Baby Ear Piercing
When can I pierce my baby’s ears?
Although some parents similar to getting their baby’s ears pierced as early as possible, the American Academy of Pediatrics does advise that you delay the piercing until your child is mature adequate to take care of the pierced site herself.
This can help avoid some of the risks of baby ear piercing, as well as:
- Infection – younger infants have undeveloped immune systems, so they might not be able to clash off an infection at the site of the piercing extremely well.
- Choking hazard – if they acquire the earring off.
- Allergic reactions – to the metals in the earrings (mainly nickel and gold) she wears, but which can be hard to notice since infants normally rub their ears a lot.
- Embedded earring – this happens when one part of the earring goes into the earring hole and gets embedded within. Even though this can happen at any age, it can be harder to remove from infants.
How big are the risks? They are likely fairly small, but since baby ear piercing is usually just a cosmetic procedure that can be put off to a safer time, there is little reason to take that even small risk.
Baby Ear Piercing
If you do make a decision to have your baby’s ears pierced, try to wait until she is at least two or three months old, which is when she should be old adequate to handle mild infections and will have gotten at least one round of vaccines.
Also think getting earrings with lock or screw-on backs completed of surgical steel (to reduce allergic reactions), which may help decrease your baby’s chances of pulling the earring off and swallowing or choking on. And choose a facility that uses sterile equipment and has practice piercing baby ears, such as your pediatrician’s office.
If you want to have your baby’s ears pierced, where should you go and what is the safest procedure to follow?
When you throw out the topic of piercing an infant’s ears to a group of parents, you will get bombarded with advice, encouragement and discouragement. Everybody has an opinion on whether or not a baby should get her ears pierced at such a young age. When my sister asked me to take my niece to the local mall to get her ears pierced at the ripe old age of three months, I shuddered. My initial reaction to a piercing on a baby so young was to say, absolutely not. But I took a step back and determined to explore a little bit about who pierces infants, how they are pierced and how safe it is.
If you make a decision that your baby daughter is supposed to be pierced, what choices do you have as far as where to go? Many parents will simply whisk their young babies to the local mall where most popular jewelry stores
will perform ear piercing with a piercing gun. You might also desire to ask your pediatrician if he/she does ear piercing, as many often do. While it may sound a bit silly, you can also take your baby to a professional body piercer (these businesses usually deal in both piercing and tattooing).
Should you decide to take your infant daughter to the local mall to get pierced, you will find that most will simply use a piercing gun. The piercing pistol is a plastic gadget which, when pressed up against the ear lobe and shot, causes an ear stud to be forced through the ear lobe. You will be told to turn your baby’s earrings to allow the new hole to breathe a little better. While this is perhaps the least luxurious way to get your baby’s ears pierced, it is not always the safest. First, you must keep in mind that the people working in these mall jewelry stores can be anywhere from fifteen years old and up. The training on how to use the piercing gun is often done over the span of a few hours. The piercing gun does not get clean (as instruments used to poke holes into skin should) and, while the piercer may wear gloves, they are more for the piercer’s protection than for your baby’s. The chances of your baby getting an infection due to a piercing gun are much greater than if they got the piercing professionally done.
The best thing you can do is take your baby to her pediatrician (be sure to ask your pediatrician if they perform this service) or to a professional body piercer. Both will use needles that have been sterilized and will do the procedure in a sanitary and sterile environment. Also, both have been methodically taught on how to reduce pain and prevent infection. The needle used to pierce your baby, even though very sharp, will be much safer and a lot less painful than a piercing gun. Since you will be dealing with a professional, the jewelry that will be provided for your baby to wear will also be a lot more sterile and better for your baby’s sensitive skin. Granted, you will not get the monetary “bargain” you would receive getting your baby’s ears pierced at your local mall, but you will be getting a much more professional service done.
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