Where to get ears pierced for a baby

Cartilage? There's no cartilage in the lower lobe.

I agree with about everyone else here who suggests you wait until your kid is old enough to decide if she wants her ears pierced. I don't remember when exactly I got mine pierced but I do remember that it was my wish and decision (and I was probably around 12 or so, I am guessing).

That aside, I also do not like earrings (or those head garters ER mentioned) on babies, babies are perfect and beautiful the way they are born. Earrings just look really out of place on a baby. (In my opinion.)

But if you want to do it anyway, I would probably not have it done at a place like Claire's. I had mine pierced at Wieland at the PEP mall. Not sure if they do babies' ears though.

Woah, are you high? ALL babies are fugly, without exception. Takes a few months for them to start to look human.

Are you kidding? Head garters rule!

Plus they can serve a dual purpose if your husband starts losing interest.

I had my ears pierced when I was 10. It only bugged me that I had to ask so many times before my parents would let me. So I went out and got a second set and my belly done a few years later to make up for it

yes I knowwwwww, but the place wasn't specified and "blood and cartilage" sounds way better.
Why not pierce the cartilage? Maybe baby wants a purdy liddle cartilage stud? It's quick too, and they're all the rage.
Then when she's 5 she can have her tongue done.

You mean have something like this? Yeah, that's an idea.

Those piercings are wasted on a consenting ear.

Ha! Who needs all that shit?

babies in "head garters" look ridiculus! Hideous and only seem available in puke pink and with a bow. Please. all babies are androgynous

Just to give another point of view on this matter.

I am Spanish, in Spain all baby girls get their ears pierced at the hospital after they are born, this is a normal practice. Funny how different traditons are in every country!

Well, i can't help giving my small contribution to this thread : my mum always refused to let me have my ears pierced ( i earned the right when i turned 18), for as a doctor she did see several times absolutely awful and devastating infections that terminally destroyed the cartilage on some girl's ears. All of this due to pierced ears. I mean, basic lobe piercing. Sometimes an infection can come extremely quick, depending on the nice guy you host in there. And with a little bit of bad luck it can take a very long time to cure with irreversible damages.
Now, she didn't see it very often, of course. But since it can happen to me it's a wonderful reason why you should at least let your child decide, in case it turns really bad. I suppose most parents on earth would not like to be doing this to their child.

Flo

Who would of thought this topic would be so controversial. I am from Venezuela and when a baby girl is born she gets it done right there and the at the hospital. We just think of it as something normal, something feminine I guess. My daughter is 8 months old and I had her ears pierced in the USA. It was perfect. I think she looks so cute. It is interesting to see how some people are horrified. I guess cultural differences. My German in-laws weren't too impressed.

I'm in the camp that a baby shouldnt in a million years have their ears pierced.

Babys are so pure, innocent, cute and dont need to start being jazzed up to be a mini adult even before they can walk. Sure why not go and get a tramp stamp tatooed on their arse when you are at it.

Exactly. Earrings are feminine, but a baby does not need to be (and should not be) feminine yet! You don't put makeup on your baby girls and a fake moustache on your baby boys either do you?

It starts with earrings, it ends up looking like JonBenet Ramsey

I'd like to throw in another aspect: We adults wouldn't allow anybody to chop off parts of our body, ram pieces of metal through it or do other alterations of our body. Of course not. Unless we tell them so.
If I want to drill a massive hole into my left palm because I happen to find it beautiful, that's basically my own decision, as stupid as it may be. But nobody else has the right to it to my own body.

Now, if we take childrens rights serious, we have to acknowledge, that kids do have exactly the same right. Who gives parents the right to alter somebody else's body, especially in such a painful manner (OK, cutting the hair is an alteration too, strictly speaking, but it's neither permanent nor painful)? They don't own the kid, and it's still the kids body.

The basic question is: Am I allowed to do such a thing to a body that isn't my own? The answer has to be NO. Basic human rights really IMHO.
So one shouldn't justify it with cultural differences, because human rights apply everywhere.
Just my 2cents. What do you think?

I'm with all of you that think pierced ears on a baby is horrible.

A friend of mine had hers done at 6 months, and the holes are totally in the wrong places now, about 2mm from the bottom of the lobes.

I had mine done at 12, after about 2 years of asking and being told no, and was so happy and excited to have them done.

I am an American (Indain ethnicity), had mine done at 9 months in India(as I was told, do not recall). I had no problems with infections, mom did a good job disinfecting the piercings every day. I had a fairly normal childhood, even with my ears pierced.. dint become Jon Bonet Ramsey..
I have a 16 month old daughter, got her ears pierced at 12 months in the US (at a pediatrician, cousin), cleaned her ears 3 times a day for 3 weeks... no infections. I happen to think, my daughter will also have a quite normal childhood, it is just a tradition for Indians. She can take her earrings out, if she hates them at some point of her life.
We have few doctors in my family, they explained it to me that baby skin heals faster than adult skin, it really helps the process if you are still breast feeding. My granny(holistic approach) told me to just use drops breast milk, if I see a scratch on my baby (no need for Neosporin while breastfeeding). I guess there is a reason for some cultures to have ears pierced at a very young age.

In the US, most baby boys have their foreskin removed in the hospital after they are born. "Normal" practice. But how is that funny?

If they started breaking thumbs or resetting noses, would it be ok if it's a tradition done directly after birth?

exquitius
Babys are so pure, innocent, cute and dont need to start being jazzed up to be a mini adult even before they can walk. Sure why not go and get a tramp stamp tatooed on their arse when you are at it.

Wow! babies are judged to be tramps cuz they have earings... I am a bit shocked with such ignorance. Hope you get the chance to stick our head out just a bit, before you open your mouth. I suggest you travel the world a bit and can see that people are different and they can dress, look different, and hope they give you a different opinion than tramps... hehehe.
Even better, you can start with asking these three questions... (What, why and where??)... especially to the people that look different than you.. I am quite sure it will cure you of ignorance and could lead you not to judge people (babies) so quickly...