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At what age should you pierce a little girl’s ears? This is a tough one. There are so many schools of thought from “Do it early so they won’t mess with them or remember it” to “You should let them decide. What if they get older and decide they didn’t want earrings and now have the hole?” It all boils down to personal choice. I have a friend who waited to let her daughter choose and at the ripe old age of eight her daughter decided it was the big day. With pure exhilaration (Think about the first time you were getting pierced or the anticipation of a new tattoo or piercing), they set off to the mall. Once they got to the kiosk and picked out the earrings, it was time. The cold swab of alcohol, the tiny dab of dark blue ink on each lobe, the innocence of not knowing what to expect, then the gun popped and the little girl screamed. Though the pain really isn’t that bad, she freaked out and wouldn’t let the woman do the other ear. It took her over a month of only having one earring to build up the courage to go back and get the other one done. With constant reminders from her mother to stop touching the earrings she managed to avoid infection.
I personally chose to have my daughters ears pierced at six months old. I took her to the pediatrician’s office but not before enlisting the help of a seasoned friend (Her daughter is 3 years older than mine). I have to say that I am not sure I could have let them do the second ear had my friend not been there to talk me through it. In hindsight it really wasn’t that bad. My daughter barely cried after and never messed with them. She is almost 4 years old now and we are always looking for stylish earrings to mix things up. She doesn’t even realize that she shouldn’t have her ears pierced because every female she knows has them.
Now the question that I want to put out there is for boys… At what age is appropriate to get them pierced or allow them to make the choice? Also, what about piercings for other parts of the body? Navel ring? Eyebrow? Is high school age still too young?