Toddler’s Ear Piercing at Stellar (Vivo City)
“Mummy, I want pineapple and cherry on my ears,” EX said, pointing to her ears, “like Hannah in school.”
The time is here. I had wanted to pierce her ears when she was younger, when she was a baby in fact. In this way, she wouldn’t remember the piercing pain like I did, the excruciating pain that shot through. The red pen that marked the spot on my 12 years old earlobes. I cried so badly that my friend who went with me ran away and bailed out after hearing my screams.
Ear Piercing in Singapore
1. Doctor’s Clinic
I googled and found out that Dr Oh at Kids Clinic (Bishan) do ear piercing. Surprisingly, it’s cheaper than Stellar where we did the ear piercing in the end. Other than the price, it sounds safer to let a doctor pierce instead. From blogs (here and here) written in 2017, the pricing seems to be at S$53, including GST, and payable by CDA card. Pricing includes consultation and a pair of earrings (sterilised studs made in the U.S.), with four colours to choose from. Sadly, Dr Oh and other Kids Clinic’s branches no longer provide ear piercing services.
If you know of any doctors that pierce ears for children, let me know! I will include here and let the other readers know.
2. Jewellery Shop
I asked around for recommendations and found that JY was going to pierce her ears at Stellar soon. EX always play with her and so I thought it would be great to go together for company. The date was set. That’s when excited EX got nervous. “JY go first ok?” she repeatedly requested.
From Facebook, it seems that Jennifer from Vivo City branch is highly recommended. Otherwise, you can head to any of their seven branches convenient for you: Vivo City, Wisma, Somerset MRT, Jurong Point, Century Square, Bugis Junction.
Vivo wasn’t exactly near for us, but we decided to book the technician with good reviews. You can book online or call the respective outlets or message them on Facebook to make an appointment. We requested for Jennifer via Facebook and the process was relatively easy.
However, they didn’t ask if the children suffered from any skin condition like Eczema. Because from what I read, the paediatrician at Kids Clinic would advise against ear-piercing to avoid infection. Apparently, this blogger’s niece who had eczema suffered from six months of infection after piercing at B’dazzle.
Ear Piercing Experience at Stellar
I prepared EX in days leading up to the big day. From Stellar’s Facebook, I showed her videos and photos of other children piercing. The videos also soothe my nerves too, letting me believe that the piercing is not so painful now, unlike the old technology I went through.
I kept asking her to make sure she really wanted it, up till the last minute. There’s no turning back. She’s nervous, yet excited to have her earrings.
1. Choosing the Ear Studs
When we reached at 11:00AM, Jennifer warmly welcomed us and attended to us, while Mercy attended to JY. If you want simultaneous piercing on both ears where two technicians are required, you need to request and book your appointment at least 2 days in advance.
Jennifer took out the range of ear studs for us to choose. The earrings would go straight into EX’s ears during the piercing, instead of manually wearing them after the piercing. The earrings start from S$100+.
Wait a minute, where are the cheaper options I saw on website? We don’t need gold for a toddler. I read from a blog that it’s about S$200+ for ear piercing at Stellar, and that’s because they chose 14K gold earrings. Browsing Stellar’s website, we found other earrings with pricing more reasonable for our wallet and hence went ahead with them.
Alas, turns out we could not choose non-gold option. Jennifer said something like white gold is better as first earrings for children to prevent infection. I think we might have walked away if not for our promise to do the ear piercing with our friends. Jennifer pointed out that the backings of their studs are not the usual kind, but a type that secures the ear studs better.
We ended up paying S$148 for 14K White Gold, 3mm ball. Still quite expensive in our opinion. Glad EX was happy with them and didn’t request for the pricier gold earrings with crystal that cost about S$230+.
The price paid is for the earrings, piercing services, after care solution, and rabbit soft toy. At least the sterile ear studs we are paying for are Made in USA and apparently EC/US FDA Compliant and safe for children. Stellar also uses concurrent piercing disposal cartridge for the ear piercing.
2. Detailed Briefing
Before the ears are pierced, we needed to sign a consent form and are briefed on the after care. For a month, we should drip the after care solution on the pierced earholes twice a day, and to turn the earrings in the holes after the drip.
Do not plan to go on a seafood feast or swimming for the first week after piercing. You don’t want the ears to itch from the seafood (chicken and fish are okay) and be infected by the chlorine.
We can only remove the earrings to change design after 6 to 8 weeks. EX had to wear earrings for at least a year to avoid the ear holes from closing. Stellar gave us a 20% discount voucher if we revisit them to buy starter earrings after the piercing’s healing period.
3. Piercing Begins
Jennifer clipped up EX’s hair and made a marking on both ears, and Mercy checked the alignment, before letting me check and give the green light.
JY went first and she did scream a bit. That made us nervous. I was thinking if EX would bail out now. Nope, she went ahead with it. Jennifer and Mercy handled EX’s right and left ear respectively at the same time. The moment Stellar’s numbing spray hit EX’s ear, she cried rather loudly. I held her hand.
And when the “gun” pierced through her ears, her cries reached a crescendo and she was screaming at the top of her lungs. The screams echoed far in the relatively empty mall. Thankfully we went quite early before the crowd arrived.
Good thing, there’s simultaneous piercing for both ears at Stellar. If not, I don’t know how to make EX go through another time on the other ear.
Interestingly, Mercy got a good shot, while Jennifer fumbled a bit. She was like oh no, and I was like did something go wrong? Holes not pierced? Bleeding? Turned out, the earrings backing didn’t fit nicely and it was all well after she adjusted a bit. Phew. I had expected the worse.
Jennifer softly said, EX was fidgeting, that’s why.
I was okay that it didn’t fit, at least she was not hurt and there was no need to go through a second time. What I don’t appreciate was the excuse she gave. It’s okay not to perform all the time, so no need to feel bad about it and worse, blame my child for it. You should have expected a toddler to be fidgety from pain right? Oh well.
In tears, EX was still reeling in pain and shock for 5-10 minutes after the piercing. Stellar has balloon and sweets ready to pacify her. But still, she calmed down a bit only after we hugged and carried her. Mercy was nice to try to calm EX down. However, Jennifer felt a bit distanced and just wanted to get down to business and take EX’s photos for their online portfolio, which I refused. You can too if you are worried of privacy issue. Anyway, was she like that because Jennifer was sorry for how it turned out? Shrugs.
Still, EX was a brave kid! She’s very proud of her new earrings. And she was really careful and not touch them as instructed.