Baby ear piercing (not debate)

[kapaxiana]

Anyone know of a doctor's office that will pierce a baby's ears? I don't want to go to Claire's, or any place that uses a piercing gun... I'm trying to find a place that will do it with a needle.

Please don't turn this into a debate whether I should or should not pierce my daughter's ears. It's our choice and that is not the question here.

Thanks a lot!

[dollydaydream]

Sorry, but I have never heard of doctors office, if you mean surgery then I have never known them to do ear piercingfor children!!

[dollydaydream]

Sorry, but I have never heard of a doctors office, if you mean surgery then I have never known them to do ear piercing for children!!

[Saffron]

@dollydaydream: a doctors office is the same thing as a doctors surgery or a doctors clinic. Although, I also have never known any doctors in the UK to do ear piercing.

Kapaxiana: wouldn't most piercing shops generally do needle piercing rather than gun? I'm not sure what the difference is though? I had one set with a gun when I was 5, and one set with a needle when I was 19. No difference to me. The people at the piercing shop in Greenwich are really nice. You could call to ask if they are ok with babyies. If not, maybe they can recommend you somewhere that is?

[BellendenBear]

Why would a doctor pierce a baby's ears?

[anna_r]

Maybe it's a cultural thing. Our nanny is Hungarian and pregnant and says all baby girls have their ears pierced straight after birth so perhaps it is done by the doctor?

[new mother]

Hungary is not a country that generally provides the UK with role modelling examples.

Perhaps their systems are set up for it, if it is commonplace. It is unusual in the UK and our systems are certainly not set up to provide babies with hygienic and infection free ear piercing.

[Sol]

Drs or nurses don't pierce ears in this country. I heard of a Chemist near the post office in Peckam, which does ear piercing with a gun I think. I am waiting to do it when I go to Spain or South America, where is more common. I don't think you will find anyone who does it with the needle in the UK, unless you do it yourself. My mum did it to me with a needle and I still remember. You can buy a local anaesthetic in the chemist if you want to do it yourself.

[Saffron]

No, definitely don't do it yourself unless you are trained to pierce and have experience with babies/children. A reputable piercing shop should be able to give you advice. They will not use an anaesthetic, but they might use a cold spray instead, which actually works better than an anaesthetic. Although for ear piercing, you really don't need it. And actually, I can imagine the cold spray really freaking out a baby!

You CAN get needle piercing in the UK. Many types of piercing are done with a needle instead of a gun, for example the belly button. So anyone who is trained to needle should also be able to do the ears.

When I was pregnant I needed to change my bellybar for a flexibar so that I could keep it in place as my pregnancy belly grew. I think Shiva in Greenwich was where I got the specialty jewellery from. I remember them being really nice. You should call and ask their advice about baby ear piercing.

http://www.shivapiercings.co.uk/

But just out of curiosity, why do you not want to have it done somewhere like Claire's that uses a piercing gun? These are fast, effective and sanitary. The people that use them are trained for babies and children.

[????'s Mrs]

Genuine question Kapaxiana - how old is your baby and why do you want to get their ears pierced? This isn't meant to cause a debate - just wanted to know why you have chosen to do this.

[kapaxiana]

Firstly I would NEVER do it myself. I also wouldn't really go to a place like Claire's, I have read too many posts by people that have worked at Claire's saying that they had almost no training and were given the gun to do piercing.

A tatto parlour would probably be one of the best places to go as they are properly trained and actually extremely fast and efficient, and are required by law to use DISPOSABLE sterile needles (you should see them opening a package containing the needle), and to use a professional sterilizer for any clamps or reusable items. (and to wear gloves etc...) It may take a couple seconds longer to pierce with a needle, but someone who is experienced will still be extremely quick, and a needle piercing will cause far less trauma and swelling in the ear lobe than forcing a BLUNT stud through the ear at gun-force.

However would rather go to a place that has been recommended (Saffron thanks for the tip, will check it out) as you never know with so many dodgy places in london.

????'s Mrs - as for your questions, my baby is 4wks as of today. I am not British and it's common in my culture to have girl's ears pierced. Actually this is generally done by a trained nurse soon after the baby is born and it is the tradition that the godparents give gold earrings as a present.

When I moved to UK 9 years ago I found it really weird that most women over here only get their ears pierced later on. Whatever one grows up with is the norm.

In my own experience it is a lot easier to get it done at such young age, it heals quicker and never closes compared to piercing in later life that in most cases closes up if you spend a long time without earrings.

The earlobe is super soft in a baby and will hurt less than an injection.

Saying all of this I would like to add that back home I have never seen babies wearing hoop earrings etc.. and it is normally a small stud, I had very cute pearl studs as a baby :-)

[Saffron]

If someone has his/her ears pierced later in life, and the holes close, he/she didn't let the piercing heal long enough. A completely and properly healed piercing will never close. It is a scar in the tissue. However, if you leave the jewellery out for a long time, the hole will tighten. This would be true even if the ears were pierced in infancy, but you later removed the earrings in adulthood.

