When and Where Should You Get Your Child’s Ears Pierced?

Hey mamas! I have been going back and forth on what age I should get my daughter's ears pierced. I’m sure many can relate. I also wonder where the best place is to get them pierced? Like any curious mind, I turned to Google to find answers. I’ll share a few recurring answers that will hopefully help you in your decision making.

What is the best age to get your child’s ears pierced?

Choosing when to get your child’s ears pierced is a very personal decision. As a parent, you know what’s best for your child. It helps knowing that getting your child’s ears pierced is perfectly safe at any age. The American Academy of Pediatric (AAP) recommends that if you choose to pierce your baby's ears, then you should wait until she's at least two months old and that she has received her first round of shots. However, the AAP's recommendation is to wait until children are four years old. The reasoning behind that is due to the chance of infection, possibility of an allergy, or having small earring pieces around a baby. At the age of four, a child is old enough to leave her ears alone, and will be able to take care of them and keep them clean. Pros for getting them done as a baby include that she won't remember the pain, she will forget about them and she probably won't touch her ears constantly, and, obviously, they look so dang cute. Like I said earlier, it’s a personal decision and you do what's best for you.

Where should you go to get your child’s ears pierced?

Reach out and see if your pediatrician does them, you may get lucky! If not, don't worry, you have more options. It’s recommended to have a professional do the piercings. Contact a local piercing studio or  “tattoo parlor”. This route gives you a skilled and experienced piercer who works in and follows strict sterile protocols. They’ve experienced piercing all kinds of body parts, so earlobes are a piece of cake! Some things to look out for include a clean studio with good lighting and a selection of hypoallergenic jewelry. It would be good to ask a few questions to get an idea of how they run things.

Questions like the following might be good:

• Are you licensed?
• Do you wear disposable gloves?
• What equipment do you use?
• How is the equipment sterilized?

How to take care of the piercings afterwards?

Whether your child is old enough to take care of her own ears or if you‘ll be in charge of cleaning them, it’s important to always have washed hands before touching the ears--you don’t want to introduce bacteria. To clean the ears, you will have been given a cleaning solution or you can simply use rubbing alcohol. Take a clean cotton ball/swab and dip it in the cleaner and clean around the piercing. Dab, do not wipe the piercing. You and your child will need to be patient because pierced ears can take up to 6-8 weeks to heal all the way. It is important to leave the original earrings in her ear for that whole time. Hold off on changing earrings until they are completely healed. 

When you go to get the piercings, make it fun! If your child is older, make it a day she will remember. Take her to lunch before getting the piercing and follow that by picking out fun earrings she can wear once her ears have healed. This is a great opportunity to make her feel special and get some quality one-on-one time. Have fun with it! Now, if you need some awesome earrings, head on over to BabyCubby.com and get some cute new studs and other jewelry.