Ear piercing for kids: doing it right

So the great “when to pierce your kids ears” debate had me trolling the interwebs for hours. I mean, how else was I suppose to know whether my child is old enough to get her ears pierced?! Ear piercing for kids suddenly became a tad more complicated than I had initially thought it was. We sure do have A LOT of opinion about EVERYTHING. People seem to care a bit too much about how other people are raising their own children. And hey, I get it, who am I to speak? I have a blog and I tell you guys how I do things, right? Fair enough. But I’m not out here giving you the stink eye for not doing it the exact same way that I do. Who has time for that anyways? (Don’t look at me, I can’t even remember if I brushed my teeth this morning.)

Anyways, Kari is almost four years old and yes, I did not have her ears pierced when she was a baby. I just figured that she would be too little to understand the pain of a freshly pierced ear, or how to care for it. So I chose to wait until she asked for it. And even on the day of the actual ear piercing, I still wasn’t sure if she was ready for it… even though she had asked for “rings on her ears” pretty much every day for two weeks. How was I to know if the kid could handle it? Well, here’s what I did, you guys, and I feel very clever for doing it:

I pinched her ear lobes.
Yep, I know, genius. Somebody should call Carte Blanche immediately.

I pinched the girl’s lobes while explaining that having her ears pierced will be a bit eina. She said she is aware of the pain and still wants rings on her ears please. I also explained that in order to get “rings on her ears” the aunty will be making holes in her ear lobes. She was like, bring it on mom! And then I explained that once the rings were in her ears, she would have to look after it. With bling earrings comes great responsibility. She nodded her head in anticipation. Okay, she was ready.

Guys, I can’t say that I’m going to blow your minds with this but after investigating my options I actually preferred taking her to a good ol’ fashioned Sterns for the actual ear piercing. We were very blessed to know most of the staff at the store, so she was already at ease. (The lady in the vid is her aunty) I appreciate that both lobes were pierced at the same time and besides for the 5 seconds of “ouch!”, Kari was good to go!

So what am I trying to say? Is three years old the best age to pierce your kids ears? Should you rather go to a jeweler and not a professional piercer? Am I Super Duper Mommy – the best parent in the whole entire world – and everyone should bow down at my feet and feed me chocolate? Well, I mean, feed me with chocolate all you want. But no, I am not the best or the cleverest or the most knowledgeable.

The truth is: I know my child better than you do. And you know yours better than I ever will! And so, my dear friend, allow me to say this: Take all your mommy wisdom, add some practical knowledge to it and TA DAHH! You too can be a Super Duper Mommy, parenting YOUR kid the way YOU know best! So there you have it. No lecture. No “my way is the best way” monologue. Heck, I don’t even have tips for you this time around.

But hey, if you’ve come here for ear pierce tips, I’ll share some with ya:
1. Since baby’s immune system is still developing, it is suggested that you wait until they are atleast 6 months old before creating an “open wound”.
2. Rubbing ice on the ear lobe for 20 minutes will numb the lobe and reduce the pain.
3. If you want to be extra you could also get a dermatologist or pediatrician to do the piercing.
4. Ask your chemist about a topical medication that can numb the area.
5. It’s preferable to use surgical stainless steel initially since some people are allergic to certain materials (white gold etc).
6. Try to avoid swimming for a while after the piercing. Remember that it’s considered an open wound and can be prone to bacterial infections.
7. Keep the earring in for atleast six weeks after the initial piercing, to give the area enough time to heal.

So there you have it. Drop me a comment below if you can think of any other shweeet tips or advice to pass on to other mommy’s who are thinking about getting their kids ears pierced.