I had my first set of ear piercing done when I was 5 year old. This was in the States, so maybe the training and requirements are different? The studs used in the piercing gun were not blunt. The actually had a special needled tip which was covered by the backing of the earring to protect it from scratching once in place. And, no, it really wasn't all that painful to have done, but I do remember it being sore for a while afterwards.

I had a second set of ear piercing done when I was 19 years old. It was not b/c the first had closed. It was b/c I wanted a second set. This was done with a needle in a tattoo/piercing shop. It does take a little longer. It wasn't any more/less painful than the first.

Kapaxiana, that's a little disturbing, what you say about people at Claire's not being trained. It's no wonder you don't want to have them done there! As for the cultural difference, I have come across this too. I was raised in the the States, and it's much more common for girls to have their ears pierced there in childhood, e.g. between maybe 4 and 12 years old. I was surprised to find that many of my British girl friends didn't have their ears pierced until they were in their late teens. In contrast, my father-in-law's carer from (west?) Africa thought my baby was a boy b/c her ears weren't pierced! We're not having Little Saff's ears pierced until she is old enough to ask for it herself, but at the same time, I'm not against other people doing it to their baby girls (or boys).

Hope you find somewhere nice and have a good experience. Please let us know where you end up going and how it all works out! xx

[nikki73]

No hard evidence of this but I suspect that in most cultures girls have their ears pierced as babies. Just like in a lot of cultures babies aren't in bed at 7 sharp, co-sleep etc.

[KalamityKel]

The idea that Claire's staff are not trained in piercing is just silly. They are.

Many, after their initial training continue to practise on other members of staff.

There's no real advantage or disadvantage over which method, needle or gun, is best just individual choice. At such a young age wee bubba wont remember the experience later in life anyway.

[Kimmy1080]

Claire's were amazing with my five year old - they used two 'trained' staff to pierce both ears with needle guns at the same time which was brilliant. A few weeks later, I went back to take a family friend. There was only one member of staff who was 'trained' so she could only do one ear at a time out. I was told the other member of staff on shift had not yet completed her training. So I guess they do take this very seriously.

With saying that, Claire's will not pierce the ears of babies under four months.

Hope this helps.

[kapaxiana]

TBH I dont know anyone who h?s been to Claire's, my opinion is based on what I have read online especially the ones from pp saying they worked at Claire's and had almost no training etc.. I would probably be alright if I was talking about a 5 y.o but just don't feel right taking a baby to have it done at Claire's..

Thank you for your replies, I almost didn't post because it can be a 'hot' subject... Some pp just don't understand and fair enough I get it.. We have decided to wait until october and have it done back home, she will be 4 months then and I will feel more secure having it done by someone who does it all the time..

[Pickle]

Having had piercings in the past with both a gun and a needle I would definitely go for the needle option again (if I decide to revisit my past love of piercing, but I think I'm a bit middle aged now).

Sounds like a good decision to get it done when you're back in your home country, if it's a common cultural thing to have done I too would feel more secure having it done there.

Good luck!

[ae]

I'm with Pickle.

Having had my ears pierced with a gun in Claire's when I was about 14 and then again in later life (because they closed over when I didn't wear earrings for a while) along with a bunch of other piercings, at a proper piercing place, please please please, if you're going to get pierced at any age, don't get it done with a gun.

A clean, sterile, very sharp needle used by a professional doesn't hurt for long, and creates a clean wound which heals easily and quickly, and the choice of fitting (usually a closed ball hoop) promotes healing. With a gun, a blunt stud is fired through the tissue and tears it, creating a bigger lump of scar tissue, and it is much more painful and slower to heal, particularly because the butterfly commonly used to hold the stud in place doesn't allow air to the wound. Yes, it may be a bit more expensive, but I think it's worth the extra cost, especially where children are concerned.

I got all of my needle piercings done at a place in Camden, and they were fantastic, but I have a feeling that for insurance reasons, you won't find any piercing places in London who will work on such a small baby, so your only option may be to have it done in your home country.

[srisky]

It's very common in the asian community to pierce the ears of baby girls. So, you may have some luck looking in areas that have a large asian population e.g. East Ham, Southall, Wembley. I have no personal experience so can't offer any recommendations but perhaps pharamcies in these areas may provide such services to a high standard (I would hope).

[sunbob]

I had my ears pierced at the doctors in my home town (80 miles away sorry) so service definately exists at. least. They used a tiny one use stapler type thing, so very hygenic.

[Loli]

I found a lady in Surrey that does it, shes a medical tattooist and has a very sterile environment. She uses a gun but a speacial gun that is the same as piercing with a needle, so its very quick, she explains and shows you the different guns and why she brings her piercing supplies from America for babies. She also uses numbing cream so it doesnt hurt. Also, this is probably besides the point but because she comes from a culture that has ear piercings at birth, she is happy to do this, she told me that her own ears were done at the hospital on the day she was born. Shes in Harley St as well but gets very booked up there (and charges double for the same service). I paid ?25 plus ?3.50 for the solution but it was worth it to have a professional who clearly knew what she was doing. The numbing cream alone made it worth it! Have a look at their website. www.dermaeraze.co.uk