...to believe that piercing a baby's ears is abusive

[TheAlphaParent]

1. It causes unnecessary pain.
2. It removes choice and respect for bodily autonomy.
3. It puts the infant at risk of infection.
4. It provides no benefit to the infant.

I'd be interested in hearing from any pro-piercing parents; However if you're anti-piercing, I urge you to sign this recently approved Government petition:

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20646

P.S. I know this is an old school debate, but the Government are yet to act, so the piercing of babies debate is still hugely relevant.

I was born in India and my ears were pierced when I was a few weeks old. It was done by a traditional goldsmith with a very thin gold wire that is knotted at the end. I wore the gold wires a few years into my childhood and they were so soft that I didn't notice they were there. I don't think I was "abused," looked "tacky" or that I belong to a "barbaric" culture.

I remember when my baby sister had her ears pierced in the same way. She squirmed, cried for about two seconds and went back to sleep. I have also seen the ears of slightly older babies getting their ears pierced in India, they cry for a couple of minutes and are then back to feeding/eating/gurgling.

And for those who think that ear piercing is a torture solely reserved for women, traditionally many communities had it done for their male infants too.

At about age 12 I got my ears pierced again with a gun because I wanted a second hole. It hurt, took a while to heal, and I couldn't sleep on my ears, unlike when I was a baby. Those holes eventually closed.

Avacat, I'm afraid you're missing the point. It doesn't matter that "she only cried for about two seconds", or whatever anyone is saying to prove the pain is minimal. I'm sure for many, it is. But it doesn't matter! Even if it was completely painless, it's an unnecessary procedure with no benefit for the child (noone has come up with a single one for me yet), that the child has been unable to decide for herself whether or not to have done.

Well, I had my ears pierced as a baby (Spanish background) and not only do I not feel abused I'm glad my parents got it done when I was too young to remember it hurting (according to my mother I slept through the whole thing but she's a child-abusing monster so probably better take it with a pinch of salt).

I thought it looked pretty as a child and I still think it looks pretty on a baby - cultural conditioning gone mad!

My parents made a lot of decisions for me as a child - its what parents do. To me, and many thousands like me, it was no big deal.

Well, thank goodness at a time when the UK may go into a double dip recession, there's massive social unrest and spiralling unemployment Parliament may be debating the crucial issue of baby ear piercing.

glad we all have our priorities straight.

Sometimes there just aren't enough s in the world.

Agree with Abs.

To make 100k signatures,the petition needs to be signed by an average of 274 people a day.

It has so far got 25 signatures.

Scarlett, it was of benefit to me. I love wearing earrings and wear them every day. I am glad my ears were pierced when they were. If I did not want to wear earrings I could have just left the holes to close. I'm happy my parents chose to pierce my ears when they did and saved me the pain of getting it done later. I could still choose not to wear earrings later. I grew up in a culture where it is common for girls to wear earrings and my parents would have expected that in, all likelihood, I would want to wear them myself, so they probably saw the procedure as necessary to spare me future pain and a longer healing time.

Casserole. No offence, but I don't think you can seriously imply that ear piercing is some kind of slippery slope to genuinely abusing one's children

Avacat. Your parents didn't know that you would want them doing though. They made that decision without your consent and it was a decision that didn't need making.

I don't see why people can't wait until the child is old enough to decide. What is the rush?

It just looks shit. End of.

Piercing babies..hugely relevant

CBA to read whole thread. YAB daft.

Dear Somewherewest nice try.

Now go back and read what I actually wrote.