Obvs, this may or may not apply to you, depending on your ears, but if yours are pierced, how old were you when it happened?
Mine were pierced the day I was born. Yup, at the actual hospital, because it’s a cultural thing for a lot of Filipinos, and I was born out there. I joke with my mom about it all the time and say that she mainly wanted a baby girl so she could put jewelry on a her, a.k.a. me. 🙂 And my mom LOVES jewelry. I think she’s a little disappointed that I’m not as crazy about it as she is.
So, yeah, I was less than 24 hours old.
Connor Claire doesn’t have hers pierced yet, though. El Hub and I had to compromise on that. He would rather wait until she has more an opinion on it herself, just in case she wants to be a tomboy (hey, I had my ears pierced, and I was still a tomboy, but I get it), and I’m fine with that for now… But I’ll probably take her to get hers pierced one of these days in the next two years. I dunno… We’ll play it by ear (haha). 🙂
Speaking of this, where does one get baby ears pierced anyway? I mean, I think I could take her to someplace at the mall, like Claire’s, but I gotta admit I’m a little nervous about letting a 15-year-old near Connor’s head with something sharp.
I guess I’m a worrywart that way!
So how old were you when you got your ears pierced?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Hi Karen. I think I was in the 4th grade when I got mine pierced. My mom worked for a doctor’s office and they did it there. As I’m thinking about it now, it’s a bit strange that a doctor’s office did it but hey, it was the 70’s, so who knows. Maybe they still do so maybe you can get your little Coywolf’s done at the pediatrician’s office? I have 2 boys, who both have theirs done but they got them done as teens at Clair’s.
I was about 3 months. It was also a cultural thing for my family. We are caribbean. I also pierced my daughter’s ears pretty young I think it was about 6 months.
Hi:
I know that Claire’s does it, but try to find a jewelry store where they do it and apply numbing cream beforehand. I think I took my daughter when she was 9 and then as soon as she turned 18 she went and got more ear piercings but freaks out about shots/blood etc so go figure!
Ilene
Hi Karen ,
I was 18 ish in Nursing School and my friend pierced them w an 18 G needle and an ice cube !
I have 3 piercings on both sides and an upper ear piercing thru cartilage !
Have to disagree with you on this. I think you should wait until the child is old enough to ask for it and want it because it is painful. I saw someone getting their baby’s ears at Claire’s and the baby was screaming it’s head off. I thought it was beyond cruel. I understand it’s a cultural thing but that doesn’t make it right.
It’s not painful if sone right. I see it done at hospitals to newborns and they don’t squeak.
I got my ears pierced on my 13th birthday, since that was the age my parents decided I had to be before I could put permanent holes in my body, lol. My mom never got her ears pierced, so I think that was part of the reason they had my sister & I wait ‘til a certain age. Then I got a second lobe piercing after I turned 18. Then the day after my 30th bday (December 29th) I got an industrial! That sucker is still healing and I am SO over it. Apparently it can take up to 6 months, bleh.
I think there’s something to be said for a kiddo either being young enough that you, as parent, can easily take care of the piercings – or to wait for them to be old enough to take care of it themselves. Aftercare can be a pain!
I was 3-6 months old, likely. All of the girls in my family (and there are a lot) had our ears pierced around the same age at the mall. It’s very much cultural.
I have three piercings in my ears. First one was at 10, second one (after using many examples, including Grandma, that others had two) at 11, and the third piercing was done at a beauty spa with sterile needles at 23. Of the three piercing experiences, the one with the needles hurt the least and have never gotten infected. I highly recommend H2Ocean for cleaning piercings. That stuff is awesome, even if the piercings get infected.
Definitely don’t get them pierced at someplace like Claire’s that uses a gun. It causes more trauma and is an unsanitary instrument.
I don’t actually have pierced ears (or anything for that matter) but my husband’s into piercings.
