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At what age did you/would you allow your daughter to get her ears pierced?


At what age did you/would you allow your daugther to get her ears pierced?  

  1. 1. At what age did you/would you allow your daugther to get her ears pierced?

    • 8 y.o. or younger
      142
    • 9
      18
    • 10
      42
    • 11
      5
    • 12
      23
    • 13 or older
      44


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We had decided from the very beginning that we would allow it when she was responsible enough to take care of them. She asked last year and we told her that she could do it for her 8th birthday. That rolled around though and she was no longer interested. I did not have mine pierced until I was in college and hated every second of it. They promptly grew back together and they happily stay that way. :D

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DD was 4.5. She'd been asking me consistently for 6 months. My mom made me wait till I was 10 and I still remember being teased about it so I was determined not to make my kids wait (even though they're not in ps with kids to tease them).

 

She did great at it and still says she's happy that she has them pierced.

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We had decided from the very beginning that we would allow it when she was responsible enough to take care of them. She asked last year and we told her that she could do it for her 8th birthday. That rolled around though and she was no longer interested. I did not have mine pierced until I was in college and hated every second of it. They promptly grew back together and they happily stay that way. :D

 

I don't have daughters but I was allowed around 9yo to have them pierced. I did it because a friend had her ears pierced but I never had a problem with it and am glad I had it done.

I am not sure why there is concern regarding age? In some countries, all girls get their ears pierced as babies.

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I got mine done about age 12. It freaked my brother out. I think he's still traumatized. LOL

 

Kimber's were done right after her first set of shots (required by place we went).

 

To me, this is just one of those things that I would do when the child wanted it done if I hadn't done it when she was an infant. She needs to clean them regularly and may need to pay for it if you decide that is part of the deal under a certain age. Past that, it's better, imo, to "give in" on these sorts of things.

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It'll be a sort of rite of passage thing for us, when she's 16. I feel like so much has been given to younger and younger kids--this will be something special to wait for.

Not that I'm opposed to little kids getting it done for cultural reasons--I just want to wait on some things.

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We wanted to let it be something she had to ask for and wait for until she was mature enough to take care of them.

 

She started asking at 4yo. We had them done in a piercing studio at 5yo with a hollow needle not a gun.

 

Before she got them done, she had to sit and let me soak her earlobes for 15 minutes twice a day, so she could see what it was going to be like.

 

 

She was great, and she soaked her ears daily as the piercer told her to right up till the last day.

 

She has never had an infection and has done great with them ever since. She was definitely ready.

 

For the first few years, I would only let her wear very small closed hoops so she wouldn't catch them on anything. Then we moved on to studs and now I let her wear a tiny dangle but the whole earring can't be longer than 3/4 inch.

 

All of her earrings are gold, platinum or surgical steel. This is something I am very, very picky about as the cheaper earrings seem to lead to infections more often

 

I got mine done at 12.

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My Mom pierced my ears with a cube of ice, a potato, and a needle when I was 18 mths old. I never wear earrings because they don't interest me.

 

My daughter is nearly 11 and has absolutely NO interest, but I'd let her now if she wanted to.

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DD had her ears pierced at Christmas time- at age 10 years and 9 months.

 

I had said originally that she needed to wait until she was 12 or 13, but we caved in after walking past a beautiful jewellery store here when her grandparents were visiting, and seeing a sign out the front advertising ear piercings.

 

Funny story- after having her ears pierced, we were walking around the mall, heading off to grab dinner, and she caught sight of me staring at her with tears in my eyes.

She asked why I was crying and I replied that looking at how grown up she looked, was making me teary.

 

She replied, "You know, I'm feeling a little teary too mum- but mainly because Im in a little pain". :D

 

* it wasn't a painful process, I just think it was the shock of asking us for something and we said yes...lol"

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I don't have daughters but I was allowed around 9yo to have them pierced. I did it because a friend had her ears pierced but I never had a problem with it and am glad I had it done.

I am not sure why there is concern regarding age? In some countries, all girls get their ears pierced as babies.

 

 

I agree. My husband is hispanic and grew up in Venezula where the doctor pierced every baby girl's ears. We had our daughters pierced at 6 months old.

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I just find it unnecessary. I don't have pierced ears and have never wanted them. It's not part of my culture. I wouldn't make the choice for my daughters and I'd want them to be mature enough to make the choice and do it on their own, because I wouldn't take them. Hence, 18. There's plenty of nice clip-on earrings if one wants to wear earrings.

