DD7 wants ear pierced I'm not sure pros and cons please.

[lexcat]

Two boys in her class have their ears pierced but no girls. So far she liked the idea but didn't like the idea to the pain of the piercing. Has now been told by one of the boys that it hurts but not that much.
I've had my own done when I was about 14 which was when my mother let me. I can't see the problem in been younger as long as they don't wear dangles (friend has ripped earlobe age 10 with dangles).

LittleMissBliss - in both my DD's primary and secondary schools earrings had to be removed or taped for games - I suspect it varies from school to school.

Sorry if I offended you with my 'chavvy' comment. That is my personal opinion and the general opinion at my DD's school. If you are happy with your choice than good for you. I would not choose to let my DDs have it done but I do not expect everyone to agree with my opinion. I did not mean to offend and would certainly not generalise about a child just because they had pierced ears. Just gave my personal view on the matter.

Thanks again littlemiss for putting foward a clear pros and cons argument. Personally don't feel looking a bit 'chavvy' really is an argument against not letting a child have their ears done. After all that not what her peer group will think and I really don't care if other think that.

I won't allow mine to have them done while still in primary school, mainly because they do loads of dance, gym, swimming and school PE all of which requires earrings to be taken out or taped up.

But lexcat it is what a lot of people think. You may not, and you may feel it is a very unfair judgement to make, but you will find it a frequently expressed opinion.

Ok, a few for the cons: I was promised to get my ears pierced at 16 - got taken at 14 as my mother wanted to get hers done (!). 1st 8 wks no problem. Changed to normal studs at that stage. At which point problems started - itchy ears, problems with one ear getting gooey... My mother ended up getting some really tiny 24 carat gold studs. In taking out the ones that were in, the surface of my ear came off with the stud on one side - and my mother had to try to get the new studs in through a pool of blood. On the other ear, somehow the hole had got a secondary hole routed - and one lot had gone septic. So really grotty ears to deal with for another 4 weeks - itchy, scabby and septic.

I was 14 when this happened, and could cope with the discomfort and the need to look after my ears very carefully for a significant number of weeks. If I had been 7 I am not sure that this would have been so sucessful.

Now I can only use 24 carat gold earrings for everyday use - and can only use others for about 2 or 3 hours.

Hey mistlethrush, that's pretty much what happened to me (except I was 16), but I now cannot wear earrings at all, and my ears still get infected every now and then. My GP pulled the studs out of the inside of my ears where they had somehow got embedded. I wish I'd never had them pierced because I can't even wear clip ons, and as I have short hair I would very much like to wear earrings.

my mum had mine done for me when I was about 4. I remember having it done, and it stung a bit but I was ok with it. Mum looked after the antiseptic cream and treatment of it and all was fine. I didn't really start changing them and being aware of them as a fashion accessory till I was about 9 or so. Until then I just had the standard sleepers. I do remember mum didn't let me wear anything but various studs or the small sleepers until I was a bit older, probably more like 13 or 14

I was 11 when I had my ears pierced. I did it mostly to fit in, and I am glad I was allowed as I was a bit of a reject! However, your dd doesn't have that problem.

I haven't worn earrings for about 20 years (except when I got married, when I had to 're-pierce' them!). I would say leave it till she's a bit older, reason being that it is something you have for the rest of your life (I still have the holes, wish they would grow over but they haven't). In that sense it's like a small tattoo, so it's quite a big decision to take.

apparently infection is less likely if you wait til they are 14 because the immune system is fully developed then.

nappyaddict why are you up so late?

didn't get any sleep at all last night so went to bed early (10) then woke up at 1 and couldn't get back to sleep.

oh no. i had a friend over for dinner. she is gone home but i was worrying bout things and now i cant go to sleep! watching charmed on the telly. low point.

must sleep now, hope you get some too. night.

I didn't get my ears pierced until I was 19, but I did wear cloth nappies (and therefore steel safety pins) as a baby and apparently there is some link between exposure to metals on your skin before your immune system is fully formed and nickel allergy later in life.

I am terribly allergic to nickel and it is a real pain in the arse. I'm sure it sounds poncetastic being able to wear only sterling silver, 22k or 24k gold and platinum, but when you have to buy your jeans off the internet because you need a copper button rather than a normal one, you have to wire money to Buenos Aires for a silver watch with a silver buckle (true - the only place in the world you can buy a sterling watch buckle) or you have to pay to get the arms of your glasses coated in special plastic so they don't give you a scabby rash on the tops of your ears, it really is a ball-ache. I would love to be able to wear costume jewellery but it's just out of the question.

