My husband and I have made a very personal decision to pierce our daughter’s ears when she is three months old. This is what we thought was best for our family and our decision was based on family history and how we grew up. This is in no way the right way, nor is it the way everyone chooses to do it. I’m just happy to share our story with whoever will listen… so here it goes.
Our story.
I’m not sure if it’s a culture thing, but I got my ears pierced when I was only a few weeks old! I think my mom wouldn’t have it any other way and I was a pretty ugly baby so at least it made me a little cuter. 🙂
With that said, I knew I wanted to pierce my daughter’s ears early on. As soon as Mia arrived (Dec.1) I was ready to put diamonds in her ears. After discussing it with Zach we decided we would see what our pediatrician had to say then we would make a decision. So at her two week check up we asked her about it and she gave us a little bit of mixed reviews. She recommended to wait until the two month booster shots to get her a little more immune to possible infections. And then she recommended something that made me a little sad… she said she thought it is smart to wait until they are at least six months old. That way they can hold their head up on their own a little more than at two or three months, makes sense right? But I couldn’t wait!! So we decided to go ahead and do it when Mia had a little more head/neck control, not necessarily sitting on her own.
Why do it now?
A few reasons I wanted to do it sooner rather than later is for the obvious reason that she won’t really remember the experience enough to react and vocalize the pain. I can cuddle her after the two second pain and that is it. Another reason is because she has barely found her fingers… let alone her ears! Even if they do bother her a little bit she won’t be able to transfer any germs to her ears because she is unaware they are even there! I also feel that Mia is at a good age where she is starting to really hold her head up and stretch it away from her neck, so her ears aren’t constantly rubbing on her shoulders.
Off to the salon!
After researching places in my area I decided on a sweet little place called Pigtails & Crew Cuts. They offer a fun atmosphere for kids to get their hair cut and they also have TWO piercing guns (thus being able to do both ears at once). We talked to Nonni, who wanted to have the experience with Mia and met her over there.
We shopped through all the earrings and decided on a dainty pair of 14k gold cz studs, just what we were looking for. 🙂
We waited patiently for the two stylists to be available and they instructed me to have Mia sit facing outward. They disinfected her ears and drew a mark on each ear lobe where the earring would be. After Nonni approved we got in position. I unbuttoned the back of her little romper and pulled it down away from her face and ears. As soon as they got in their positions Mia started squirming, she didn’t like the feeling of being held still. They lined up their guns and said “ok ready 1, 2, 3″….
It wasn’t as bad as I thought, she cried for a minute and was really squirmy. But I snuggled her tightly and talked to her a lot and within minutes she was calm and content.
We celebrated with dinner afterward and she took a nice little nap. Sweet baby girl did so good!
Just perfect!
Thank you Nonnni!
I had Brooke's ears pierced when she was 3 months old and Olivia's when she was 9 months. I'm so glad I did it when they were little. We have never once had an infection. Olivia sucks her thumb and pulls at her ear, Eve since she was an infant and even now at bedtime and never once did she pull an earring out or anything. I think every parent knows what's best for their baby….I love a little girl with earrings! She looks precious!!!!!!!