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We had them done in a piercing studio at 5yo with a hollow needle not a gun.

 

:iagree: Please, please. Ear piercing guns are so unnecessarily painful.

 

I think I'd probably go with when she asks and is old enough to take care of them.

 

We may face a different situation, as I hardly EVER wear earrings, but my DH has his ears gauged. So they don't really associate earrings with girls.

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I was 5.

 

DD the Elder tried at 5 or 6 (we went to a mall... big mistake), got one done but couldn't go through with the other. That one snagged on a sweater and came out before the hole was healed and we chose not to replace it. She asked for well over a year to try again, and finally last December there was long enough of a break from swimming. We went to a reputable piercing shop: no guns, no studs with backs -- they use something like a sleeper earring instead, with the ends pinched into a bead. The entire thing was done within a minute, with no more pain than the equivalent of a little pinch. She had just turned 8.

 

DD the Younger wants to get hers done, but she'll probably have to wait until December for a sufficiently long swimming break. She'll be 6 by then.

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My dd was 7. I was planning to wait until she was 10 or 11, kind of a rite of passage thing. But then we had major issues with her still being wet at night through age 6 and decided to get a bedwetting alarm. She was so precious, trying so hard to work with the alarm, not complaining for weeks as we worked it all out. We decided a big reward after she achieved dryness was due, and she chose to get her ears pierced. She has always taken excellent care of them and never chooses inappropriate earrings, so I am glad we did it. Had it not been a big reward thing and just something she wanted because she wanted it, I probably would have waited until age 10.

 

ETA: I was 10 I think.

Edited by i.love.lucy
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I voted 8 or younger, but neither of my girls has her ears pierced yet. They've been allowed to for the past couple of years, but they haven't chosen to go through with it yet.

 

I had to wait until I was 13, which made me absolutely desperate to get it done on my 13th birthday. Which isn't a *bad* thing, but I still don't see the logic behind making it some coveted milestone.

 

My rule was they had to be old enough to take decent care of them. They are.

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Our rules are that YOU have to be taking care of them with no help or reminders and there is a 6 month waiting period. We went to a cosmetology store. I would only do it at a place like that or a tattoo parlor or a doctor's office. I had friends who worked the mall places and saw the hygeine (or lack thereof).

Dd1 first asked when she was 7.75, got them done at 8.25, and did great keeping them clean, etc. (This is also the child who got contacts on her 10th birthday and has done great with them.)

I'm not sure that dd2 would be ready so young, she is definitely a lot more flighty than her sister was at this age. Thankfully, that means that she probably won't remember to ask again at the 6 mo mark after she has asked the first time.

I had mine done without my input at 4.5. It was pretty traumatic for me. They eventually closed up, and I had them done again with friends for my friend's 8th birthday (she's 2-3 weeks younger than me). It was fun to be included, but I really didn't care that much. They've closed up again (in college), and I haven't bothered to get them redone yet. After almost 20 years, I'm not sure that I will.

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My parents made we wait until I was 12 and could care for my piercings myself. I agree with how they approached the subject (now anyway).

 

When my daughter is old enough to care for her own piercing without reminders and nagging I will allow it. But right now we still need reminded to go potty in the morning and brush teeth, so I think it's going to be a while.

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We chose age 10 because it's a fun milestone--double digit age!--and around the time that they're responsible enough to care for their ears. Making it the same age for all has made it a fun birthday tradition that they look forward to. (We do "special" birthdays for age 10, 13 and 16.)

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I was 8. My parents said if I got a straight A report card for one quarter I could get my ears pierced. After I did that, they said, "No, we meant a semester." Oh, so I got straight As again. Really, it wasn't hard for me. LOL If they had really wanted a deterent they should have made it a physical challenge. I was such a klutz.

I don't have girls, but I'm okay with my boys getting their ear(s) pierced. Same age applies. They aren't interested.

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I can't remember when I got my ears pierced but I was in late elementary school at least.

 

I've said they could have it done when they mentioned wanting it and could take care of the piercing without reminders. My youngest has no interest in getting her ears pierced at all. My oldest finally showed interest in having it done so I did research on a piercing shop and we just took her last month.

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WOW I must the odd man out here. DD1 6mo, DD2 10 mo, dd3 4 yrs (we missed the infancy and we had to wait until she was old enough to be told not to play with them.

