How to Remove Children's Earrings

Whether your child has recently had her ears pierced or if they have been pierced for some time now, you may feel apprehensive about removing her earrings. You want to avoid infection and causing unnecessary pain, but you may not know how to achieve this. Not to worry, assuming her piercings are free of infection, the process should cause little to no discomfort.

1. Wash your hands thoroughly with antibacterial soap to prevent infecting your child's piercings.

1. Have your child sit in a comfortable chair. If she is an infant or toddler, have someone hold her or give her something to distract herself while you remove her earrings.

1. Turn each earring several times while they are still in your child's ears. This will make removing the earrings easier if skin has grown back around the piercings.

1. Dip a cotton ball in hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol and gently rub it around one of your child's piercings.

1. Hold the ear lobe that you just cleaned with one hand and slowly pull the earring backing off with the other hand. If the earring backing is sitting too close to your child's skin to grab, apply light pressure to the front of the earring to push the backing away from the skin. If the earring backing feels too tight to pull off, twist it slowly several times until it comes off the earring post.

1. Hold the earring at a straight angle and pull it out of your child's ear.

1. Dip another cotton ball in hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol and gently rub it on and around your child's piercing.

1. Repeat Steps 4-7 with your child's other ear.

Warnings

Do not attempt to remove or change your child's earrings before six weeks has passed since the day they were pierced. Taking them out too early can lead to infection and skin growing back over the piercings.

Warnings

Do not remove earrings from newly pierced ears for more than a couple of minutes during the first six months following the day they were pierced. This is to allow adequate healing time.

Warnings

If your child's piercings shows signs of infection, such as redness, swelling, crusting, or yellow discharge, discontinue use of hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol. These products cause the skin to dry out which can lengthen healing time. Instead, wash your child's infected piercings with antibacterial soap and warm water twice a day until the signs of infection disappear. This should take about a week or two.

Warnings

When putting earring in your child's piercings, always soak the earrings in hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol first to avoid infection.

Warnings

Always put your child's earring backings on loosely. If they are too tight they may puncture the skin and cause an infection.