Uneven Ear Piercing on 8-Month Old Daughter

I think I'd go to a different ear-piercing place and have them take a look. They can give you advice about repiercing/growing back/etc.

Hi K., I understand. The same thing happened to my granddaughter. One earring was to close to the edge. I was afraid that if she every wore hoops or heavy earrings later in life that it would tear through so we went back to Walmart, where she had it done and they said to leave the earring out for a couple of weeks and come back and have it repierced. I know I didn't want her to go through the pain again but it's better now than to have a problem later. I say go back to where you got her ears pierced and show them and they will instruct you. Hopefully, she won't cry that much this time too.

If you must have her wear earrings then I would suggest waiting for the hole to grow up and then have another one done. But if you can wait until she's a little older than just let her holes grow up and be done with it. She's young so I wouldn't think it would take too long fo the holes to close.

I am not an expert at this by any means however I think if you take them they will grow up very quickly. So then you can have them pierced again. I am not sure where you got them done but you should check on getting them done at the pediatrician's office. I know some of them do it.(or atleast used to)

Hi K.,
I used to be a manager for a well-known retail store that pierces ears before I had children. What I would suggest to you is that you take the earring out and wait a couple of weeks for the ear to heal itself. Take your daughter AND the earring that you removed back to the place you got her ears pierced. Talk to the MANAGER of the store, let them know what happened and that you were unhappy with the placement. The reason I say talk to the manager is that they should have the most skills and knowledge about ear piercing. If you take them the earring they may be able to exchange it for a new piercing free of charge depending on where you got the piercing done to keep the customer happy (meaning you would not have to buy a new pair of earrings to get your daughters ears repierced). They may need the earring for inventory purposes. We had to return ours to the home office for disposal. This was the policy for the company I worked for several years ago.
Just an FYI for you and others who have written in: piercing through cartilage is really the only time you'd have to worry about scar tissue and the lobes have none, they are just fatty tissue.
I do not think you should take your daughter to a body piercer. Yes they usually have a clean, sterile environment, and are very knowledgable about piercing, but unless you are looking to get a higher gaged earring (larger hole), which in your daughters case you are not, you do not need to go to them just to get your ears pierced. There are other, more child-friendly places for that.
You could also take your child to your local doctor as well, but you will run the risk of having them be uneven again. Keep in mind they do not make a living of piercing ears and may not have the most up-to-date devices used for piercing ears.
Hope this helps!

I don't know if you want to wait to have the right ear repierced because the ear forms scar tissure around the hole. If where the hole should be is close to where the existing one is, it will be twice as hard to pierce it once it has healed. Wow, that was a a tongue twister! LOL
Really, the holes should be dead center on the lobe. If they are too low or close to the edge, they will not be able to support the weight of a heavier earring when she gets older. If you're worried, you can take her to a professional piercing palor to get their opinion. It may sound silly, but those folks pierce for a living and they know what they're doing. Good luck!

I had uneven ear piercing done at 13 years old and have always regretted not just letting them close and starting over after they are fully healed. So, that would be my advice to you. As for me, I now can only wear very light-weight earrings, mostly posts for fear that my now-drooping hole in one ear will droop even further due to the lack of ear tissue to hold it up.
Good luck!
S.

I can only speak from an adult's perspective on the ear piercing. My mom decided when I was a teenager that she,my sister, and I would get our ears pierced. We got ours done at Claire's Boutique in the mall. She had hers done by a girl who was working for one of my mom's clients' jewelry stores. My mom did the hair of the lady who owns the store on a weekly basis. The girl had badly botched piercing my mom's ears - and she has tiny earlobes! The right earring stud was hanging at the very bottom of her earlobe, as if it were supposed to dangle. The girl argued with my mom that the earrings were right,that my mom's eyesight must be off. Then the lady who owns the store walks in and says, "Oh, what have you done to her ears?!!!" She insisted the girl no longer do any more ear piercings and she redid my mom's piercing that same day. If your daughter's ears are not inflamed or irritated, there is no reason you should have any problems to have the other ear repierced. One of the problems with young children is once that first earring goes in, it hurts and they don't want to sit still for the 2nd ear. Maybe enough time has passed that your daughter would sit still long enough to get the earring aligned properly. Good luck!

