at what age will your local piercing/tattoo parlor pierce ears?

[AnnieW625]

So Dd1 is getting her ears pierced for her 10th birthday and I decided to go to a piercing shop. I called one near me and they won't do kids under 16, and read another Yelp review of another well regarded shop, and again they won't pierce kids under the age of 16. Both websites have anti piercing gun messages on them and so far I have only found two places who are in a 20 mile radius of my house that will pierce kids, one is a member of safepiercing.org. If you don't want kids getting pierced with guns why don't you pierce kids ears under 16?! Sort of a gripe I guess, but I never thought this would be an issue and while CA highly regulates this industry, but I can't find an answer is to why one shop will and the others won't. The two shops that won't are just piercing parlors.

[Pear]

I spent just a little time looking around for professional kids ear piercing. I was told that kids aren't even allowed into the building. Still haven't been able to figure out if it is state law or just store policy. Either way, a piercing gun appears to be our only option if DD wants her ears pierced.

[acmom]

Our local tattoo parlor/piercing place did DD's this year at 7. I just needed her birth certificate and my ID and to make a specific appt since only 1 person does it. I think they start at 6? There are a couple other ones in the area and I think only one won't do kids.

[georgiegirl]

Our place doesn't have an age, but the kid needs to be able to communicate his/her genuine desire to have he ears pierced, like 6-8 years old.

[TwinFoxes]

Do your pediatricians not pierce ears? That's where I had mine done, and my kids' ped pierces ears, as did their former ped. I think piercing parlors have an undeserved positive reputation.

[dowlinal]

Mine were 6 & 8 when the local piercing place pierced their ears. It even had people identified as kid friendly. My girls had to tell them they wanted it, but they were excited so it was a non-issue.

[wendibird22]

My DD1 was 7 last summer when we took her to a local tattoo and piercing place.


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[ray7694]

Curious why is a piercing gun bad? Is it less likely to get infected? My dd got infected when we had them pierced with a gun.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Curious why is a piercing gun bad? Is it less likely to get infected? My dd got infected when we had them pierced with a gun.

Less damaging to the tissue


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[KrisM]

Do your pediatricians not pierce ears? That's where I had mine done, and my kids' ped pierces ears, as did their former ped. I think piercing parlors have an undeserved positive reputation.

Ours does not, but a few around here do. But they said they do them 3-4 times a year only.

DD got hers at 6 at a tattoo place by the piercer there. I've heard there is now an age limit that is higher.

[squimp]

DD had hers done at the local tattoo/piercing shop last year when she was 12. They did a great job, were very concerned about safety, and my DD had no problems whatsoever. One friend went to Claire's with the gun and had a lot of trouble, eventually having to get them pierced again, so we wanted to avoid that.

[BunnyBee]

Check your state/local laws. I found a piercing place where the owner did them only during certain days and times. Any studio that also does tattoos is out by state law. No one under 18 admitted.

[kali]

So Dd1 is getting her ears pierced for her 10th birthday and I decided to go to a piercing shop. I called one near me and they won't do kids under 16, and read another Yelp review of another well regarded shop, and again they won't pierce kids under the age of 16. Both websites have anti piercing gun messages on them

I had the exact same experience with piercing shops when trying to get my DD's ears pierced. Eventually I took her to a doctor, but it was a nurse who did it and she used a piercing gun--go figure. They didn't seem to take any special precaution against infection either. We probably would have been better off going to a Claire's where they do multiple piercings every day. It certainly would have been cheaper.

[jerigirl]

A few pediatric offices near me use the Blomdahl medical grade piercing system. You probably have to google your town and Blomdahl USA. I didn't see a link listing doctors using the system.
http://www.blomdahlusa.com/

[jerigirl]

A few pediatric offices near me use the Blomdahl medical grade piercing system. You probably have to google your town and Blomdahl USA. I didn't see a link listing doctors using the system.
http://www.blomdahlusa.com/

[khm]

I honestly don't know. When my daughter got hers pierced I asked around quite a bit and everyone got their kids' done at Claire's. My friend who is a plastic surgery nurse looked at me like I had 2 heads when I asked if her ped or her boss did her kids' ears. The moms I know that HAVE tatoos and/or piercings, Claire's. The super crunchy moms, Claire's. I didn't find anyone who had it done at a tatoo/piercing studio or a peds office. (I also didn't hear of any bad experiences, for the record.)

[acmom]

I mainly went with a piercing place bc several of DD's friends have had issues after doing it at the local Claire's (infections, gun getting stuck, having to have one redone). We also did it during the holiday season and I was a little wary of having the extra staff that is hired that time of year do it since they might not have as much experience. I also wanted good quality earrings for her first pair bc the whole family has skin issues and reacts easily to many things. Had I not been worried about those issues, I probably would have just done Claire's. When I was little my doctor's office did mine, but none of the drs. around here do them anymore.

