Professional and safe ear piercing for little girl.

[user1494283706]

My daughter is four years and four months old. She wishes to have her ear pierced. We live in SE11 London and I am looking for a safe and recommended place to have the procedure done.
I am aware needle piercing causes less damage to the earlobe than using a gun. Has any of your children have needle ear piercing done? Or is gun piercing now safe?
Can you help?
Thank you.

I don't live in London but a good friend of mine is a tattoo/ piercing artist. May be worth contacting some local parlours to see if they can help.

I don't live in London either, but all 4 of my DDs had their ears pierced at Claire's, which I assume they have all over the U.K.? I think they used a gun, but it seemed perfectly safe.

I wouldn't let my DD have hers done with a gun. Heard too many horror stories.

A lot of tattoo studio's have someone who can pierce usually with a needle. Obviously check reviews and cleanliness.

Good god don't go to Claire's.

Have an actual piercer do it.

why don't you wait until she is quite a bit older? at four i don;'t think they 're really capable of making decisions about holes being made in their bodies are they?

I don't live in your area but I'd go to a professional piercing/tattoo place rather than a Claire's or similar who use a gun :)

If you were to meet my daughter, you'd know that she is advanced for her age and knows what she wants :-)

Is she aware of the pain? When I wanted mine done, my mum agreed I could if she could pinch my ear really hard and I still wanted to

I 4 year old can't know what it wants with such a permanent procedure.

I'll have another little chat with her and then will bring her to a certified body piercing studio to let her observe some needles ear piercing first.
Thank you for your insight.

if she wants a tattoo will you let her have one because she is so advanced and knows what she wants done to her body for the rest of her life?

she needs to have it done by needles at a tattooist. The best tattooists usually say they won't pierce anybody under the age of 9. Just be aware you might get turned away a fair bit.

@Joffmognum interesting comment. I will try that.
Yes, she is aware of the pain. She had needles put into her arms, etc. and never cried or complained.
She also had finger blood testing done where the blood would not come out, and her fingertips had to be squeezed to get the blood out. She is a tough cookie!
She recently watched me having a blood test in our local surgery without a wince. She asked questions about the procedure instead.

@ therootoftheroot What is the connection?
Ear piercing and tattooing have nothing in common.
Many little girls have their ears pierced when babies. I had mine done before I could speak and it didn't kill me! The difference is that I was born in the early 70s and there wasn't ear gun.
If you read my first comment, I am looking for a safe place to have the procedure done and I am aware of the damage gun can do little ears.
My post is not about tattoos! So I won't comment on that subject!

@absolutelynot Thank you for this information. If it means we will have to wait, then we will. Explaining it can not be done because she is too young is better than a NO without sensible explanation. Thank you.

She's got her whole life to have pierced ears, why the rush? Me and my friends got it as a present for secondary school. I don't think many piercers are insured to pierce little kids.

If you are in se11 I would tube to Oxford Circus and see if topshop will do it.
They certainly do teenagers.

I am sorry but as her parent you have the say not her. I hate seeing young girls with pierced ears. It is body mutilation. My ears were peirced by my aunt without my mothers knowledge, I was about 7 or 8 and I think that is too young. Now I have a nearly split ear.

Give her stick on ones. I think ears can be pierced when the child is older 11 or 12.

Ear piercing is far more painful than a blood test or the like because the pain continues afterwards, so I wouldn't use that as assurance that she'll be fine with it.

(Also think 4 is far far too young...)

Just a thought OP, but have you checked the school stance on piercings?

@Spam88 if ear piercing is carried out safely with sterilised tools and by a trained person, it is as painless as a blood test performed correctly. Pain after ear piercing is due to damage to the cartilage and infection. Any professional piercing should get aftercare advice and follow up.

You are right to stay away from piercing guns, they cant be sterilized properly and cause unnecessary trauma to the ear. However, any reputable piercing studio will not pierce anyone under the age of 16. Some may have allowances for lobe piercings with parental consent but they'll be tough to find.

IMO and E it's not the actual piercing. it's the common problem of infection and the ear growing over the earring\stud, and catching the thing in clothes at school. at play; ripping the ear (i know a lot of people it happened to when they were little ).

She should be older 11 or 12 is probably ok.

@mydietstartsmonday Your earlobe was split because your piercing was done too close to the edge of the lobe. Also, you may have had the earring caught in clothes, etc. Or pulled. You may have worn hearing too big and heavy.
When piercing ears, the safety studs should be kept at all time until maturity and only removed for cleaning.

Small children's lobes are usually pierced by a gun because it's fast and they wriggle. Not very many piercing studios will do young children even if they use a gun. Claire's have carried out millions of ear-piercings - they operate not just in the U.K. That said I have concerns about the sterility of the gun & the level of training. They are also expensive. I would ask parents at school where they got their dd's done and get a personal recommendation.