I didn't get my ears pierced until I was 19, but I did wear cloth nappies (and therefore steel safety pins) as a baby and apparently there is some link between exposure to metals on your skin before your immune system is fully formed and nickel allergy later in life.

I am terribly allergic to nickel and it is a real pain in the arse. I'm sure it sounds poncetastic being able to wear only sterling silver, 22k or 24k gold and platinum, but when you have to buy your jeans off the internet because you need a copper button rather than a normal one, you have to wire money to Buenos Aires for a silver watch with a silver buckle (true - the only place in the world you can buy a sterling watch buckle) or you have to pay to get the arms of your glasses coated in special plastic so they don't give you a scabby rash on the tops of your ears, it really is a ball-ache. I would love to be able to wear costume jewellery but it's just out of the question.

Sorry, no idea what happened there. The computer froze and then my post appeared twice.

Claires accessories did both ears at the same time for my DD. Fab idea....

I promised my dd she could have them done at age 11 in the summer hols. I wouldn't let her get them done with a piercing gun though so we had a right battle to find a proper piercer that would do an 11 year old (despite most piercers being very anti-piercing gun). We found a fab place eventually and she had them done yesterday, she was very brave in the face of the needles and her little studs (actually a tiny bar with a ball on each end, which is easier to clean than a butterfly, and gives room for swelling if there is any) look great.

Being able to keep any piercing absolutely clean and not fiddle with it is important to stop it getting infected, most infections come from transferring crud off your fingers into what is essentially an open wound. So I think a child should be old enough to understand why not to touch and twiddle them.

I'm not a big fan of small children with pierced ears. Partly it's the higher risks of infection under 14, partly it's the fact that it makes them look too grown up.

I worry, as well, about what they'll choose to do next. If you pierce their ears at 7, will they be asking for tongue studs and belly bars at 11? Or tatts? I just don't want to take the risk.

If I offer earrings at 16 and get bartered down I, hopefully, won't get drawn into the belly button piercing argument too early

Also, I'm very lazy, or low maintenance if you prefer...I can't be bothered doing any beautification type routine for myself, so certainly couldn't be bothered to do any for my 7 yo dd.

When she's old enough to struggle with it herself, I'll gladly give her the cash. Til then, she stays unpierced.

rachw1
Sorry but please do fill me in on the gun been so bad. What is the other way and why it's better.

(for 7 yr old)
CONS
can get ripped out when playing
can get infected
looks naff

PROS
can't think of any

Thinks it's a bit of an adult look on a child personally so won't let my kids have it done until they are 14-16 at least. Plus there are risks involved - my ears still flare up and go septic, looking gruesome, if I wear earrings that are not silver or gold.

Definitely a cultural thing however. When I had DD1 in Spain, the mw was ready to pierce her ears at the birth. And everyone always though she was a boy, no matter how much pink etc she wore, jsut because she didn't have her ears done.

Piercing guns basically force the earring through the ear. So its quite a lot of trauma. There are also plenty of reports of the things "getting stuck' and the earring needing to be physically pushed through. Often the backs are jammed on quite tightly with no room for swelling so you get the situation where the jewellery is pulled into the ear.

Then there are also the issues of whether the guns can be cleaned properly, the quality of the jewellery used and the training an 18 year old in Claire's has had before being let loose on children!

A professional piercer will use a needle, which very quickly makes a neat hole and the jewellery that goes in is designed to allow the natural swelling after the piercing. My daughter didn't even flinch when she was pierced, on her 2nd ear it was a little uncomfortable when the back was put on the bar but by 30 minutes later there was no redness at all.

All of the above is my opinion of course and plenty of people have their ears 'gunned' without any problems, however I wouldn't have my ears done that way so I wouldn't have been happy letting my dd do so! That said guns should definitely be only used on ear lobes - cartilage piercings (nose, top of ear etc.) done with guns can wind up a horrible mess. A search on Google will bring up loads of info such as tattoo.about.com/cs/psafety/a/piercing_guns.htm

Hope that helps lexcat - I also hope I don't sound like I'm being 'preachy' about the issue. It's only because I had a bad experience with an gun ear piercing myself and then asked the piercer who did my navel years ago about it, that I knew the potential issues.

MY dd got hers done at 6 ( I was tricked - tricked i tell you!!)

I had mine done at 5

I agree that children are beautiful as they are and need no adornment...but I also REALLY think its ok. She looks after them, and she is only allowed age appropriate earrings/ plain gold.

Interesting - I do think it is a British thing - being against earpiercing. In canada it seems more seen.