ear piercing what's the right age

[carnage]

My ten year old twin girls want to get their ears pierced and I don't know if it's too early or not. Most of their friends have already had it done. But I'm a single Dad of 4 and I can't decide if this is a good idea or not. Their Mum who doesn't live with us has already said they can do it.

Any opinions???

[bigbuttons]

My girls had them done earlier than that

[meditrina]

soem at DDs school have had theirs done. But she (and many others) are being told quite firmly that it's a leaving primary present and it'll be done no earlier than the end of year 6.

But a 10 yr old should be capable of looking after newly pierced ears, so when's the next occasion you'd like to mark?

[Twinsplusonesurprise]

Blimey I think that's really young.
Why are they in such a rush to grow up?
Surely they can't wear earrings to school?
My DDs are still really little so I've got these battles to come but I was 14 when I had mine done (back in the dark ages!) and I hope my girls will be able to grow up slowly.

[TrampledUnderfoot]

I think 10 is fine.

[vichill]

I was about ten and remember the joy of picking little blue crystal studs in the hairdressers as if it was yesterday. As long as they're banned from wearing big plastic gold chavvy hoops then I think its ok.

[takingthathometomomma]

Mine had hers done at 6 months! But hey, I'm a "super chav" so what can I say?

[TrampledUnderfoot]

Depends if your girls are nice MC girls or common.

[jeee]

My DD had hers done at 10 (with her own money) - but I made it clear she was responsible for the care of her ears, and if she didn't look after the piercing carefully she would have to take her earrings out.

[bruffin]

DD had hers done for her 10th birthday, when the summer holidays started so they could be healed by the time she went back to school and her actual birthday. Unfortunately she then had an accident in swimming pool with a towel which caught on the earring, dragging it through her ear and leaving the stud lodged inside the hole . Then waited two years and she had them done again for her yr 6 leaving prom.

[carnage]

thanks for the feedback it appears i'm a dinosaur. Suppose if they don't look after them properly they can come out and the holes will heal.

[ilovepowerhoop]

Mine were done at age 7. Dd shows no interest in getting hers done but I would let her if she wanted them pierced (she is 10)

[Aniseeda]

My DD was 11 and we did it at the start of the summer after she left primary school. You have to keep the studs in for the first six weeks and turn and clean them daily and I wanted her to be able to care for them herself as I have enough to do! I kept an eye on her ears and made sure she was taking care of them but she managed fine as she'd really wanted them done.

I think 10 is fine as long as they are sensible enough to care for them properly.

I had to wait till I was 16 which seems very old nowadays!

[Hulababy]

This is MN so I assume anything under 18y would be deemed inappropriate and almost akin to abuse. But in real life it is a bit different ime.

DD got her ears pierced aged 11y - the first week of the summer holidays between primary and secondary. She had wanted it done previously but that had always been my rule.

Her primary didn't really allow earrings anyway - which was a good enforcer for me.

Now her friends are very mixed - some do, some don't - maybe 50/50 for those now in y7. Many had them done at the same time - beginning of school holidays.

Most schools will insist on them being removed for PE - and many do not permit them to be simply covered with tape. So always check your school's rules before you go ahead. Also check what type of earrings allowed - some with state colour, or must be plain with no stone, etc 0 this may dictate what they are done with.

I wouldn't have allowed DD to have hers done earlier - but now, at 11y she is mature enough to deal with them all herself entirely; I have never had to touch them at all.

[sooperdooper]

I think 10 is fine, I had mine done when I was about 7 or 8 I think

[Slipshodsibyl]

I have three daughters and they were 10 and 11. It's a good idea to have it done in a long holiday though as they have to take them out for pe and it took mine quite a while to learn to do this. They can also put a plaster over them to protect them during games but that is a nuisance too.

[Pepperglitter]

I would let my dd anytime after 8yo if she really wanted them done. It's not something I would suggest though.

[jamtoast12]

Near us no one in primary has them and they are banned anyway. Many lab on getting them before starting secondary school. I do think they look bad on under 10s though!

[staverton]

I am a dinosaur too as I think 16!

[LtEveDallas]

DD is pushing me now (nearly 9), but I had already said Year 6 in the summer hols before starting secondary. I wouldn't consider it before then and she knows it!

[AuntieStella]

The important thing you need to do is find out now if the school has rules about it. If they need to come out for PE and swimming, then they need to be done at the star of a long holiday and your DDs need to know they will have to take total reponsibility for removing and replacing the earrings (and not losing them!)

[sandiy]

A few years ago Iwas discussing this with a colleague of a teen and she said "choose your battles"wise words if you are not too bothered then let them get them done.If you feel strongly then choose to wait.I had planned to wait until my twins were in the last summer before secondary school but they were desperate, almost the only girls left without ear piercing so I let them have them done last summer because I had bigger battles to fight they were nine and a half.Pain in the bum though One got a very nasty infection,and very slow to heal.Infact last week was the first time she changed her earrings!

[Slipshodsibyl]

Mine fainted when it was done! And the most recent took ages to take them out as it all hurt more than she wanted to believe.

[Nataleejah]

Really not too early.

[PandaG]

I would wait until start of summer hols, to limit the pain it is when having to take them out for PE etc at school. DD had hers done end Y6 - that was the earliest I was happy with, and it marked a significant change.

[exexpat]

DD is in year 6, and there is a wave of girls getting their ears pierced, or planning to at the end of year 6 - it seems to be part of the growing up and transition to secondary school process. Getting them done at the start of the summer holidays makes life easier because then there is the whole summer for them to heal up before you run into rules about no earrings for PE or swimming.

DD turned 11 in October, and I finally let her get them done in the Christmas holidays (she'd been nagging me for nearly 8 years to let her). It meant she had to put tape over them for PE for a few weeks, but they have healed up nicely and she can now take them out.