I had my Daughters ears done when she was 4 months old at her doctors office. She is now 4 and will take her ear rings out for a long time. the hole is still there a few months later. I do not know if they are slower to close up or if they will not close up at all. I tell you this b/c you could be waiting a long time to have one close up and her only having one earring. I would see if you could get the new hole done without waiting if there is room on her little ear for that. Good luck.

I agree with other people mentioning talking to the people at piercing parlors. I am a mother with several piercings and professional piercing parlors are the only place I would go. However, I'm not sure that they will pierce infants. I think that they may have an age limit. Worth checking out though. The other thing, I have had a lot of experiences with piercings and am very cautious about the use of piercing guns. If you're interested in some info, the APP's website (Association of Professional Piercers) has some great info. www.safepiercing.org. Don't let all of that info scare you though. 99% have had our piercings done with guns and we are all fine, it's just good info to think about. Good luck. I would love to get my infant daughter's ears pierced, but my husband is opposed, so we are waiting.

i would take them out and let them grown up and try again after they have had time to heal. this is something that will affect her for the long run. my earring holes are very low down probably due to the way they were pierced b/c i had mine done as a child as well.

You should let the one heal before repiercing. In an infant that should not take long, they tend to heal 2x as fast as an adult with everything, maybe only a week or two. In the meantime, there is not much you can do because I suspect she puts everything in her mouth at this point and the stick on temporary earings might pose a choking hazard. Good luck.
D.

My mom had mine done when I was 6 months old and the same thing happened - she went ahead and had one corrected about 2-3 months after the 1st time - I still have an open hole below the corrected one. It is no big deal to me - in the meantime she kept the earrings in - I think that is why the hole never closed. My suggestion is to have her only wear one for the next month or so and then have the other fixed. - good luck!

That is too bad! I would agree with the last post, dont wait for the hole to close up or it will be harder. I would take her right away but to someone different. Dont worry about any negative comments, we should all raise our children the way we want to:) Your a great mommy! Best of luck!
Jamie

Wow, that is awful!! I had my Daughter's done when she was 6 months and had no problems. In fact, her Ped at the time asked me where I went and how it went cause he was looking for a place to take his daughter!!

I would either talk to her Dr or nurse in the office about the one hole healing and getting it redone. Or find a different place that does nothing but piercings. When you are ready to get her one redone, make sure they take a pen or marker and put a dot on the spot where the hole is to be so you can make sure it looks even before they do it.

Good luck!
~S.

We had our little girl's ears done when she was 3 months old. She moved her head just as they punched the second one, and it was really off. We just took the earring out, and waited the amount of time they told us (I want to say it was about a week, definitely less than two weeks), and we brought the earring back for them to do it again. It wasn't any big deal. If your unhappy with it, I would defintely have them redo it while she is young. We went to Piercing Pagoda at the mall. Wherever you got it done, they should be able to tell you how long to wait before having it re-punched. Good luck!

First of all - - go back to the place you got the piercing done & get your $$ back - - It takes a while for the holes to grow up - - maybe take her to another piercing place & see if they can make it look better with another piercing of the "bad" ear. They can see if it would help - - The peircing is more of a shock to them than a really painful experience - - it is done & over before they know it - - mine oldest 2 were only 6 weeks old -- I haven't pierced my 2 year old's yet - - your 8 month old is just aware what is going on (some stranger messing with her ears!!) - - take her to see if another jeweler can fix it! Good Luck!

S. Morgan
www.hgpfun4you.com

YIKES! So sorry this happened! Did you raise holy heck with the piercer? That would be the first thing I'd suggest. Then ask them about the closing of the hole and heal time. If they have a dumb teenager working there and you're still not sure go call a tattoo parlors piercer. They know alot. They may seem like a weird industry but piercers are VERY professional and have to learn about the body and areas they poke. I know a good deal of piercers who are nurses.

Max brand at www.allornothingtattoo.com in marietta knows his stuff.

Good luck!

Hi, my daughter had her ears pierced when she was 9 and the same thing happened to her--the earrings weren't even. When we noticed this, they told us to take the one earring out and let the hole grow up for 2 weeks, then come back to have it redone. We did and everything turned out great. The two weeks of just having one earring was worth getting the holes even. There wasn't any charge for the re-piercing. Good luck!