 

Lara

 

I'm here! 4 months old. Never regretted it and love picking out tiny teeny earrings to go with everything/ She's soon to be four and picks out her earrings now.

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I find it a strange and utterly barbaric custom :D

 

It didn't help that I pierced the ear (only one) of a little girl down the block when we were 7. She begged me to do it. So a little ice, a potato, and a sewing needle. Followed by a lot of cartilage popping and cracking, and blood.

 

Thanks, but no thanks :tongue_smilie:

 

Bill

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My dd was almost 4. She wanted them done (until the first one was done anyway :tongue_smilie:). It's jewelry and it can be removed. No biggie.

 

On the flip side, she will not get a tattoo until she is 18, has a job and a good grasp of the word "permanent". :D

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I would be comfortable with them making such a decision when 18 years old or older. Even though it's a culturally accepted practice, it's still a piercing and I think some reasonable age should be required before allowing your child to perform medically unnecessary and potentially risky intervention on their bodies.

 

I might consider lowering the limit for a year or two and letting them do it a bit younger if they happen to really, really, really want it, but I would never allow an elementary or middle school child to do it. As far as parents taking their infants to get their ears pierced, I consider that borderline criminal (as I said, medically unnecessary painful, potentially risky, irreversible (yes, yes, I know the hole can close and all, but we can't really compare it to, say, cutting hair or nails) intervention into a body), regardless of the laws which allow it.

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Every culture has them! Piecing ears is pretty tame when you consider some of the other places on the body that can be pierced. :D

 

I refuse to let my mind wander :D

 

Bill (who doesn't get too many chances to be an ultra-conservative on this forum :tongue_smilie:)

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I was in my 30's - long story. I voted under age 8 for my daughter. She is only 2 and I will let her get her ears pierced as soon as she decides she wants to go through lots of pain to get them.

 

Yikes! I'm having flash-backs :lol:

 

Bill (who will never get the cracking sound out-of-his-head :D )

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I find it a strange and utterly barbaric custom :D

 

It didn't help that I pierced the ear (only one) of a little girl down the block when we were 7. She begged me to do it. So a little ice, a potato, and a sewing needle. Followed by a lot of cartilage popping and cracking, and blood.

 

Thanks, but no thanks :tongue_smilie:

 

Bill

 

Brave little bugger, weren't you?

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I haven't read all of the other posts yet, but just thought I'd offer up my two cents. I don't have a set age, but I do require that my daughter is old enough to actually want her ears pierced. I think I was 8 or so when I had mine done...can't really remember.

 

My older dd chose to have hers done a few years ago. I asked dd5 if she likes earrings, and she said yes. I asked if she wanted to get her ears pierced. She asked what getting pierced ears meant, and I told her what the procedure was like. She said something about wanting to get them "one day." So we left it at that for now. I will wait until she really desires it.

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Twelve. That's also when she can start wearing (a little!) makeup if she wants to. In our religious culture twelve is when kids transition from the organization for children into the organizations for young men and young women. I think letting that also be the time when she can start edging into "womanly" things like pierced ears and makeup will help emphasize that transition and make her feel like we're giving her more say over her own life due to her "new" level of maturity and responsibility. (But that's just our family decision which our family has related to our religious culture in this way. I don't want anyone to infer that this is at all dictated by our religion, or an across the board cultural thing with deep roots in our religion or anything. Lots of people of our faith have their girls' ears pierced when they're infants, or whenever the child asks, or allow it when they're old enough to date, or only when they are adults and completely responsible for their own lives, or have special family traditions regarding pierced ears, or whatever.)

 

I don't personally have pierced ears. When my parents said I was old enough I didn't want to be bothered with taking care of them and realized there were lots of cute clip-ons. Maybe someday dd and I will have it done together or something. I haven't really worn earrings much at all since ds was born, as he had (and still has) difficulty with impulse control, a propensity for grabbing at shiny objects, obsessions with small details, and a strong emotional need to be close to his mother (this is lessening of late, thank goodness). It wasn't a good mix when jewelry was in the picture. The first few times he violently ripped earrings off my ears I was deeply grateful they were only clips and didn't take half my ear with them...lol.

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I refuse to let my mind wander :D

 

Bill (who doesn't get too many chances to be an ultra-conservative on this forum :tongue_smilie:)

You should have seen the shop where we had DD the Elder's ears done. It would have blown your mind. *cackle*

 

And just where were you piercing that poor girl to have cartilage pop and crack?

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