Around 6 days old, only b/c they don’t do it in the hospital here in the U.S. It’s a cultural thing for my family as well and one that I’m planning on continuing if I have kids. If my girl grows up and hates it then she can take them out, I’d never force her to wear earrings. But it was a bonding thing between me and the women in my family growing up and as an adult it still has meaning for me.
My Pilipina mama had mine pierced outta da womb as well. [Snarky comment: But I consider it like being Christened; Had No Choice Because I Was a Baby. :-/ ]
My ear holes were constantly infected until well into my adult years.
I think mine was done closer to age 5 at the pediatrician’s office. I was old enough to remember it being done but don’t recall if it was painful or not. I also don’t think my mom asked me if I wanted them. She just had it done.
With my kids, I took them to a Piercing Pagoda at the mall, mainly because I liked the earring selection better and I think it turned out cheaper than the pediatrician. My first was 2 years old, with a high tolerance for pain (she doesn’t react violently or scream, even for shots) and she got a whole goodie bag with stickers, candy, a pencil and a voucher for a sundae at McDonald’s. They were the only place who would do the piercing with a small hoop earring and I loved that look. I think it cost me under $50 but that was almost a decade ago.
My other daughter had hers done at a different Piercing Pagoda and I waited until she was 4 because she is a fussier child. The upkeep required, buying this solution to clean the ears twice a day and turn the earrings etc, I wasn’t sure I could deal with it all earlier than 4. I asked her if she wanted them and she said yes so I figured she would be more cooperative. It cost me over $60 and she got a pretty pair of pink studs that were maybe the biggest size they had so very feminine and they make you do the “insurance” which covers a fresh pair of anything should happen and they will re-pierce at no additional cost if necessary. Good thing I got it because I took her earrings off one day after 2 months and left them off for 3 days and the hole closed! So I had to get them redone. Much easier on the child when they pierce both ears at the same time, which they did this time. And then I took her to Build A Bear etc… as a reward because she said it really hurt so it cost me more money in the end but they’re so pretty! I’ve not removed them since. Sorry long reply but I hope some of the lessons I’ve learned helps.
I was 18 and a freshman in college. I went to some random store with a friend. The guy used a piercing gun, and I almost changed my mind after he did the first one. That said, I’m glad I have pierced ears because I love earrings. As a kid, I remember asking my grandmother about her pierced ears because she was the only person I knew back then who had them. She said it was done when she was a baby, that she had no say in the matter, and she hated them. Hmmm.
I was five years old and I asked for them to be done. My mum agreed to make me happy. They used surgical steel, which I am allergic to, so the earrings had to be taken out and let the wounds heal over. I had them pierced again on my eleventh birthday with gold earrings. I’m glad I got them pierced again 🙂
My mom had her ears pierced at 45 in a jewelry store in the mall. I remember her face in pain when they did it. Then I remember she had to go to the Dr because they were infected and he was all “why in the world did you do that?” She sat for weeks with big cotton balls around her lobes. I’m 46 now and guess what – no pierced ears and I don’t think it’s ever going to happen! I have enough medical issues LOL
I was 8-9. My grandma took me for my birthday. I don’t remember really wanting them but apparently I did. I’m not a jewelry person so I’ve had them out and they’ve closed for years.
My daughters are 12 and 9 and the girls have mentioned that maybe they want to get their ears pierced but neither one has a strong desire. Since I don’t need more work to do I’ll wait until they’re sure and they feel like they can take care of them.
I was eight, and it was a reward for straight A’s on my report card. I got a second hole at 16, and a daith piercing at thirty. I always said I wouldn’t pierce my daughter’s ears until she was old enough to ask and to take the responsibility of caring for them, but I totally understand the significance of ear piercing for some cultures. A good friend and coworker had a baby around the same time as me, and they had her ears pierced the day they left the hospital. And she looks precious with her teensy earrings!