We had a great experience at the piercing place and the maintenance was less bc they have a different method. They use a longer post (made of titanium) and therefore she didn't have to rotate them, just clean gently with saline or soap/water. Another bonus for DD was that the piercing place used earrings that enter through the back and had a snap on front - the back was a flat disk which she found much more comfortable to sleep in vs. the traditional backings.

[AnnieW625]

Thanks everyone. The one place I found on Yelp (which is also a member of safe piercing.org) and has photos of the ear piercings she has done on infants under 2 emailed me back and has scheduled DD1 for Thursday. I wasn't initially opposed to using a gun as that is how I had both of my sets of holes done (first set at 10 in 1987 done at a local salon/beauty supply store, and second set done in 2001 at a Merle Norman), but I just didn't like the Yelp reviews of Claire's in my area and I also checked out Piercing Pagoda which looks to carry the same earrings as the Blomdahl method that someone posted above and their prices were $48.95 before tax. The piercing lady I found charges $75 (includes earrings, aftercare pack, and any follow up needed), and per the pictures and the positive reviews I am okay with paying a little more. I also want to make sure Dd1 is comfortable. I also found a second place farther away that does piercings in children as well and per their website they looked really reputable as well. I will report back on Thursday afternoon.

Here is a database of state laws regarding piercing and tattooing. There is no clause in California that ear piercing can't be performed in a tattoo parlor.
http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/tattooing-and-body-piercing.aspx

[minnie-zb]

We used Piercing Pagoda and it was a good experience. Everyone I asked when I was looking for a place suggested Claire's or some place at the mall.

[TwinFoxes]

I just looked at safepiercing.org. There are 2 studios within 100 miles of Washington DC that are members. I wouldn't not go somewhere because they're not members. It doesn't seem like a very big organization. There are zero in DC and Baltimore, which aren't exactly the boonies. I'm just not sure that being a member means all that much, especially if they're already licensed by the state, but that's JMO.

[khm]

I just looked at safepiercing.org. There are 2 studios within 100 miles of Washington DC that are members. I wouldn't not go somewhere because they're not members. It doesn't seem like a very big organization. There are zero in DC and Baltimore, which aren't exactly the boonies. I'm just not sure that being a member means all that much, especially if they're already licensed by the state, but that's JMO.

Oddly, I have 2 within 50 miles and another that's within 100 miles. I AM in the boonies!

[almostmom]

Another good experience at The Icing here. I had mine done by a doc when I was little, but hadn't heard any bad stories about Claire's and lots of good stories. They were busy, so sent us to their sister store, the Icing. The gun did not seem in any way like a gun! It was silent and quick and perfectly placed. They had good directions on how to keep it clean, and we didn't have any issues.

[AnnieW625]

I just looked at safepiercing.org. There are 2 studios within 100 miles of Washington DC that are members. I wouldn't not go somewhere because they're not members. It doesn't seem like a very big organization. There are zero in DC and Baltimore, which aren't exactly the boonies. I'm just not sure that being a member means all that much, especially if they're already licensed by the state, but that's JMO.

I ended up thinking the same thing as well, but the lady is part of that group responded to my inquiry and she is only 10 miles from home (the other place that won't pierce kids<16 is 3 miles from my house), but the other place that pierced ears for kids wasn't and did look reputable as the others so I would've considered them as well even though they were further away. There three other safe piercing places in a 30 mile radius, two in Pasadena, and one in West Hollywood (no idea if their do kids ear piercing). I also have a cousin who has multiple piercings, and tattoos, and lives in the San Gabriel Valley so my next step was to ask her for references as well had I needed to expand my area.

[daisysmom]

I spent just a little time looking around for professional kids ear piercing. I was told that kids aren't even allowed into the building. Still haven't been able to figure out if it is state law or just store policy. Either way, a piercing gun appears to be our only option if DD wants her ears pierced.

I also looked around in Virginia last year and found the same thing, none of the tattoo places would do a minor. So we did Claires.

[kaitlyns.mom]

We live on the Central Coast and couldn't find anyone willing to pierce DD's ears locally. We ended up taking her to a shop in San Diego (when we were visiting). It was definitely a honest-to-god piercing shop (i.e. not dialed down for kids necessarily), but they did a good job and had great reviews. Everything was super clean and they followed all of the rules for sterilizing, sanitation, etc. If for whatever reason you end up wanting to go further from LB, it's an option. :) Although it sounds like you found a good place!