Ear piercing experience of my daughter

Recently in our puja vacation i got my 18 month old baby's ears pierced. It was a well thought decision taken in advance, before we left Allahabad for the puja vacation in our hometown Jalpaiguri.  I could have got it done it a few months later also, but then i would have missed the comfort of getting it done at a friends ladies parlour in our hometown !  I had to come back to Allahabad immediately after Durga Puja.

After 2 weeks of ear piercing

IS 18 MONTH AN APPROPRIATE AGE FOR EAR PIERCING ???

In my childhood, my parents got my ear pierced at home when i was around 5-6 years old. It was a painful experience for me at that tender age, i still remember the experience! Elders in my society say ideally it should be done at around 2-3 years age of the child - the more you delay, the more painful is the experience. 

Doctors believe ear piercing is safe any time after the 2nd dose of DPT as the vaccine can fight the signs of tetanus. Somewhere i read that in Spain and Latin america, ear piercing in girls are done right at birth, as its a custom to do so in their culture. So i would say there is no specific age for ear piercing  - it is done in varied age group as per parent's choice, culture and convenience.  

WHERE TO GET IT DONE - AT HOME OR AT BEAUTY PARLOUR ??

Even in today's generation, majority of us relay on at-home-piercing practice usually done by the elders of the family. Most of us prefer it as it is often found a tried & tested method followed by generations after generation. However, many parents are now preferring ear piercing at ladies parlours as there, it is done through gun shots within a fraction-of-second and it is absolutely a pain-free less experience for the child. No matter wherever we do the piercing, we should ensure that the piercing material is sterile.

EAR PIERCING DONE - WHAT NEXT ??

After piercing, one can tie a thread in the earlobe. However, i would personally prefer a thin thread like gold ring or pin shaped ear ring. Actually whatever material we put into the newly pierced ears - we should ensure that it is not removed at least for a month, otherwise the thin whole in the earlobe may again fill up. During this period, antibacterial ointment prescribed by the doctors should be applied twice daily and the earring should be twisted slowly slowly everyday. After bath the earlobe should be wiped properly so the area doesn't remain damp. Any signs of infection like discharge, swelling, redness, bleeding, pain should be checked up regularly. When changing over the earring, try to opt for gold earrings, because gold never react with skin to create allergy.

baby's earrings should be small, round and flat as dangling earrings can hurt the earlobe if it is caught in cloths, mom's jewelry or the baby herself has a habit of pulling her earrings accidentally.

HOW WAS RAIMA's EXPERIENCE...

I preferred late afternoon appointment for Raima's ear piercing season in my friends palour, because this is the time when usually most of the parlours remain quite and calm with a very few persons inside the house. The timing had a beautiful effect on my daughter, she was quite and in playful mind. The expert applied a local anesthesia on Raima's earlobe and let her wait for 3-4 mins. Raima was oblivious to what was going to happen. After the wait period was over, she pointed a dot on each earlobe, placed the piercing gun. A small stone stud was there in the ear-ring adaptar, one trigger and the earring was on Raima's earlobe! I was more nervous than Raima thinking how will she react, will she allow to pierce second earlobe or cry hard... but to my surprise she just got little frightened with the "Thak" sound of the trigger but didn't cry at all !! While piercing the second earlobe, the expert gave a toy to Raima to distract her from the activity and the second piercing too got very well.

A piercing gun

Image source :here

When I came back home, Raima was all smiling and telling her dadaji in her sweet baby voice that in the ears she has worn 'dulu dulu...'. So cute.... Well, her earlobes turned slightly reddish when we returned home, so i applied "neosporin" antibacterial ointment and let her play as usual. She was playing actively, no sign of pain or any discomfort, i was so relieved. I continued with the ointment for the next 2 days. On 3rd day, Raima pulled out and removed one earring from her earlobe while playing, may be due some kind of discomfort. After a thought, i removed the other one too. I feared the rear point of the pin shaped ear ring may hurt her while sleeping. I applied little ointment on the ears and was thinking that i've to find an alternate shaped ear ring for my baby. Finally i chose a small round shaped gold earring for her. Through out the first week i noticed pin-dot sized discharge from each earlobe, on which i continued to apply the ointment after careful cleaning every day. From the second week onward, the pierced area showed signs of healing, but i kept applying the ointment once a day to avoid any possible infections.

Note: Information given here are a collective note of self study and personal experience with my baby. Pediatrician should always be consulted before taking any decision regarding baby and her health related issues.