to wonder how woman could inflict deliberate pain, presumably twice, on her 2yo DD

[tigerandtabs]

In Claire's earlier today whilst two year old having her ears pierced - she was sat on grandmother's knee, mum and grandmother both said hold still etc, assistant fired gun thing and child screamed and screamed. Had to leave the shop as too upset to stay and see how on earth they were going to persuade the little mite to hold still for the second one..... As a mum who cried when taking DCs for vaccinations, and regardless of the aesthetics or otherwise of small children with pierced ears, I just cannot understand how someone could do that to their child.

Popbiscuit not sure it's me getting over dramatic, thh.... I think it's just that I would find it very hard to cause pain, however fleeting, to my DC without it being necessary. I suppose it comes down to how you define necessary - for some, clearly, getting it done before they are old enough to worry in advance about it hurting makes it necessary, and for others, cultural norms make it necessary.

MrsLevinson agree with what you say about not commenting if you find it tedious!

I was 9 and begged poor Mum so she eventually caved in and had it done on my birthday.

DD had to wait till she was 12.

I am a complete hypocrite.

2 years old is borderline for me cos I think as long as a child chooses to have the piercings themselves and understands it will hurt and risks hurting more if it becomes infected then they are old enough. An advanced nearly 3 yo might meet my criteria. There'd be no way I'd be pinning them down for the second ear though. If they didn't want it after the first the first would come out and they would have to wait until they are older.
DD is 4 and likes the look of earrings but doesn't want hers done because it will hurt. That's fine by me. i don't think they particularly add anything to a childs appearance or look chavvy. I'm a bit indifferent really. So long as the child has made some kind of informed choice I think it's fine. Piercings on very young babies because the parents want them is vile though imho.

Of course she was common, usualsuspect. She was having it done in Claire's FFS!

These anti ear piercing threads are getting so boring.

(one for each earring)

I love mn on a full moon.AARRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I pieced my own at 10 and my mother ripped them out - ouch
I would like to say i learned my lesson but history repeated at 15 when i di my eyebrow

And saying that piercing babies is a good idea cos they won't mess with them and there's less chance of infection is a ridiculous argument. Guess whar? There's even less chance of them getting infected if you don't get them pierced at all!

I don't go into Claires for exactly that reason, I don't think I could stop myself slapping any person I saw doing that to a child. I can't even stand holding my babies for thier immunisations, let alone for nothing more than vanity.

I had my ears done when I was 5 or 6 after begging my mum for months, she finally gave in... It was bloody agony! I had one done and was screaming the place down and mum held me down for the second to be done, they hurt for weeks afterwards too and they weren't even infected. There is no way in hell I'm ever doing to do that to my children. It doesn't hurt some children, it's agony for others but you don't know before it's done whether it will hurt them or not, so why chance it?

My girls can have them done when they are old enough to have it done unaccompanied and they most definately won't be getting it done with a gun, they will be going to a proper piercing parlour and having it done with a needle.

I don't understand why any parent has thier childs ears pierced, I think my girls are gorgeous enough without gold in thier ears.

I agree with you op. But usually they do it at once.

i got my dd1s ears pierced when she was four months.
i didnt really overthink it.

my thinking was that it was normal, as all of my family and in laws and myself and ds had all had it done at a young age, as babies and it is not until i found mumsnet that i ever thought anything of it.

she cried for 30 seconds, not a particularly painful wail, not as much as vaccines. then she was quiet.

i have not done dd2s ears as i really dont see the point. dd1s ears are closed now, i took them out.

dd1 is four and she has been asking me for ages to put holes in her ears so she can wear ear rings, i have told her it hurts etc, and she is adamant she wants it, but i keep fobbing her off.

eventually i will take her. dont know when, havent got a plan

Ffs, look up the definition of the word "deliberate"

As I say on all of these threads, little girl had hers done in the summer holidays just before her 6th birthday.

She really wanted them done, and I told her that it would hurt a little.

Yes, the sound of the 'gun' alarmed her, but I knew that this would happen, so I made sure that she had both ears done at the same time.

I cannot imagine why the 2 women did not do the same.

I had mine done when I was 11. I cried. My two will have to wait till the same age, or ideally older - if they must get pierced anywhere, they need to be old enough to properly understand it as a possibly permanent change in their body - I haven't worn earrings for years, except for my wedding day last year, when I could still get them in. (Took them out again after a few minutes - horrible things)

When I am having my weird sensory days, even touching my ears where they were pierced upsets me. Now I know that most people aren't that weird, but what if they are? It is the kind of thing only an adult can weigh up.

The last time I wore earrings (before the wedding time) I was suddenly (after years of just being a bit itchy) so allergic that I was bleeding from INSIDE my ear, and the entire side of my face swelled up.

Lol, can you tell I don't like earrings?

I'm fine with them as part of piercings in general - ie if you want various parts of your body pierced and tattooed, it is your body, and I will fight for your right to do it. But I don't see how ears are different to noses, nipples or eyebrows.

(The allergic time I was wearing odd earrings - hence the lopsided reaction)

Child abuse?!

Get
A
GRIP

Hmm, well personally I think 2 is a bit young really and I wouldn't do it at that age. 5/6 is a better age for it. But child abuse is a bit much, once it's done I am sure the little girl will love looking at her nice sparkly earrings :) Besides, it's not that sore at all.

There was a thread on this just 4 or 5 days ago - they come up all the time, OP, which is why people are taking the piss.

Pierced ears in babies are, in my opinion and in my culture, in rather tacky taste. In other cultures, they are not. As I said on the thread just a couple of days ago, a Spanish friend has her 15 MO DD's ears pierced.

It is not abuse. How can it possibly be categorised as abuse if you're talking about an otherwise loved and cherished child...?

And if you're talking about a child that's being neglected in other ways, well, a couple of cheap sparklers from Claire's is the least of its problems.

they should have given her a fruit shoot and greggs sausage roll that would have stopped her crying

Sorry for long absence - hadn't run away, just doing child taxi service for the last 3 hours. In answer to the many points that have been made about this being a boring topic, in my defence I felt it was a valid and reasonably new point, ie was asking a specific question about the thought process, not hurling allegations of child abuse, asking about the right age or saying it was chavvy. I think I was just shocked at the pain and distress it caused to the child, because I had always assumed that they must use an effective numbing cream or else why would anyone do that to their child. That question has not really been answered on here but I don't think it will be now we have descended into the chav/abuse quagmire.

BTW, Quirrelquarrel is the point about definition of deliberate aimed at me? If it is, I'm afraid I don't get the point, please explain, has been a long day and would hate to have used a word incorrectly and not know why!

Horrid practice and shouldn't be legal at such a young age imo. Totally agree with op, had no idea this was a MN hot potato.

These threads always make me want to take DD straight for a set of hoops!

Well I blame Hitler!