I was only a few months old as well. I had them done in the Doctor’s office. When I was a bit older, I went for a while without them because of dance and the hole closed. Got them redone at Claire’s when I was about 10 years old. I got a second hole in each ear at 14 years old at the mall as well.
I will probably do it for any future girls I have when they are babies too. It hurts them for a bit, but they won’t remember. It’s like getting any other vaccines/shots for them — they scream and cry and then it’s over. Plus, cleaning the earrings is easy when they are younger and not fighting you. If they wanted to take them out later on, that would be fine with me too.
There was an interesting article about this on Racked this week!
https://www.racked.com/2018/3/15/17119892/ear-piercing-babies-children-of-color-one-day-at-a-time
I’m half Latina so my mom had my ears pierced as a baby just like her mom did and her mom did before that. It made me feel like I was part of this grand tradition of women in our family. I disagree with previous commenters that think it’s cruel. I don’t remember getting my ears pierced and I certainly don’t remember the pain.
When I got my second ear piercings and my nose piercing I was a lot older and I definitely remember that pain! And I’m a chickensh!t so I’m glad that at least I don’t remember the first one!
If I have kids I’ll definitely pierce their ears when they’re babies to include them in this cool tradition. My partner is Irish so he doesn’t totally get it but we figure if they don’t like it they can take the earrings out when they’re old enough to have an opinion ??♀️
Please go to a reputable tattoo/piercing parlor. The gun method is basically an infection waiting to happen. These guys are TRAINED adults with certifications and sterilization equipment. Claire’s, as you said, is a 15 year old with a 15 min training session.
This this this! I mean, I got my first piercings at Claire’s when I was 10, but now I think I was lucky that it didn’t turn out badly. (And now I’m getting lots of piercings but at a parlor.)
I don’t have mine pierced, and now don’t care, but at six-12 I would have killed to have had them pierced when I was a baby so i wouldn’t remember it. When i had my tonsills out (at 12) the nurses at the surgery center were all mad that my dr hadn’t told my mom to go get silver studs, so I could have them pierced during surgery. But after that, I just didn’t care. I have some screw post and metallic earrings that i like well enough and wear occasionally.
I think 12? I went alone, in a jewelry shop, near my school. They had a piercing gun and they done both ears. Those times, no one was asking for parent permission, if you were a minor and I remember the pain was quite strong! I felt my ears burning, but I came back home, smiling . My mom, has certainly felt my pretentious smile, but she did not say a word. Rather she laughed, closing the door when she went to her room. My father worried about hygiene and safety. I, myself, took the care of the entire healing period. I believe, children’s today, are the same, if not more independent. Big hugs from Greece.
I got mine pierced for my 9th birthday – my best friend’s dad was a doctor and got the little disposable piercing guns and did it himself. I got my second piercing at Claire’s when I was 15 and haven’t been able to wear earrings in it for years, it’s too sensitive. My mom told me any more holes in my head had to be with my own money and after I was 18, so I got my cartilage pierced two weeks after I turned 18 – it never really healed and lasted for maybe a year, but I think that’s because of metal sensitivities on my part.
I second the suggestion of finding a tattoo/piercing shop for Connor – they’re way better trained than Piercing Pagoda or Claire’s.
I was a senior in high school, and 17 years old. I had them pierced at a jewelry store in the mall called Carlyle & Sons. My mother never had pierced ears and told us if God wanted us to have pierced ears, we would’ve been born with holes in them. We begged for years.
They were done with a brand called Studex. I do not recommend this brand. If you go the gun route, use Inverness at a salon where people are trained by a prof Inverness rep, as I was. I pierced ears for years without any complications. Aftercare is tantamount to how they heal. Ear Car Solution manufactured by Inverness, helps keep them clean and sanitized.
Inverness are the only piercing studs with thin posts and contain no nickel. You can get sterling or gold. They are each totally sterile as they are encapsulated I’m sterile containers and are not exposed until they are inserted into an earlobe. They have child friendly locking backs, to keep the sharps from hurting the neck. They come in many different styles. I still wear the Tiffany style 14k or 24k cubic zirconia princess cut 2mm in my upper piercings because they are he only ones that don’t hurt my ear holes.
