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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Poor wee screaming baby forced to get her ears pierced!

208 replies

Rumpel · 09/11/2007 20:26

I heard a wee baby screaming today and passed by Claire's shitey accessories to see a LO of about 12 months, bright red and hysterical having her ears pierced whilst her Mother just stood like a doughball watching. It made me red and and very, very sad.

I think piercing babies ears should be outlawed in this country. No freedom of choice for baby is there?

Not because I think it is chavy (which I do) but because it is not the child's choice, they have more chance of infection, scarring, tearing, hole closing up etc.

The more times you get your ears pierced = the more scar tissue= more complications. I had a client once whose lobes were split into 3 different pieces because of this - please I implore you - let it be your child's choice.

OP posts:
onebatmother · 16/11/2007 14:21

okeydokey wilco. might take me a day or so.
will also mention the other one ie Under 2s, more the merrier and thos who agree with no under-10s can also sign the no under-2/s

catchy title.. hmmm..

onebatmother · 17/11/2007 22:52

okay, all gone wrong, ds birthday tomorrow and cake has sucked up about 23 hours out of 24! plus been distracted by porn thread. will get to it asap thouhg.

Original poster
Rumpel · 18/11/2007 20:23

Ta.

OP posts:
onebatmother · 19/11/2007 21:25

My goodness I did it.

emjhill · 20/11/2007 12:32

I live in spain and here it is tradition that the baby girls are done in the hospital just after the birth, at first i said NO WAY i would never have had it done in the uk and carried on life as normal but after the 100 "oh HES so lovely" i had had enough! she always in pink no matter what and still tehboy comments so i had them done by the MIDWIFE at 5 weeks i was asured that till 6 months they have no feeling in their earlobes and tbh my little girl didnt cry at all so there must be some truth in that! I have now changed her studs to very tiny diamond baby ones that have a special backing that screws on so they dont stab the neck and i think she looks lovely which is strange sinc ei would never have thought about it in the uk for fear of looking chavvy!!! but here it is just the way of life and the way it is!!

yogimum · 20/11/2007 12:40

I don't like it on young children though I respect other countries where it appears to be a cultural thing. I had my ears pierced at about 12 and one of my is now torn which happened at school.

mummyofgirls · 20/11/2007 21:08

emjill - I'm glad your dd didn't suffer, that is the most important thing and she obviously has a caring mummy to look after her ears. I'm not sure that is always the case though (the painlessness I mean) so I'd like to refer all interested parties to the petition thread in the AIBU topic - earpiercing 2

paolosgirl · 20/11/2007 21:11

Have signed the petition. It's YUK in the extreme, and whether or not it's a cultural thing is immaterial as far as I'm concerned. Piercing or cutting bits off of babies or small children without their consent is abuse IMO.

There. I've said it. Phew.

yogimum · 20/11/2007 21:22

Well I'd like the age limit in this country to be set at 16, then they are old enough to make up their own minds.

onebatmother · 20/11/2007 21:24

thanks paolosgirl (and yogisgirl?) for singing

Rhubarb · 20/11/2007 21:24

Well, I know that jabs are meant well, but as far as the baby is concerned, a jab is just as painful as an ear piercing. One is for their health, another for decoration. But if you are arguing about cruelty, then surely both inflict pain so both are just as bad?

Come on, it's only us adults that make that distinction. The baby just equates them both with pain and that's that.

onebatmother · 20/11/2007 21:24

and even signing

onebatmother · 20/11/2007 21:26

so you don't think - hey, I'm not going to give this baby more pain than is necessary?
It's all pain so it's fine???!

Lazarou · 20/11/2007 21:27

emjhill, why did you give in to pressure?

Rhubarb · 20/11/2007 21:28

Yeah. I don't like holding them down for jabs, but I've done it. For their health. Other mums decide to take that further and do it because in their opinion, it makes their baby look pretty.

You can't say that pain inflicted for a just cause is ok. I might not agree with you giving your baby the MMR jab, but I wouldn't accuse you of child abuse. You decide to give your baby one more jab than mine in that case.

It's not that much of a big deal.

paolosgirl · 20/11/2007 21:29

I tend to think that a little jab will help them to avoid further pain/illness/death in the future, so it's a necessary evil.

Can't think of one reason why I'd want to put my child through a piercing or non-medical 'bit removal' though.

onebatmother · 20/11/2007 21:30

sheesh.
babies are pretty. see the rest of the thread re consent, 'relativity' etc.

Rhubarb · 20/11/2007 21:34

I agree. Just saying that people have different priorities. I wouldn't put my kid into a bloody teddy bear outfit either, but some mums think it looks cute.

The meningitis jab is fairly new, if you chose to give that to your baby and I didn't. I wouldn't say that it was cruel of you to force one more jab onto the little thing. It would be your choice and none of my business.

mummyofgirls · 20/11/2007 21:36

Rhubarb, I do think that I can say taht pain inflicted for just cause is acceptable. Vaccinations are in general painful but it is acceptable although difficult to put a small child through this in order to protect them from worse suffering in the future. Can't see how that applies to earpiering I'm afraid.

Rhubarb · 20/11/2007 21:40

Because I might think that some of the vaccines are irrelevant or unnecessary. So you would be giving your baby one more jab than I would give my baby.

You think piercing is unnecessary and irrelevant.

Both are painful. As far as the baby is concerned, it doesn't give a crap whether that jab is an injection or for a piercing, it all hurts just the same.

paolosgirl · 20/11/2007 21:41

Agree, Mummy. There's a vast difference between vaccination and cosmetic peircing - so vast in fact that I'm struggling to understand the analogy.

Rhubarb - did you choose not to vaccinate becuase of the pain they might feel, or because you researched the issues, and felt it wasn't safe?

oliveoil · 20/11/2007 21:42

oh Rhubarb you are talking out of your ARSE

in the nicest possible way petal

paolosgirl · 20/11/2007 21:44

Rhubarb - do your kids have their ears pierced?

Rhubarb · 20/11/2007 21:45

Och I'm just being devil's advocate here!

But in all seriousness, although they look naff, I couldn't give a flying stuff about piercings. I could write a post about how a mother held her baby down screaming for it's MMR jab and no-one would come on screeching that it's cruel and abusive.

I have given my kids all their jabs and have not pierced their ears. But I do know mothers who have chosen not to give their kids the Meningitis jabs or the MMR jabs because of fears of the safety of the jabs, or just the feeling, with the Men one, that it was unnecessary and just another jab on top of so many already.

That's their choice. I'm sure they wouldn't condemn me if I choose to give mine their Men jabs.

oliveoil · 20/11/2007 21:47

well I think earings look common on babies, as round here, they are common

nothing to do with injections imo

I would not like to see a baby in Claire's having it done though