Infant Earrings/Toddler Earrings

Many parents want their little girls to have pierced ears very young for cultural or aesthetic reasons. If you decide to do it, our pediatrician advised to wait until after our baby received her first two tetanus shots (so after about four months, if your pediatrician follows the same immunization schedule). Our pediatrician offers ear piercing as a service (not paid for by insurance, because it’s a cosmetic procedure). We were happy to pay him the $75 to do it, which is more than the teenager at the mall would charge, but, yes, my piece of my mind for extra cleanliness is worth it with my baby!

Mommy thinks you should leave those little gold studs that the piercing gun puts in her ears for as long as possible. They tell you to leave them in for at least 30 days, I think, and then that she should wear only 14K earrings for the first year that she has pierced ears (so 17 months old for my daughter since she was five months when she was pierced). Okay, after your little angel discovers her beautiful earrings, she is going to want to play with them and yank them out. Of course you need to be careful for the obvious choking hazard of little earrings in her mouth.

Mommy has had a helluva time finding 14K infant/toddler earrings that will stay on and are affordable. Target sells little girl earrings in their jewelry department and they are the most affordable I’ve found outside of bidding on random things on eBay. Look for the ones that say “safety back” on them. These push on (good for the squirmy little girls) but they have to twist them off. And, oh yes, a curious toddler WILL twist them off. This is very entertaining to them when they’re trying to put themselves to sleep. Mommy also likes the little gold hoops that don’t have a poky earring back to bother her and remind her that she has earrings on. Problem is that those chubby little toddler fingers can fit into the little hoops and pull them out. *sigh*

Mommy had the most luck with these little gold studs found on ebay that screwed on, but the back was a teeny tiny little ball. So the thing looked like a little gold barbell with a tiny gold stud on each side. It took forever to put them on, though, because the teeny tiny little ball back kept slipping out of my fingers. But my little girl had those suckers in for at least six months before her determined little hands was able to figure out how to twist them off. Lots of the little girl earrings I found on eBay were expensive compared to old standby Target which doesn’t charge for shipping. But, of course, eBay inventory changes constantly, as do prices, so good luck and keep searching!

Since it's been over one year since my daughter's piercing, I don't have to put the gold ones in all the time anymore. Last time I was at my local mall, I broke down and went into Claire's and bought some cheapo studs. I know, I know, we all think "only the best for my baby", but you know, after she loses another earring every couple days, I need to start budgeting for cheaper earrings. I think I paid $9.50 for a card of nine pairs of earrings. I bought ones from the "sensitive solultions" line and they look like a steel post with the decorative stud.