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Infant ear piercing -- where to do in the District?
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Anonymous
| I would like to get my 9 month old's ears pierced and live in DC (near Chinatown). Am seeking recommendations on a good place to get it done, as our pediatrician does not do it. I've read some older threads on here and it sounded like people generally like Claire's (I know there's one in Union Station and at Pentagon City), but I wanted to see if that is still public opinion, or if you have other recommendations to offer. Please do not turn this thread into a debate on the merits of baby ear piercing. I had mine done at 3 months and I somehow managed to survive so I'm confident DD will do the same. |
Anonymous
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My SIL has two girls. She recommends going to something like Claire's because they are incredibly well-practiced. I'm expecting a DD and plan on following her advice. When I had a procedure to repair a tear in my earlobe [Ripped it answering a phone at a temp job while wearing big hoop earrings. Ouch! I know.], the plastic surgeon was incredibly, incredibly reluctant to re-pierce the ear afterward because of how tricky it would be to achieve symmetry. The good folks at the mall don't seem to have a problem getting this done...several times a day. Hopefully another poster will be able to give you a good referral to someone in particular. |
Anonymous
| My DD's cousin just had hers done at Claire's. They were happy and opted to have both ears done at the same time to get it over with quickly. |
Anonymous
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Ask your ped - some do it in their offices, or will tell you where to get it done. Some people get it done at the plastic surgeon's office.
I know you didn't ask for a lecture- but do you have any issues with contact dermatitis in the family? In my family people tend to pierce ears early, but I'm not piercing my daughter's because early piercing can trigger allergic reactions to metals. I have horrible allergies to metal and got my ears pierced early...and now I rarely wear earrings or other jewelry because the only jewelry that doesn't cause a reaction is 22k gold. I can't wear cute, casual jewelry at all. Anyhow, one more reason to ask the ped for a referral; if it doesn't run in your family you're probably good to go, but I just thought I'd throw it out there in case your DH's family does have a history of allergies. When I do take my daughter to get pierced, I'll probably take her to a proper piercing studio rather than claire's, where they are trained for a couple of hours and that's it. Also, they can pierce with a needle rather than just shoving the post into the earlobe with the gun - piercing with the needle causes less tissue damage, is less painful, and heals more quickly. I bet your ped/plastic surgeon would do it this way as well. |
Anonymous
Anything upper-middle class white people don't do is ghetto, right? |
Anonymous
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Ear piercing on babies is not my thing, but I won't go into that...
DO NOT go to Claire's or any of the other mall type piercing places. Reusable piercing guns cannot be properly sterilized between people (swabbing it with alcohol does not count). Most piercing guns have plastic components and therefore cannot go in a autoclave to be sterilized. Piercing guns also cause trauma to the earlobe by pinching it so tightly. A body piercing/tattoo place is (surprisingly) where you want to go. Everything is sterile; the tools/equipment used are either disposable or, if they can be re-used, they are autoclaved between people. The people there are trained and licensed by the state, which is not true for places like Claire's. So, if you're going to do it, find a place that uses a completely disposable gun, or go to a body piercing place. I had my ears pierced in both types of settings and the piercing done in the body piercing healed so much faster and didn't hurt nearly as much as the one done with a piercing gun. Also, don't use alcohol to clean the piercing afterwards, it is very harsh on the skin and dries it out. I'm not thrilled with the name of this site, but it has good info about why piercing guns are bad. You can do a google search and find many other sites with the same message. http://www.homiegfunk.com/gunssuck.htm |
Anonymous
| why would you want to do that? I don't get it. A little kid should not wear jewelry. |
Anonymous
| While I'm not super into the idea of piercing a child's ears, I second a body piercing outfit. My husband has his ears pierced and was totally adamant that it happen in an upscale piercing studio. When I went with him, I understood. They were INCREDIBLY anal retentive about HYPER sterilizing EVERYTHING everywhere. I got my ears done at Claire's and it was not like that. At all. |
Anonymous
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on the metal allergy thing BBBBBSSSSSSSS!
they ask for vax records for this reason, to make sure kiddo was stabbed by metal before and had no allergies. I can only wear 22 or 24k yellow gold (not even white or red) and got my ears pierced at age 15. OP just do it now at a piercing studio. |
Anonymous
Because in our culture, the more jewelry you put on the child it means how much you love them. |
Anonymous
This was my experience getting pierced at a piercing studio. However, the one I went to did not pierce anyone under 18 because they viewed piercing as a form of self-mutilation, and believed that children couldn't consent to that. Interesting. (I'm not opposed to piercing under 18, but I would definitely call and ask.) For the hygiene reasons mentioned above (autoclave v. alcohol swab) I will only take my DD to a piercing studio, not Claire's. |
Anonymous
My cousin is allergic to gold. She found out when she had her ears pierced. OP, if your pediatrician won't do it, find one who will. |
Anonymous
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there's no allergy to gold. the Allergy Is to the crap they mix into the gold sold in the US.
back home every little girl leaves the hospital with earrings and we never hear of allergies. the gold there is at least 18k. |
Anonymous
| I pierced my girls ears at 6 months in the Claires in Wheaton Plaza and Montgomery Mall. Our ped in the district) said she would do it but Claires does a lot more and was much cheaper. Both girls were fine and just thave small gold balls. |
Anonymous
| what culture (and where is "back home") that the PPs are referring to? Genuinely curious, not throwing stones. |