As a parent, having your child’s first ear piercings done can seem like a potentially stressful event to undertake, but in truth, it is such a rewarding experience for everyone involved when done properly and handled tactfully. It’s impossible to guarantee that everything will go perfectly and smoothly – especially when it comes to kids, as any parent knows – but there are steps you can take to make it much more likely that it does.

So… your child has started bringing up ear piercings, now what?

Make sure they genuinely want their ears pierced.

• Are they asking for ear piercings, and not just expressing curiosity about them? They should be rather explicitly asking for ear piercings, and they should be asking on their own without any pressure or coaching. If they need coaxed and aren’t asking for the piercings on their own, they’re not ready to get them.

Make sure they understand what getting their ears pierced entails.

• The piercings themselves will hurt – the pain is minimal and over fast, but there is a pinch. Telling your child that the piercings won’t hurt can have undesirable outcomes and set them up for failure.
• They have to follow cleaning and aftercare instructions. This means they need to be able to keep hands and fingers off the piercings while they’re healing, and they need to tolerate parents cleaning the jewelry and piercings for them when necessary.

Find a professional piercer who performs children’s ear lobe piercings.

• Read this blog post explaining how to find a reputable piercer.
• Some piercers do not offer piercings to minors or have a certain age limit. Once you’ve found a piercer, reach out and make sure that they perform ear piercings on children your child’s age.

Consider consulting with your piercer ahead of time.

• If you or your child have any concerns, it can be helpful to have a consultation with the piercer before moving forward with the piercings. This can save time on the day of the actual piercings by making sure any questions you have are answered beforehand, that way your child doesn’t have to spend more time anticipating the piercings than needed. If nothing else, meeting with or talking to the piercer can make everybody feel more comfortable with each other when it’s time for the piercings to be performed. At the end of the day, kids will be nervous when getting their first piercings no matter what. Proper preparation for both the parent and child will make the event less stressful for everyone.

Keep it calm and simple on the day of the piercings.

• Schedule an appointment to ensure that the piercer can give you their full, undivided attention and to minimize potential distractions.
• Make sure they’ve eaten a good meal before coming in to get their ears pierced but avoid high sugar snacks and drinks so that they’re not jumpy and anxious.
• As it is, getting their first ear piercings is a huge and overwhelming event for kids. Try not to make it more overwhelming by bringing every family member and friend who wants to be there to support them; it sounds nice in theory, but it’s usually more overstimulating and distracting than helpful.

After you and the piercer have gotten your child through the piercings, be sure to adhere to the piercer’s aftercare instructions to increase the likelihood of a quick, easy healing process and follow up as recommended.

Piercing should be a positive, exciting, and empowering experience for anyone getting pierced. In order to keep it that way, it is important to start off the right way with your child’s first piercings. Hopefully, this information makes it a little bit easier to make that possible. Good luck and enjoy those new piercings!