You just gave birth to your baby girl, and you are so excited.  Her small hands and body are so cute, and she looks just like you.  You are now a parent, and have a huge responsibility to nurture, provide and love this bundle of joy into a healthy and happy adult.  But before adulthood, you can enjoy your baby in her infant years, buying pretty dresses and shoes for her and maybe even piercing her ears.  You aren’t completely sold on piercing your baby’s ears, but you see other babies and think they look so cute.

To help you make decide whether or not to pierce your baby girl’s ears, check out this list of pros and cons.  Many people will not pierce their baby's ears so young, while others will take the risk.  It is ultimately your choice as the parent and hopefully the following tips will increase your understanding on this topic, and help you to make an informed decision.

The Pros of Piercing Your Baby’s Ears

  1.  Pierced ears look cute on a baby.  Seeing a baby with pierced ears enhances their natural beauty.  When you are out and see a smiling baby girl with her ears pierced it tickles your soul because it brings out the color in her eyes or adds to the appearance of her outfit.
  2. The baby will not remember the pinch of pain they experience during this procedure since she is so young.  If you attempt to get the child’s ear pierced when they are older, you may have a tougher time convincing the child to proceed with theprocedure.

The Cons of Piercing Your Baby’s Ears

  1. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against piercing a baby’s ears until they are old enough to car for the piercings themselves.
  2. There is a risk of infection if the proper equipment is not sterilized.  Ear piercing guns cannot be sterilized, and if this is the case, your child will risk contracting an infection.
  1. The baby may cause infection by constantly touching the pierced ear.  As a result of the constant touching, you may need to clean the posts and the area around the ear with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide a couple times a day.  You cannot neglect this if you decide to pierce your baby’s ears especially if she likes to touch her ears.
  2. In addition to infection, you need to watch often for increased redness or tenderness around the pierced hole.  This may indicate a possible infection.
  3. Your child may be allergic to the metals in the earrings.  A good remedy would be to buy  earrings where the parts that touch her ear are made of surgical steel or 14 karat gold.
  4. If the child is able to get the earring out of their ear, they may decide to taste it and risk choking on it.
  5. Part of the earring may fall inside the earring hold and get embedded inside.  This will be harder to remove from an infant, compared to an older child or adult.

It seems there are a lot of cons to piercing a baby’s ears so young.  However, if you have decided to pierce your baby’s ears, let her pediatrician perform the procedure with a needle, wait until the baby is at least two to three months old when their immune systems are a little more mature and able to fight against mild infections.   In addition, invest in buying 14 karat gold earrings or ones that are made of surgical steel to avoid the development of a rash.