Why drill a baby's ears?

Why drill a baby’s ears?

In some countries, like Spain, it is tradition to pierced the ears of little girls at birth, when they are still babies. At the other extreme, in Great Britain, a petition is currently running calling for parents to ban their children’s ears before they reach a certain age. So the debate is raging.

Between these two positions, the decision whether or not to drill their little girl’s ears is always up to the parents. Some do it to mark femininity, for aesthetic needs, to wear family jewelry… Many parents don’t question this practice. Those who do not break their babies ears talk about a skin barrier break-in that would be an open door to infections. It is indeed an act that can get complicated and cause sepsis.

Others don’t want to impose unnecessary pain on their little one. Indeed, the fact that baby doesn’t complain doesn’t mean he doesn’t hurt. Other parents are afraid of piercing. Healing doesn’t always happen smooth and it can be worrying.

Is drill baby’s ears hurt?

Pain is one of the first brakes for parents whether or not pierced their baby’s ears. Whether it’s in an adult or a child, a piercing has to cause pain. We then keep a memory of it or not. Some people have a very vivid memory of their pain and traumas, and will be able to relive them years later.

A baby getting his ears pierced is not yet able to understand and understand how he feels. However, he’s definitely in pain for a while. It will hurt even more if the wound has trouble healing or, eventually, an infection sets.

Does drill baby ears cause infection?

Drill a baby or child’s ears is not a minor act. This is an intervention on the body that leads to a break of the skin barrier. Therefore, it can potentially cause an infection that itself can get worse. Luckily this is not always the case when it is done in the right conditions.

Two types of infections should be prevented:

1 / The viral infection. It happens when the equipment used by the professional does not comply with all hygiene measures. This may be an infection due, most often, to a hepatitis virus.

2 / Bacterial infection. It occurs due to a lack of material sterilization, but also a lack of care on the wound. It is usually caused by strep or staph. This type of infection is complicated into sepsis or infection of the ear cartilage.

Drill baby’s ears, in addition to being an assault on already sensitive skin, also means opening a door to microbes. They are going to infiltrate an organization with minimal and immature defenses. If the child is resistant, there will be no damage. Otherwise, we will have to plan for antibiotic treatment.

Drill baby ears: where and at what age?

While there is no legislation on minimum age to get a child’s ears pierced, many pediatricians will try to do so before the child is at least 2 years old.

Even at this age, opinions differ greatly from both the medical and parents and especially moms who have all experienced it in a different way. Again, the decision is made in relation to one’s own experience.

With respect to the place, a jeweler is usually directed to a jeweler, but not all of them accept or are not equipped to do so, in any case rarely on children under the age of 3 or 4 It is important to check the material used by a piercer, his habits and cleanliness of his local, in order to avoid infectious consequences.

Drill baby ears: the care to be taken

Choose carefully where you will get your child’s ears pierced: make sure the professional has a specific place to perform the intervention with impeccable hygiene of the equipment used.

  • Choose quality earrings, made of hypoallergenic (preferably gold) material, to avoid the risk of allergies and infection. The stem (i. e the part that goes through the lobe of the ear) must also be fine enough not to hinder the child and allow for faster healing. Finally, make sure the tip of the stem is rounded to avoid injury in the back of the ear.

  • Baby earrings must be as simple as possible to avoid any risk of being ripped off by hanging in clothing or bedding.

  • Watch your child in the weeks following the intervention so that you can detect a possible infection as soon as possible. Also remember that, very often jewelry is forbidden in daycare and school so it would be unfortunate to pierced the ears of a little girl who could not then wear earrings.

Mary Danielle Auguste