5yo dd worried about her ears :(

[donefornow]

Dd is absolutely beautiful and I try to instill confidence in both her inner and outer beauty but she said something so upsetting yesterday.
I told her she looked beautiful (in her party dress) and she said she is beautiful except her ears.
I asked what she meant and she said that one of her ears sticks out :(
She was born with one of her ears sticking out abd I have always just seen it as cute and part of who she is but it's not the first time she's mentioned it.
I dint know if I should just try and build her confidence on the issue or possibly look at the option of having it pinned back as even though I'd never want to change a thing, medically her ear is very different to the other (I feel sad even writing that as she's perfect) and maybe as a teenager it will become more of an issue for her..
Thoughts?

Bump

I have one ear that sticks out ,always hated it ,too old now to do anything bout it .
Wish my parents had taken me to have it pinned back when i was a child.
It can cause a lifetime of unhappiness.

If it were my daughter, I would explore getting it pinned back.

Don't feel bad: you're not saying she's "imperfect" and needs "fixing", but it's bothering her, and she'll only feel worse as she gets older. It's similar to getting braces to sort out crooked teeth, really.

Ibdont really want to take her to gp incase they say no and then I have made it into an even bigger issue for her. Do you think I could go on my own first and possibly show gp a picture of dds ears?

Thanks for replies

If it were her teeth that stuck out unduly I bet you wouldn't think twice about going to the Dentist. If she is mature enough I think you tell her that you will ask the doctor for his opinion but that you are not sure if he has enough money to straighten her ears.

My friends son paid to have his own ears pinned back when he was a teenager. I was suprised but impressed too. He obviously felt strongly enough to save up. Perhaps you can tell your DD that if the Dr doesn't have enough money then she could get it sorted out when she is older.

I had both of mine done as a child, only once I had asked my parents. I thank heaven for it now, it means I don't feel awkward and can wear my hair up without caring.

I had my ears pinned back 30 years ago, when I was 8. I think it was done at that age, as that's when they're fully grown. I had both ears pinned back. I was bullied at school for it. I'm glad I've had it done.

Though, hereditary, dd1 has one ear that was folded over when she was born. You can notice when her hair is tied up that it sticks out.

The thing is what looks cute as a toddler (particularly to mum) becomes something to comment on (not necessarily meaning it in a nasty way) in infants, and something that can definitely become bullying by juniors.

I have a friend whose dd had very sticky out ears. She looked very cute as a toddler, like a little pixie. Her dad was the same and had been bullied over it though, so they asked about pinning her ears back, and she had it done before she went to school.

It depends on your GP as to how you approach it. Personally I probably would prefer to do the initial approach without her, so I'd either phone and ask to discuss the possibility or go with a photo. If I was going in without her for something else, I might mention it then to guage reaction.

You may need to slightly push on age, my friend, when they first approached they were told they didn't do it until they were 7 or 8. When she asked why, they said not every child has a problem with it, and they'd rather see if they did before doing surgery on a child. (which is a reasonable point). But my friend asked at what stage of bullying they chose to put them on the waiting list. She got the op after that.

Thanks everyone, will give docs a call and see if they have any advice