When is it ok to pierce my daughter's ears?

Many parents choose to pierce their baby’s ears as soon as they are born, while others think it’s a good idea to wait until the child is old enough to understand how to properly care for pierced ears. At any age, getting a child’s ears pierced has the same risks.

A young child with pierced ears will tend to touch the piercings more which can lead to infection if bacteria enter the new piercing. An older child will be less likely to touch or play with the piercing. Alternatively, if you pierce a newborn’s ears, they will not touch the piercing because they cannot use their hands yet. In a newborn or an older child, you will still have to clean the area a few times per day with alcohol or peroxide until the piercing heals.

The only other risk to piercing the ears of a child of any age is the chance that they will be allergic to metal. To help eliminate this risk, make sure that the earrings or posts are made of a high quality surgical steel or gold. In some cases, there could be an allergic reaction to nickel which is present in higher quality metals. If this is the case, your child will have to wear earrings that contain no nickel or you can remove the earrings and let the piercings heal closed.