How old was your DD when you pierced her ears?

MeadowsLane

Wed, Feb 23 2011, 10:22 pm

Thank you everyone for your replies. I have two older boys and dd is 5 weeks old. I dont have a lot of girls in our family, so I appreciate your input! From all of the replies it seems that earlier is better.

Tova

Wed, Feb 23 2011, 10:48 pm

Do I win the contest in the other direction? I'm 30 and don't have pierced ears embarrassed

...I was always too scared/ squeamish to get it done (of course, after laboring and delivering two kids, one with a big epidural needle no less my tolerance level has probrably changed). My daughter is now over two kn"h and honestly piercing her ears has never been on my radar. I would take her to get it done in a heartbeat if/when she asks I think.

tikva18

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 12:27 am

After much discussion we did my dd at 4 1/2 yrs - she really wanted it done and people recommended that we 'get it over with'.
It took a long time for her ears to heal though. She's now been wearing the same earrings since after Shavuos (so about 9months).

shnitzel

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 12:51 am

My daughter is almost two and I have been pushing it off since she was born. She knows getting earrings is "ow". Do you think it is crazy to get ears pierced at about two?

mom & more

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 12:08 pm

Both my daughters had their ears pierced by approx a week old - I think it gives these cute little babies a girly look (My boys look like girls too!! - the only reason I know the dif bet pics of ds &dd is because of the earrings)

leowald

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 12:08 pm

6 years old. My husband actually wanted her to wait until she got older, but after my birth of her third brother (no sisters) I convinced him that she deserved it!

Leora
Jewish Cards .com

mommyla

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 1:40 pm

In LA, they pierce ears in the hospital for free. So every single Mexican baby has earrings. To me, all babies with pierced ears (unless they are really light) just look Mexican...
No daughters yet - but I got mine pierced when I was 6. I was old enough to want them and to understand that I needed to take care of them, and my mother thought I was responsible enough. And it barely hurts - if you're afraid of a kid freaking out after the first one, there are some places that'll do both at the same time.

rovacat

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 1:44 pm

I wanted my girls to wait until they were older so they could earn it and really appreciate it. but for some reason my dh got this thing into his head all of a sudden on erev pesach of all days to get their ears pierced. it was really noon time before pesach, and he took them out and got their ears pierced. it was cute in the end. I thought it was sweet that he even cared so much that they had pierced ears. they were around 4 or 5. it was hard getting them to sit down every day to twist the earings and they screamed from the alchohol.
but now I'm happy that it's done with and they loooove their earrings. I just took them out last week and bought them each a new pair. they felt so special.

flowerpower

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 2:24 pm

I will never understand why you feel the need to wait for your daughter to ask for it or want it. It adds so much personality and gives a feminine look to them.

Ruchel

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 2:27 pm

Not all hashkafos encourage it at all, that's a reason.
Second reason is, it can be painful or get infected, so why inflict it on someone who doesn't ask for it?
Third reason, at school some nasty kids pull on them.

I personally think it looks very weird on a baby.

saw50st8

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 2:32 pm

Tova wrote:

Do I win the contest in the other direction? I'm 30 and don't have pierced ears embarrassed

Its really no big deal (from someone who had hers pierced at a few months old, and then added 3 regular holes as a teenager plus a cartiledge piercing). I think the anticipation of them bringing the gun to your ear is worse than the pinch you feel.

saw50st8

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 2:33 pm

flowerpower wrote:

I will never understand why you feel the need to wait for your daughter to ask for it or want it. It adds so much personality and gives a feminine look to them.

Its also effectively cosmetic surgery of sorts.

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 2:39 pm

saw50st8 wrote:

flowerpower wrote:

I will never understand why you feel the need to wait for your daughter to ask for it or want it. It adds so much personality and gives a feminine look to them.

Its also effectively cosmetic surgery of sorts.

Agreed. I wouldn't prohibit my daughter from having it done, but it is a permanent decision and not one to be made lightly.

In my whole life I have only seen maybe one or two Jewish babies with pierced ears - to be honest, I'm surprised by many of the responses on this thread.

cassandra

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 2:44 pm

saw50st8 wrote:

flowerpower wrote:

I will never understand why you feel the need to wait for your daughter to ask for it or want it. It adds so much personality and gives a feminine look to them.

Its also effectively cosmetic surgery of sorts.

Yes, I have pierced ears, and so does my mother but my grandmother (paternal) was against it, so her daughters didn't have. I grew up hearing that it was a "barbaric" practice, which made me want to give my own daughters a choice.

Meanwhile, my first daughter asked when she was.....THREE. So I did it then. My second daughter asked when she was just under two. I refused to do it then, and I made her wait until her third birthday. I don't think they were fully volitional at those ages, but neither of them seem to regret their decisions. But should they one day say something, I can at least say "it was your choice"