I have 5 normal on right side and one cartilage. One regular on the left side. I pierced the extra 4 myself, in 1989, with the Inverness system. (Except the cartilage. That was done in Panama City Beach, Fl on a drunken whim in 1988) People forget to turn/twist their earrings each day too. They don’t clean them properly or dry them off and apply the solution after bathing/swimming. It is imperative. People also take their piercing earrings out too swiftly. Thy need to stay in at least 8-12 weeks no matter what these kids tell you.
Ps- sorry for the lengthy diatribe
I meant they have child safety backs. Not child friendly. Thy are extremely difficult to pull off. A child cannot do it easily. I’ve had to have my nephew/niece with small fingers take some of mine out because they snap on so well. They are awesome.
Hi Karen!! I was 12 years old, and it was the the Summer of 1979. I had to beg my dad to get my ears pierced. My dad didn’t want me to do it, for some reason, but my mom didn’t mind. One day, my wonderful grandmother (my dad’s mother), took me out to get my ears pierced. I think she knew that my dad would never get angry with her, so that’s how we pulled it off. Grandmom was a genius!! Anyway, I ended up getting amethyst post earrings, because it was my birthstone. I was so happy that day. My grandmother had her ears pierced at a young age, because Italians used to do that, way back when. Her only advice for me, was to not go without earrings for a long period of time, because the holes can close back up. It actually happened to her, so I heeded her advice. My grandmom lived right next door to me, and she was my best buddy. She was always doing little things to spoil me. She was the best!! This whole ear piercing thing has brought back such great memories. Thanks Karen!!
I was 16. I had begged my mom to let me have it for ages, but she always refused, and then, one day, she returned from the mall and had her ears pierced herself, so the very next day I insisted I was allowed to have mine pierced as well.
Ironically I don’t really wear much jewelry now, but back then it was my everything.
My daughter will not have her ears pierced until she is old enough to have a valid opinion on it, like 12 or 13. Or like, you know 38. Whenever I think she is old enough to decide things without her mom.
This is an interesting post, partly about culture and what is acceptable to different people. In my family my mother did not have pierced ears, although my gran did. My mother would not allow any of the three girls get them done while we lived at home. I eventually had them done for my 29th birthday, I waited partly because I was terrified of needles, pain, and quite squeamish about dealing with them while they healed. Both of my daughters had theirs done at 11. Mine became infected, as did my daughters’ too, just unlucky but I still remember how awful it was.
I had my ears pierced at age 5. Unfortunately, a couple of years later they got infected so I needed to take the earrings out. I had my ears re-pierced at age 9. Then, of course, I started getting more earrings as I got older. Currently, I many ear piercings.
If you do have your daughter’s ears pierced, please consider taking her to an proper piercer! The folks at Claire’s, Piercing Pagoda, etc. are absolutely NOT qualified, unlike any reputable piercer. Many of us (myself included) had plenty of earrings done with piercing guns and we turned out just fine, but the guns can’t be properly sterilized. On the other hand, a reputable piercer will use autoclaved needles and implant-grade jewelry. Also worth noting: a sharp needle does a lot less damage than a piercing gun, which forces a blunt stud through the tissue. It’s more painful and more difficult to heal. There are many piercers in CA that are members of the Association of Professional Piercers, which has strict standards for cleanliness.
This so much! Claire’s and other such shops wipe down the outsides of the guns with alcohol, but can’t reach any blood or tissue that gets further inside. They are exempt from having to autoclave.
Now I feel guilty for not looking harder for a place to have my daughter’s ears done. A huge sigh of relief, 13 years later, that it somehow turned out ok.
