got my ears pierced at the age of 8 I had the exact opposite. Constant infections, lost earrings and even a hole closing. Compared to Madison's experience mine seemed much more tramatic (for me anyway).
After reading this blog it dawned on me that now that we are expecting another baby girl we'll have to decide whether or not to do it to her. I'm still not 100% sold on earings in young children but at the same time I feel like the new baby will someday hit me with "Well you did it for Madison mom, why not me?". So I guess we'll see.
From experience to anyone thinking about getting a young child pierced I would just like to repeat our pediatrician's advice. Do it before 6 months that way the baby doesn't play with them and increase the chance of infection. Otherwise wait until they are old enough to ask for them and assume responsability.

Danielle said...

one more thing- when my mom was little her earring was caught on her baby brother's sweater and it ripped- but not all the way through.She always had a big slit. Now she is 51 and it finally ripped the rest of the way. Her earlobe is now in two!

Cate said...

Just as any child should be of a certain age before wearing make up or wearing high heals, having permanent holes drilled into ears I think is horrific. It is purely for the parents pleasure and it's selfish, cheap and disgusting. So really if having holes in ears are acceptable, perhaps a tiny tattoo? Horrid, horrid people, I have no idea why that would enter a loving parents head? Upsetting

Cate said...

Why would your perfect little girl need ti be enhanced by wearing earrings? She is not a woman, she is a baby! Would you put eye liner or lip stick on her?

Cate said...

Just as any child should be of a certain age before wearing make up or wearing high heals, having permanent holes drilled into ears I think is horrific. It is purely for the parents pleasure and it's selfish, cheap and disgusting. So really if having holes in ears are acceptable, perhaps a tiny tattoo? Horrid, horrid people, I have no idea why that would enter a loving parents head? Upsetting