What Age for Pierced Ears?

I don't think there is a right or wrong age. My opinion is that it is their body, their choice. When they ask for it, then consider it. I do think they should be able to help with the care of the ears when it is done.

I would not recommend going to a place at the mall like Claire's etc.

My daughter was 10 when she asked and we took her to Claire's. She did take care of them but had nonstop infections. She ended up removing the earrings and said it wasn't worth it (about 3 months)

About age 13 she wanted to try again and we did at Claire's. Another fail after about 5 months.

Last fall as a college freshman, she went with 2 friends to get 3 holes in each ear and this time went to a tattoo/piercing place. It has been a year and NOT ONE infection or sign of infection. She does have to wear quality earrings, no cheapees and the ones she bought were from the tattoo place.

I was 5 when I got my ears pierced. My daughter is 4. I'll let her get hers pierced when she asks at this point. So far, she hasn't had an interest..

Got them done when they were toddlers. I don't think it's a big deal. I didn't think anything of it when my daughter was young so when her daughter that I'm raising wanted her ears done I took her. She was maybe 3 or 4.

I had to wait till I was 16.
It was a right of passage as far as my Mom was concerned (she's NEVER had her ears pierced - she wears clip on earrings)..
She didn't make my sister wait - she had us both done at the same time (she was 14).
People are doing them younger and younger.
Taken to it's illogical extreme I'm sure I'll soon be hearing about having ears pierced before birth.
I don't get what the rush is.
You hear the 'well everyone ELSE is doing it' excuse - anyone one who pulls that card automatically loses the argument in our house.
Maybe you could have her wait till she's in middle school.
These days it doesn't stop at one hole per ear.
You say 'yes' to one set and then she'll want another pair and maybe another on top of that.
I've seen some people with so many holes you have to wonder if the wind whistles through the swiss cheese that use to be their ears.
Once you start, there's no putting that genie back in the bottle.

I wanted a milestone event that my dd could look forward to so I picked 10 yrs old. She turned nine in January and is so excited and is already planning how to take care of them.

She didn't even mention wanting them until she was 8.

Got mine at 10! We were celebrating "double digits"! :)

Every girl in my family has had them pierced at 6 months. (Except my DD, who got hers done at 8 months because we moved and I wanted to find a decent place...)

Don't worry Jaycee, you're not alone! Lol.

We never have had any issues with it. Neither have any of the dozens of female cousins, siblings, aunts, etc. Not one of us has lopsided holes. Lol. Anyone who doesn't like wearing earrings doesn't have to, and I know I loved wearing earrings when I was very young. Actually, my sister and I got second holes when I was 12 (she was 8) and I remember that I did NOT like it at all... My sister wound up with only one second hole for about 3 years because it "hurt too much" and she wouldn't let them do the other side. (She has always been a bit of a drama queen. Lol. I remember when she first got them pierced, and how she slept right through it.)

Anyway, I would base it on how much work you want to put into it. If you don't mind cleaning them and making sure they get rotated, then let her do it now. If you want HER to be responsible for it, I would say to wait until around 8 years old.

My daughter asked at 4 years old. So I took her and my younger daughter (then a year old) to get their ears pierced. I don't really see what the big deal is about it. It's not like they're asking to wear stiletto heels and mascara or something.

Dr. Sears recommends no sooner than 8 years old. The ear lopes are still growing at a fast rate before that and you can end up with crooked holes or even skin growing over the earring backings.
I was 9 when I got my first piercing in my ears. I was 16 when I got the second hole done in my ears. (I was 34 when I got my nose pierced.)
A big part of it is when you think they are going to be able to take care of them. Even at 9 I had help but I still needed to be responsible about it. I had an aunt get them done the same day while we were all on a family vacation so we'd clean our ears together. They also need to know to leave them alone, not try to take them out, twirl them so the skin doesn't attach itself to the stud among other care issues.
If you want to let her get them done this early know that you will have to help her take care of them.
My daughter is 5. At this point her ears aren't pierced and she's not really wanted them done. She will sometimes wear a slip on ear cuff of mine just because. No holes required, it just slips over the skinny part of your ear. Not sure when or if she'll want them done. We'll decide then if we'll say yes or not. Haven't set a specific age. My boys have had no interest. Wouldn't care if they did though. They're older now anyway, 13 and 10.

Wow I am so in the minority here. I pierced my girls ears at 6 mos. That was the earliest my doc recommended. They healed beautifully and and we have not had any issues other than my youngest has sensitivity to nickel. They basically keep studs in their ears 24/7. When they play sports we take them out. My oldest has been able to take hers in and out for the last couple years for her sports. I gave her a tiny zippered pouch to store her earrings in in her sports bag while she is playing. Occasionally they will wear a dangely or special earring. They love having earrings.

That depends... do you want to be the one that has to do the care for her ears, or do you want her to take total responsibility for her pierced ears?

ETA: My girls were probably in 4th or 5th grade when they had their ears pierced....

My daughter asked for them for her 9th birthday so that was her gift. I wanted to make sure she was old enough to take care of them herself. I personally don't think it's a big deal to have ears pierced. I just didn't want to be the one having to clean her ears and change her earrings, etc. all the time.

I would never pierce a child's ears without them asking for them. My older daughter is a tomboy and wouldn't be caught dead with earrings. That is why I would never do it when they are infants (or too young to ask for them).

