When you have a baby they don’t come with a guide explaining how to raise them and what choices are right and wrong. We as parents just have to do the very best we can with the choices that are set in front of us.
And just like many of the things you have to decide when you are having a baby – there arent’ really any guides to making the perfect decision. Whether it’s the choice between
- breastfeeding or formula feeding
- disposable diapering or cloth diapering
- crib sleeping or cosleeping
- weaning or extended breastfeeding
The list of decisions that we have to make as parents is truly endless. But there are a few reasons that may help you to lean in one direction as opposed to the other.
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Should I Pierce My Baby’s Ears?
One huge controversy among parents is whether or not to pierce a baby’s ears.
Getting a baby’s ears pierced is a very personal decision and is most often done in a jewelry store. The technician adds the selected earring into an ear-piercing gun that then quickly pushes the earring through the baby’s ear.
When getting a baby’s ears pierced most parents get them done during the newborn stage.
Why Do Parents Pierce Their Baby’s Ears?
This is the big question. Why do parents pierce their baby’s ears?
Honestly, there are a ton of different reasons, but most of them boil down to the fact that the parents want their baby to look cute.
In fact, my own mother told me many times that she wanted to get my ears pierced when I was a baby because everyone thought I was a boy. And getting my ears pierced would show people that I was a girl.
However, my dad did not want my ears to be pierced as a baby because he wanted me to make the decision for myself when I was older.
Are My Daughter’s Ears Pierced?
Now that I have a daughter, the question did come up when she was a baby if we would be getting her ears pierced. And my answer was always “No.” And to tell you the truth, knowing my daughter now and 7 years old, I am so happy that I made the decision not to get her ears pierced.
So here are 9 reasons that I didn’t pierce my baby’s ears.
1. It is Painful
is early piercing painful for babies?
To me, this question can be answered very easily. Yes! I had my ears pierced three different times. Twice as a teenager and once as an adult and every time it hurt a lot.
Now if it hurt for me imagine how it must feel to a little baby that doesn’t know what’s going on other than that they are in pain.
And no they probably won’t remember it but you always will. I cannot stand to see my kids in pain and I think I would cry more than they would be getting their ears pierced.
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2. It’s Permanent
People always say that if the child doesn’t want their ears pierced anymore they can just take the earrings out and then the skin will grow back. Well, this is not entirely true.
If you take an earring out for a long period of time, the skin will likely grow back in and heal but there will be a scar left behind.
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3. It Should Be Her Choice
Of course not every decision should be made by your child, but as far as ear piercing, I believe that my child should make the choice at a much older age.
My 7-year-old is still terrified of getting her ears pierced and only wants to use clip-on earrings. But if she changes her mind when she is a teenager and wants to get her ears pierced, I feel like its a much better decision.
It is her body and I don’t want to put any holes in it.
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4. Baby Could Rip the Earrings Out
Both of my babies could not stand to have extra things touching them and picked at things. I have also heard of babies pulling earrings so this really scares me.
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5. Too Young to Care for Them
Anytime you get your ear pierced, you have to care for it religiously. There’s the cleaning around it and then also turning it. Not to mention watching it for infection.
I would much rather not have to have something else to take care of when I am already busy taking care of my baby’s needs.
However, at an older age, they can take care of their pierced ears with some guidance instead of it all being on the parents.
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6. Risk of Infection
Just like with any piercing or cutting of the skin, the body opening is then left vulnerable to infection.
And once your ears get an infection, you have to take the earrings out and take antibiotics. To me, it’s not worth the risk of putting my baby through all of that.
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7. Complications
Other than infections, there are also other possible complications that could happen when you get your ears pierced. Some of them are:
- Bleeding
- Post-traumatic tearing
- Deformation
- Embedded backings
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8. Allergic Reactions
Having an allergic reaction may not sound like a big deal but for me it was.
I had my ears pierced three times and the reason was that I really wanted to have my ears pierced, but I kept suffering from allergic reactions where my ears would bleed and ache so badly. I also suffered from severe headaches and throbbing in my ears. We even tried using hypoallergenic earrings but for me, it wasn’t’ worth all of the trouble.
If the earrings are made of a metal that your baby is allergic to they could also suffer from similar reactions and tons of discomfort.
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9. It’s Not Necessary
Like I said, most of the time people get their baby’s ears pierced because they look cute, but for me, a baby is already the most beautiful gift we are given. They don’t need any extra changes or modifications to their ears to look better.
We weren’t made to have holes in our ears so it should be left up to the person who will have to wear them for the rest of their life to make that decision.
Just to give a daughter’s perspective on this, i’m now 20 years old and my mom had my ears pierced when I was 6 months old. I’m very grateful for it! I now have several other piercings, and i’m glad I didn’t need to get these one done as an adult also! My mom told me I didn’t even cry when I got them pierced as a baby, I was just a bit surprised, and I never complained about them, or even try to touch them. And of course, I don’t remember the pain at all. I’m pregnant, and if it’s a girl, I will get her ears pierced! Of course, I respect any mom who chooses otherwise.
Excellent post. We don’t own our daughters’ bodies. It’s their body, it should be their choice.
If/when you do get her ears pierced, I HIGHLY recommend going to a piercing/tattoo shop. The real piercing needles are MUCH sharper than the earrings placed inside the piercing guns used at popular shops like Claire’s and Icing (and even some Walmart’s). From what everyone who’s had their lobes done both ways, the needle method hurt significantly less, and for a shorter period of time than the gun.
Weirdly, most have had fewer infection/pain problems when a real (piercing) needle was used, compared to the gun. I can’t say from my own experience, but I will say that my lobes were done with a gun (twice) and even more than 15 years after the second time, I still cannot wear even the highest quality earrings for more than a couple of hours before pain, itching, and puss-like discharge begins to occur…..however, not one of my other piercings has ever had these issues (nose, lip, navel, and helix—the upper ear cartilage). Lobes were done with a gun, the rest done at a tattoo parlor with needles. Coincidence? Maybe. But from my own research? Probably not. It would be very odd to have allergies only located on one small part of the body and nowhere else.
That’s at least my two cents on the topic.