When to pierce your child's ears?

[PrincessBabyCat]

If you have kids with pierced ears when did you pierce them? Did it cause any problems?

We want to pierce our baby's ears maybe at 4 months so she doesn't play with the earrings and cause an infection, and has had a couple rounds of vaccines.

Doctors have recommended waiting until at least a month, but it might be difficult if she can't hold her head up. We're currently playing with the pros and cons of when to do it. I had them done at 4 years old but I kept fidgeting with them and it caused some problems, my cousins that did it at 6 months were all fine.

I'm not particularly interested in a moral debate on this, more a practical weigh in. Thanks. :)

I must add that my DD loves her pierced ears. She feels absolutely special compared to other girls who don't have it done. Spends ages wearing my earrings in her hoops.

Anyways it's good acupuncture & has its health benefits for those who want to believe.

Artistic- I bet your baby was beautiful just the way she was born; before you mutilated her ears.

Norm here for most girls to have their ears pierced around year 3. 7/10 girls in DD's class have it done and it's a naice school incase anyone decides that it must be because it's full of rough children who don't know any better.

"It's good acupuncture", Jesus Christ it has to be the dumbest comment I've ever read on here. Well done.

MumsyFoxy - educate yourself before you speak. Especially since you apparently have no knowledge of the subject.

For the those who are unaware here is an article that can shed some light for you:

Although women in Western world today may not know it, wearing earrings is not limited to fashion and accessorizing.

Earrings actually have a very beneficial function. Wearing earrings has an acupuncture-effect on the body. In ancient China, earrings developed for health purposes rather than female embellishment purposes, stemming from the result of acupuncture of the ear.

The father of Western medicine, Hippocrates, wrote about ear piercing and earring wearing around 470 B.C. as a remedy and treatment for menstrual problems. Galen also wrote about the same thing. In ancient times, if there was a deficiency in energy or chi, gold earrings would be placed in a pierced acu-point for stimulation. Silver earrings were used if there was excessive energy.

Gemstones were added for their therapeutic effects. These benefits were then transmitted through the gold or silver.

In modern times, the traditional point for ear piercing is in the middle of the fleshy lobe. This part of the ear is the intuitive, Third Eye, or psychic point. It is very important that only gold, and not silver, be worn here on the ear lobe. Gold, combined with an amethyst or emerald (which are both traditionally regarded as very spiritual stones), will have an added positive effect on the function of intuition.

Ancient people treated diseases of feminine Yin organs via earrings in the left ear and diseases of the male Yang organs via the right ear.

Artistic - I appreciate what you're saying here, and what you believe, however: If you think you need acupuncture for a certain ailment, then wait until you have that ailment before undergoing such treatment.

Not every baby or very young child is going to experience problems with their menstrual cycle or a disease or of an organ.

This particular subject, I think (correct me if I'm wrong) is more to do with a fashion or cultural statement.

Chinese medicine is woo; not science. Acupuncture only has a placebo effect at best. It is based on totally arbitrary points which have ZERO base on human anatomy and phisiology. In fact, acupuncture was designed in times when the emperor had made it forbidden to carry out any pistmortem and people were not allowed to study human anatomy. The meridian point stuff was totally made up.
Seems totally irrational to believe woo woo in this day and age.

Piercing the ears of a two week old baby for the benefit of her health? Heard it all now..

Jesus christ, attempting to say ear piercing is acupuncture? I have absolutely heard it all. I'm done.

Tequila

I honestly thought I'd heard it all on this subject, guess not! Utterly bat shit'

New mums- do you want to have the healthiest happiest baby? Well you can. All you have to do is hurt them so they screech at the top of their tiny lungs, creating a permanent physical disfigurement that exposes them to risk of infection and skin tearing. But only if it's a girl. Boys dont get to be healthy with happy memories.

Will no-one think of the boys?

Well lets see how many of you believe in circumcision & utterly mutilate your newborn boys.

Ear piercing is much much more acceptable than that. At least it's reversible, unlike circumcision.

Ear piercing isnt reversible! you cant reverse the pain and the wound heals, just like a circumcision wound. It doesnt disappear.

I disagree with circumcision for any reason other than medical necessity.

I think the majority of people against piercing babies ears will be absolutely against circumcision except for instances of absolute medical necessity. I know I am.

Ear piercing in infants hurts for 2 minutes. Much lesser trauma & tears than the much acclaimed & followed 'cry yourself to sleep' practices regularly followed by many parents.

And the medical benefits of circumcision are highly debatable. There are plenty of healthy men who've not been circumcised.

There are plenty of debatable practices followed by many parents. Each to their own. Nobody is to judge what's best for other people's children.

But why would anyone want to hurt their child?

I don't agree with any mutilation of a person who is unable to agree to it, infant circumsicion included.

"And the medical benefits of circumcision are highly debatable. There are plenty of healthy men who've not been circumcised."

I said medical necessity. If those healthy men had been jn need of circumcision and didnt get it they wouldnt be healthy men.

I dont agree with 'cry yourself to sleep'

Why are you throwing other painful scenarios into this assuming that everyone here agrees with them?

Just because ear piercing hurts for less time than something else doesnt mean it is ok. Piercing one nostril hurts for less time than two ears- can i pierce your baby's nose please? If not- why not?

Nobody is to judge what's best for other people's children

I disagree, sometimes it's okay to judge what's best when their own parent is unable to.

I don't agree with cry it out sleep methods either. Or circumsison when it isn't medically necessary.

The problem I have with piercings on babies is the fact that the parent is making the decision that that child will have a hole/scar in their ear for life. They may not want that doing, they certainly don't NEED it. It is an infection risk and the risk of it being ripped out are much higher if they are too young to understand the care side. If a child wants it they can easily have it done when they are old enough to look after them themselves

You can't get rid of the holes - I haven't worn earrings for 20 years but the little holes are still there and they get stinky belly-button like goop that makes me really self-conscious when my DP snuggles into my neck

I chose to have mine done aged 10 and liked wearing earrings as a teen, but I was always catching my hairbrush on my hoops - ouch!

and as my name suggests, I don't agree with circumcision either and I didn't do crying to sleep either, I went with the wuss softer methods of sitting by the bed, stroking their backs, returning them to bed when they got out etc.

I'm not a hypocrite. I wouldn't force my DCs to have teeth removed to fit braces either, which may be a more controversial one, but I just couldn't do it to them, regardless of the potential benefit as adults.

Yes I have taken them for their vaccinations, they cried, I felt terrible. I can't imagine putting them through that fear and pain for vanity rather than health reasons.

are we going to start seeing babies with these now too?

Spot on Fenton. That's why there are Social Services, I'm not saying this is a Social Services issue. But they judge is what is right and wrong and teach or reprimand accordingly.

Please don't get them done. I had mine done as a baby, it was a cultural thing and I've for elongated holes now, old lady ear lobes. And they're slightly lop sided because I moved. My dm hated me having it done but she felt under pressure from her dm. I'm under pressure with my dd too. But I would have to boil my own head before I allow my dd(3) to have her ears pierced without her fully understanding what it entails.

I can judge.

I do judge.