In your defense, a lot of this info wasn’t widely available at the time. I don’t think it’s common knowledge now, either. I actually had my nose pierced at 14 with a gun, which was a terrible idea in retrospect. I was very lucky though, and it healed perfectly. At the time, my parents and I thought that tattoo/piercing shops were all sketchy hotbeds of bloodborne disease. So I totally get why folks might not know about stuff like this!
My mother didn’t have pierced ears, so she never encouraged me to get pierced ears. I think I was in college, so probably around 20 when I got them pierced.
I think I was like 10-12? My mom just sprung it on me one day, said “hey how about we go get your ears pierced?” and less than an hour later the deed was done! We went to a local jeweler who was also a piercer. Funny thing is, I almost never wear earrings! Probably less than 6 times a year. I’m trying to more though.
Your story reminded me that my mom actually got her ears pierced in a hospital in Spain when she was 16 (on a school trip, strictly against parental permission) with all the newborn babies! Her mother never had pierced ears and always wore clip-on earrings.
I was 4 months old the first time when my mom took me to get them pierced. I now have three sets, though, and the second time I was a teenager I think – I just remember I went with my aunt and she got her cartilage pierced. Then two years ago after I broke up with a bf I got my third set.
I was in the third grade and since my best friend had hers done, I wanted mine pierced too. Mom took me to a jewelry store and I think the sound of the gun scared me more than the piercing.
To this day, I can go without earrings for months and one earring will go in without any problems and the other ear.. I basically have to repierce it each time. I even had it repeirced in the mall and it still closes up a day after I take the earrings out.
Hi Karen –
No judgement against those who choose another way but I advise against it right now. I will share my experience with piercing my daughter’s ears at age three. She asked for it to imitate a playmate, and I was tired of people assuming she was a boy since she still didn’t have a lot of hair, so I took her to Claire’s (per pediatrician recommendation). We had a pretty good experience but the person doing the piercing was more nervous than I was and obviously hadn’t done it many times and not on such a small person. The piercing itself was not too bad but the recovery was very traumatic. She couldn’t keep her little hands off them and they quickly became infected, despite cleaning them three times a day, which was always a struggle since she didn’t like it and once they got infected it hurt. She didn’t understand why it had to be done and was angry and upset that Mom was hurting her. Finally one day I was trying to clean them, they were swollen and red and she was fighting, and one started bleeding – rather a lot – which freaked us both out pretty badly. My husband stepped in and said, “That’s enough. This is no good for anyone. Take them out and we can try again when she is older.” So we did – they healed up just fine and we got them pierced again when she was ten, and she was very responsible about keeping them clean and taking care of them.
So… my advice, now that she is no longer an infant, is to wait until she’s old enough to understand the process and take care of them herself. In the meantime there are stickers and clip-ons for dress-up and looking fancy.
My ears are not pierced. I think because my mother never had hers pierced, I didn’t think it was something all women had to do. In recent years I’ve tended to view piercings of all kinds as barbaric, a holdover from prehistoric times. And when male teenagers do it, I can’t help but think of the Simpson’s line, “How rebellious, in a conformist sort of way.” Because males wouldn’t do it unless they were copying “cool” kids. (The only true-to-themselves individuals in school are the outcasts.)
My mother is phobic about needles and said that looking at pierced ears made her own lobes itch. So she wouldn’t allow me to get mine done till I was 16 year old, and only then if I paid for it. She only allowed me to have one set of holes while I was living with her. I had to wait till I was 18 to get anything else done.
I got mine pierced at start of freshman year in high school. I think it was for my 14th birthday and I had to beg to have it done. My father was dead set against me getting my ears pierced, but he was the one who drove me to Montgomery Ward’s (a long gone department store) to have it done. My daughter had hers done in junior high. I made her wait until she was old enough to clean and take care of the piercings on her own. I told her if they got infected, closed up or worse she was out of luck because I was only taking her to have it done once, after that she’d have to wait until she could drive herself and pay for it herself. Some friends said their dermatologists were willing to do it in office. The one I had at the time was conservative and not willing to do it, so my daughter had hers done at Claire’s. They even supplied us with a cleaning solution/antiseptic to apply until they healed. The girl even asked me to ok the position of the dots she placed on my daughter’s lobes before she pierced them. I recall making her adjust the position of one of them.
