Baby Piercings: Yea or nay?

Piercing your baby girl’s ears can be a fun activity but mums, proceed with caution

Are you the mum of a baby girl under the age of two? Are her ears pierced? Or if your daughter is older than two, how old was she when she got her ears pierced? No matter the age, baby piercings, for some mothers serve as a trendy move in accessorising.

Baby ear piercing

Baby piercings are a common practice here in Singapore. Many mums choose to pierce their daughter’s ears when they are as young as a month old.

When deciding whether or not to pierce a baby’s ears, here are some of the most common questions a mum asks herself:

Where to go: Some pediatricians do ear piercing. Having your baby’s ears pierced by a pediatrician usually results in a pain-free (or nearly so) experience using the safest equipment possible. Mums report that the pediatrician uses a mild numbing agent in addition to providing disinfectant drops and oil to keep the earrings from sticking to the skin.

Other options include jewelry stores, and piercing or tattoo salons as well as beauty salons and some spas.

When to pierce: Many mums pierce their baby’s ears within the first month. The argument here is that the baby doesn’t feel the pain or at least respond to the pain to the degree they will if they are older. Their inability to tug and pull at their ears at this age allows the piercing to heal without interference.

Other mums (as well as the majority of doctors) feel it is better to wait until a child is old enough to care for the piercing themselves–with minimal supervision.

Why pierce: Baby piercings are common in Singapore. Why? For most mums it’s a girl-thing. They want their little princess to look like a little princess. Some mums do it to make a definite gender statement, while others do it because their parents did it to them.

Why not to pierce: While there is nothing wrong with pierced ears, there are some very valid reasons for waiting.

Baby piercings – why wait?

• Before the age of three to four months, a baby’s immune system is not capable of warding off or handling infections that often accompany ear piercings (even slight ones).
• Infants and toddlers pull and tug at their ears; making earrings a possible choking hazard.
• Infants and toddlers pull at their ears; making injury a definite possibility.
• Children naturally rough-house and wrestle around; resulting in injury and torn ear lobes
• It’s not uncommon for baby piercings to be off-center when the child grows up

Getting a baby’s ears pierced is not usually one of those spur-of-the-moment things mothers do. Usually, a parent would have had to contemplate their decision at length. The most important thing to note is that if you’ve made up your mind to proceed with the deed, do ensure you prepared to take the extra care needed to guarantee that the pierced areas are kept clean and sanitised to avoid infection or accidental injuries upon your child.

If you’ve been considering baby piercings for your little princess to make her cute little ears pop, here are some key points to pay attention to. We hope these guidelines and insights help make your decision easier.