Children’s Ear Piercings, What’s the Best Option?
We had something very exciting happen this week. Our 4yr old got her ears pierced! She was so excited and has waited months for this big event.
I did a lot of research and looked into our options, so I just wanted to share what I found and our experience, in case there are other parents looking into getting their child’s ears pierced.
There are not a lot of options when it comes to children's ear piercings. It seems like you can either do it affordably or very expensive.
And of course with a cheaper option, you run the risk of potential injury or infection. Which is definitely not something you want to subject your sweet child to. So I just wanted to share the options we had and what we ended up doing.
The Options
Claire’s
By far the most affordable option but you know how the saying goes “You get what you pay for”. Piercings are available for any age, as long as a parent is there to sign.
The piercings are technically “free” with the purchase of an earring starter kit. The cheapest options are $27 with a standard solution or $39 with the rapid cleanser. And that’s just a plain stainless steel 3mm ball, as the absolute lowest price.
These are supposed to be administered by a “certified piercing specialist” but they’re still Claire’s employees, not trained piercing technicians. Yes they are “trained” but not in the medical sense like a professional piercer.
I just don’t trust that for a young child. As an adult, I have definitely gone this route for a more affordable piercing for myself, but not for a wiggly, nervous child under 8.
Claire’s uses a piercing gun which is more painful than a needle. It also takes longer to heal.
They pierce one side at a time. Traditional piercing guns cannot be sterilized properly nor are they done in a sterile piercing environment. So, you run the risk of infection.
If you’re thinking of taking your child to get their ears pierced at Claire’s, I would be highly cautious. There are better, safer options out there.
Piercing Pagoda
Going to a mall kiosk for your child’s ear piercing is another option. Any age can have the piercing, you just need a parent/guardian there & signature.
There are affordable options here, you still get a “free” piercing with the purchase of the earrings & cleaner. This is anywhere from $30 up to $160 for the earrings alone. For the absolute cheapest price of $45, for basic stud earrings & cleaner.
You can make an appointment to have two piercers so your child can get both ears done at the same time. This minimizes fear & trauma.
Keep in mind they are still using a piercing gun and the environment is not sterile, but they are trained to pierce ears and only do piercings. So that’s a plus! Not a bad option, but maybe not necessarily the best choice.
Body Piercing Shop
A piercing shop or tattoo parlor that offers piercings is going to have an age limit starting at 8yrs old for children's ear piercings. This is in the child’s favor to more accurately confirm consent.
That limits this option for younger kids wanting to get their ears pierced. I personally wouldn’t want to take a 5yr old in a tattoo shop anyway, but it is something to consider.
They do use a needle, which is supposed to be less painful and heal quicker. Piercing shops will definitely give the best treatment, in a safe and sterile environment but you might have to wait based on age.
Any reputable piercing shop/tattoo shop should have a sterile environment as well as sterile equipment, making it the safest option for piercings but it is going to cost you.
The prices at our local piercing shop are so expensive, even for a simple ear lobe piercing. At our shop, ONE earlobe ends up being $65 plus tax, so double that for 2 ears.
$35 for the piercing fee, $30 for the absolute cheapest hypoallergenic stainless steel earrings. $130!! That’s an insane amount of money for a kid to get their earlobes pierced. Fancy, more invasive piercings are less than that!
And don’t forget, you should tip your piercer if they did a good job - bringing that cost up 15-20%.
Pediatrician Dr. office
Check and see if your kid’s pediatrician offers children’s ear piercings. They offer them for children of all ages with a parent present.
Our office does them for $50. Piercing & earrings included. No extra fees/products. They only had one selection of earrings to choose from which was a bummer for my daughter but you can always get new earrings later.
They do use a piercing gun but it is medical grade and the earrings are in individual sterilized packets.
The earrings are made of medical grade plastic. This makes aftercare much easier and has a quicker healing time than metal piercings.
You also have the added comfort of knowing the procedure is done by a medical professional, in a guaranteed sterile environment and used with sterile equipment. The doctor will also know your child’s history and any allergies since they are a patient there.
Some doctors will use a numbing gel which helps with the pain of the initial piercing. I think that’s a genius idea for a child’s piercing. Why doesn’t everyone do that?
*This is the option we went with!*
When considering our other options were $30 in an unsafe environment at Claire’s or basically $50 at Piercing Pagoda in the mall, two piercers yes, but still an unsterile environment and equipment, we thought going to our pediatricians office was the best plan.
We also got a much better pair of earrings for her piercing than we would have got if we went with one of the cheaper options trying to save money.
My daughter does have some allergies and although I did not think it would affect her piercing, it was comforting that one of the doctors in the practice was the one piercing her ears. The reassurance was invaluable.
The Prep
There wasn’t a lot of prep for getting my daughter ready for her piercing. The main thing was making sure she was ready.
I asked her several times in the months since turning 4 if she was sure she wanted to get her ears pierced. She said she was and when I made the appointment (2 weeks out) I told her when it was and verified again.
Before her appointment, I showed her a video of a little girl getting her ears pierced at a Drs office (since that’s where we decided to go) so she would know what to expect. We watched it 2x and she was excited.
I braided her hair out of her face and away from her ears. I did not want her long hair getting in the way of the piercings.
I also told her if she was able to go through with it and get both piercings, we would go out for a treat. And she could get whatever she wanted for being brave.
Some recommend using a local numbing cream or gel (or even ice) on their earlobes before their piercing appointment to numb the nerve endings. I wasn’t sure if our Drs office was going to do that so I did not, but I think it could definitely be helpful, especially for young children.
The Visit
A nurse cleaned her ears with alcohol swabs and made the dots on her ears for where the earrings would go.
The Dr showed her the earrings, the piercing gun and “popped” it so my daughter could hear the sound it would make by her ear and see there was no needle. She had some “rules” for getting piercings too. Her rules were simple.
One: No squirming. You have to sit very still so the piercing goes in the right spot and you’re not injured. Two: If you get one piercing, you have to go through with the other one. Pirates have 1 piercing, Princesses have 2 piercings.
This was a cute, age appropriate way to get her to understand the importance of being still and following through with both piercings. After the first piercing, I could tell it hurt a little and we quickly took a selfie and showed her the pretty earring in her ear.
She was distracted enough and ready for the second one, I held her hand and the Dr quickly did that one and we were done. She didn’t even cry!
I kept reassuring her how brave and what a big girl she was and how proud of her I was. We took a little video so she could see her new earrings. She loved them and was excited to show them off.
We got her a slushie and french fries from McDonald’s and she said after about 10 minutes they didn’t hurt anymore.
This was the absolute best case scenario! She usually cries after getting shots but there is no sparkly pretty incentive after a shot. Plus that pain can linger, with this professional piercing, there was minimal pain.
The Dr said after 6 weeks we can change her piercings if we want, so I’m going to continue using the medical grade plastic earrings and get the ones she originally wanted (pictured below).
They say to give earlobes a year to fully heal so we’ll probably continue to switch out the two earrings until a year has passed. Here are some other kids hypoallergenic earrings I’m looking forward to getting her.
As always, this was our experience and my personal opinion. We did what was best for us, given our options.
If you feel differently, that is totally fine. I hope this information was helpful in deciding how to get your children’s ear piercings and what’s the best option for your family. Save this post if you’re still in the process of deciding what to do.
If you feel comfortable sharing, I would love to hear your experiences with getting your child’s ears pierced. What age they were, where you went and how the experience went. It may help other parents in deciding what route to go for their child.