Hi Karen
I just took my 15 year old daughter to Claire’s in Coddingtown Santa Rosa and the manager did her piercing. My husband wasn’t keen on the idea but after talking with the manager and being explained the process he was on board. The device they use is actually a disposable sterile cartridge that has a safety stop as to not pinch the ear. They mark your ears first to make sure the holes are equal.
I was quite impressed with Claire’s. You can also ask for two people to pierce at the same time so both ears are done together. Call ahead. You won’t be disappointed.
To answer your question, I was 7 when I got mine pierced. Back in the day most jewelry stores provided that service. I went with my BFF. She got hers pierced first and I passed out! I did get mine done too. ?
I was in 4th grade, which in my country means I was 10 or 11 years old. It’s definitely not something cultural in Northern Europe, it was about me wanting it myself, as a lot of my girlfriends were doing it around that time as well. Did it at a jewellery shop, where they had this “gun” thing they used to pierce your ears. It was an old guy though, and he “shot” one of the holes a bit crooked so to say. Not sure if that’s why that ear starts to hurt even after all these years (I am 28 now) if I wear an earring for too long, but I cannot think of anything else (no allergies or anything). Experience itself was mildly painful, but I have always had a low tolerance of pain 😀
I got mine as days old baby in the hospital, it is also a cultural thing. When I first went to the US as a child I was surprised at all the fuss it can be. And shocked to see it done at malls. And then saw boys/men get pierced, to me it’s ridiculous. But, each his own. When boys have earings, why shouldn’t a tomboy girl have one too, then? So much fuss for something trivial. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hawaiian culture (before white men came) had the same tradition.
I have seen newborns being pierced at the hospital in Indonesia and baby don’t even squeak. Here is example, done by a doctor.
https://youtu.be/gxQmswg8Gek
People who think it’s cruel don’t know what they’re talking about. If girl doesn’t like it when she grows up, just stop wearing earings and holes will close. Mine close if I stop wearing earing for a while ( a year?), and I’d have to pierce thru them myself. Hurts a bit but ya know, much worse pains happen all the time.
I was 16 when I had mine done. My father hated the idea and he would have had me wait until I was the legal age of consent, i.e. 18, but my mum persuaded him to let me have them done after I’d completed my exams when I was 16. I wanted them done from the age of 10 so it was a long wait! Mine were done by a local jeweller with a piercing gun and I’ve never had any issues. I was advised to turn the studs every day and use saline solution on cotton wool to bathe them each day, It worked perfectly – no swelling, no infections and they healed fully in 6 weeks. I will be 50 next week and I’ve enjoyed wearing earrings every day for the last 34 years and will continue to do so!
10 years old, but my mother had the family doctor do it! He held an ice cube to my ears and then practically put a pick axe through them. They got infected and I had to let them seal over. Did it again two years later, but I went to Claire’s with my grandmother and they came out fine. Did it again (double pierced) as a freshman in high school with my friends, Claire’s again and no problem
My background is hispanic everywoman in my famiy has pierced ears. It’s just a thing you get as a baby.. I got mine done at the 1st drs visit. The system used was a sterilized needle and black surgical thread loops that my mom turned and cleaned everyday with alcohol. Then after two weeks, the dr took the strings out and my small 18 kt diamond studs (with screw backs) were put in until I was 10 and got my first hoops. Never had a problem ,but I cannot use costume jewel earrings, either 14 kt or 18 kt gold, or my ear holes get green and itch.
My mom got hers done by an aunt with a sanitized sewing needle and an an ice cube to num the ear. Her 18 kt studs went in immediately. She just had to clean them with alcohol. She’s 87 and never has had an issue.