I do think in this case you will have to wait until it closes . My daughter got her ears pierced at 6 months and she kept pulling on them and they kept coming out so after a while she wouldn't let me touch her ear. She is now 20 months I got them redone when she was 18 months . I have not had any problems with her toching them at all. My doctor made me wait until the hole completely close and made sure all the lumps in in her ear where gone.So you may want to wait. Feel her ear and see if you feel a knot if so rub it everynight with alchol just make sure its gone down just to make sure she doesn't get a (keloyd)I think thats how you spell it .Check with your doctor and get their opionon.Good luck I totally understand I am a first time mom also . We have to make sure our little girls stay FABULOUS at all times.

Hi K., No...you are not a bad mother for getting your daughters ears pierced. I got my daughters ears pierced when she was 3 months. It's easier and they don't play with their ears afterwards. Anyways, I would go to another place that pierces ears and ask about getting it re done. The first place you went to should have put a little dot on each ear to show where they were going to pierce. Make sure the next place you go put the dot and try to match it to the other ear as much as possible. I'm not sure if you need to let it grow shut, but I think it would take some time for it to do so. If your daughter is 8 mths I wouldn't wait to much longer to do it. Suggestion...don't do it when she's sleeping. Some people try to do it, but it's not a good thing to do. If she moves around alot try giving her a sippy cup, a lollipop, a cracker or anything to try to keep her still. It will make it so much easier.

Good Luck!!!
S.

This happened with my daughter, eventhough she was older. Once we realized what happened, we took both out and left them out for a year. Then we re-pierced them. I would talk to your doctor first though since she is so little.
E

I am so sorry about this. I had my daughter's pierced @ 2 months and she is fine:) I believe you should go ahead and have it repierced NOW. The scar tissue after a piercing is so thick that it might make it very uncomfortable for her. I agree with the other mom's. Call around to different piercing places or "body-Piercing" parlors and ask if they pierce ears as well. I know you don't want to think of your baby being in one of those places---but honestly it will be one of THE most sanitary places you've ever been in:) If you can't find help there, look in the yellow pages for ear piercing places or try the internet for referrals.
I hope this all works out for you. By the way, you are a fine mom, don't worry if other moms don't like the fact that you've pierced your childs ears. GEEEZ-I KNOW I got the looks when Alex was only 2 months--but she's my little lady. If you wait too long, they play with their ears a lot and the ears get infected.

This happened to my good friend in AZ. After much asking from others around her she decided it was best to just take both out and let them heal. It only took about 2 months. Then she went to a different place to have it done again and she marked the ears herself so the same thing would not happen again.
Kimberly

Does it look uneven b/c her earlobe curves up? My earlobe curves up, so it was hard to get my ears pierced. Why don't you go back to the person that pierced her ears and ask for their opinion? Did they not notice they did it like that? Was it a professional job? Also, I would go to another professional piercing place and ask their opinion on the matter. Second opinions are always best! Especially from someone who didn't mess it up in the first place!

I say take her back to the peircer and let them know they doneit wrong and have them pierce her in the right spot and allow the other one to close.That way it will be fixed, the old hole on that 1 side will clse up and yo won't have to worry about 1 ear being fine and the other being sore if u do it at a later time.Plus if you take her back now the peircer should fix it for free.If the person does not offer it then ask yourself.It's common business sense to correct your mistake for free if yo fail to do your job right.

I didn't have my ears pierced as an infant, but when I did (at age 9) they were pierced unevenly. It drives me nuts now and I wish I had gotten them fixed. AT how young she is and how new the holes are, they'll close up very quickly.

Oh hey... I know what you are going through because I went through the same thing with my now 4 year old daughter. When I got home my husband was really upset because our daughter had one right and the other one uneven. We did not know what to do but we opted for taking both out and waiting until she is old enough to sit still. She does not have her ears pierced now and we use the sticky type from time to time. I know when she gets older she'll make the decision to go through it. We just did not want to live with her saying later on, gee mom! couldn't you just have taken it out? Once the holes are in for a while, they won't close. Good luck and I hope you do what's best. take care...

Same thing happened to my daughter 12 years ago...as with everything in life, it will become noticeable---only if you point it out

I've got a 6 month old girl but we decided to wait till she asks for pierced ears. But if I were you, I would take both earrings out and give them time to grow over and have them both re-done at a later date. You are gonna have to re-do the one ear anyway and shes only 8 months, she's not gonna notice that her ears aren't pierced