My mom is as conservative as they come, but she got mine pierced when I was 5.

(Thank goodness I have a boy with no interest in a piercing) but I think when she can take care of them herself and is responsible enough to take care of her jewelry herself.

My daughter had to understand that it would be painful, and be willing to keep them clean. I think she was 8 or 9 when she had them done. The boys have asked about it, but none of them actually had their ears pierced yet, they are older than her.

I was 13 when mine were done, my sister was 8. My daughter is 7 and has expressed no interest in having hers done, but if she really wanted it, I'd probably let her. She's pretty responsible. As long as it wasn't during the summer when she's swimming every day and I'd be more worried about infection, I don't see why not.

i'd allow it at 6, with the understanding that while you will help and supervise, she needs to take charge of caring for the holes. it's a good lesson in personal responsibility.
i had my boys wait until they were 9 or 10, i think, IIRC. but i sure do hate to see pierced infants.
khairete
S.

Mine was four because that's when she asked to have it done. She wanted to know if it would hurt and I offered to show her how much. I gave her earlobe a short sharp pinch. She yelped and put her hand to her ear for a second and then asked, "Is that all?" I told her it was and asked of she still wanted to do it, She did and I took her the next day.

Our family tradition is 5th birthday. I highly recommend a professional piercer and really leaving the earrings alone as they heal. We just bought sterile saline spray and sprayed them once a day. No touching or turning. They healed beautifully, we didn't have any problems at all.

When I feel that my daughter can take care of them by herself with little assistance from me. I want her to be able to clean them on her own and have proper ear health before I will allow it. My daughter is 5 1/2 right now and it's really a non issue in our house. She rarely asks and when she does, I tell her exactly what will happen and she says she isn't ready.

For me it was about when I thought they were mature enough to take care of them themselves, the turning, the cleaning, etc. My oldest was 9, younger one 7 almost 8.
We also started with posts only, I witnessed some pretty gnarly playground accidents involving earrings as a kid and therefore made my girls wait until they were 11 or so to wear dangly earrings or hoops.

My daughter's had to wait until their 5th birthday! They were so excited!! We made a day out of it... Shopping, lunch, ear piercing.

You could just tell her to wait for her next birthday.

You will get wildly divergent answers to this, based on a lot of different factors.

I had my ears pierced when I was nearly five. Mom said that I'd said I 'wanted them'. Not sure I believe kids really know what that entails. :) I had them taken out by age 8 or so, getting infected, etc. Tried them again around 11 or so with better results.

In our house, for us, ear piercing is a sort of special thing you can choose to do to your body at 12 or so. We have a son; if he wants to have his ears pierced, he'll have to wait until then and show us that he can take care of other jobs daily without prodding, so then we'll know he's capable of taking care of the piercings without us having to be responsible for it.

We just pierced my DDs last week. It was for her 4th bday.

I don't think there really is a "right" age. My mother did mine when I was 1, I am happy with them and glad that they will never close so I don't have to worry about how long I go without earrings in. It was never something I really thought about for my kids until my son asked me if he could get it done at age 3. I let him and he did great with them, of course I had to help him care for them but it was no big deal. He decided when he was 7 to take them out and you can barely see the tiny scare they left behind. To me this really isn't some big thing because they can always be easily removed, so if she was asking for them I would just let her get them, but that is just me.

My daughter got her ears pierced at age 3 (she's 5 now) because that's when she asked to do it.

12. When they can take care of it themselves.
Or possibly 10? Depends upon the child.
Plus they should be able to make the decision themselves as it will be
a painful few minutes/hour. I remember it vividly. My mom made me
wait until I was 13.

My daughter was 7 1/2 when we got her ears pierced . The important thing is for you not her to be responsible for the daily cleaning and checking of her ears . I know too many people that had problems because they let their daughter take responsibility for them . Good luck 😊

I thought I would be in the minority, because I'm a pretty laid-back and lenient parent, but after reading the other answers I guess I'm not that unusual. My mom made me wait until I was 12 or 13 to get my ears pierced and I saw no reason to make my daughter wait that long. I know a lot of people have it done to their infant daughters, so I figured there is no age that is "too early." I always knew I would let her do it as soon as she herself felt she was ready. It's her body after all. She is five, about to turn six, and asked to do it a couple of months ago, so she did. She was so excited and I think there are not a lot of other girls in her class with pierced ears, but I doubt she is the only one.

Now her 8-year-old brother has asked about getting his done, so that is my dilemma. Again, I think I will let him decide, once I've made sure that he has thought it through. Fortunately, he seems to have forgotten about it for now. Whew!

I think I got my ears pierced on my 8th birthday. My older daughter at about the same age and my younger one at about 6 weeks (or as soon as they would do it).

No reasons for the age differences. I can't stand wearing earrings. My oldest daughter loves wearing them. The youngest hates them.

This depends on your child. I was 6 and I was fine, although I did let them close a few times over the years. My daughter was 8. She hated changing them and the way they felt at night. She let them close a few months later. At almost 11 she is talking about getting them done again. I told her she could pay for it this time.

I had both my girls' done when they were about 5-6 months, because that's the practice in my culture. Mine were pierced as a baby also. I had both of them done at the pediatrician's office, which was nice. Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

Hi, Mama,
Why does she want her ears pierced?

D.