To think that babies with pierced ears is not a good idea?

[Blackbootswithredribbons]

I wouldn't trust a baby to not fiddle with their earrings, cleaning might be a difficult etc. And then there's the whole business of an infant not being able to say whether or not they want them done, the pain and having to hold a squirmy baby still while it's done.
I also cannot fathom a single reason to pierce a baby tbh, when they're old enough to fully weigh the risks and benefits, that's old enough.
What are your thoughts on this?

@carmenitapink

I would argue enforcing veganism on young children is more risky than ear piercing.

What a ridiculous thread! Typical white middle class mum post of "outrage" at something for the sake of it 😩

What does being white have to do with it

To those saying it should be illegal, at what age should children be allowed to have piercings?

If Claire's aren't allowed to pierce babies ears, parents will just do it themselves- it's quite easy to buy what you need online.

What popcorn have you all brought? Any salted popcorn?

@carmenitapink

I would argue enforcing veganism on young children is more risky than ear piercing.

What a ridiculous thread! Typical white middle class mum post of "outrage" at something for the sake of it 😩

Racist and classist there @carmenitapink

'Typical black working class mum post' would quite rightly have got you deleted.

@Tsuni

What popcorn have you all brought? Any salted popcorn?

@Tsuni I have a selection of popcorn in case of arguments.

@KloppsTeeth good idea, we wouldn't want to derail the thread by fighting over the lack of popcorn variety.

@Shiningpath

I’m so glad you’ve raised this issue OP. It’s something that isn’t discussed enough on Mumsnet.

[quote Tsuni]@KloppsTeeth good idea, we wouldn't want to derail the thread by fighting over the lack of popcorn variety.[/quote]
But popcorn is made of carbs. Pure sugar, don't you know? And all that salt - nobody needs any salt or flavour whatsoever in MN land.

We've already got class, ethnicity, it's exactly the same as infibulation with a rusty set of scissors on the floor of a hut, hygiene, veganism, hair bows, tattoos, vaccination and vanity.

All we're missing is carbs are poison/read x book by somebody who is making millions out of flogging a diet, where people should park in order to take their child to Claire's Accessories, an evil MIL and something about whether the cleaner should be let go because because her kid has pierced ears.

Much as it’s been done 3000 times before on MN, I agree with you.

My rule for my kids is, you have to wait til you’re old enough to look after them (cleaning etc) yourselves.

But, no, a baby can’t consent to being wounded.

I’d make 10 the cut off age I think. If you can commit a crime, you can get your ears pierced. Although it wouldn’t be a problem in my eyes if they made it 16, as young kids don’t need pierced ears.

@Tsuni

What popcorn have you all brought? Any salted popcorn?

I am deffo a salted popcorn fan!

Lol my DD has this question several years ago as part of English gcse coursework.

I am not a fan of piercing a baby's ears. Would prefer to wait until the child can decide for themselves and also do the "aftercare" themselves.

@steff13

If you don't think it's a good idea, you could just not pierce your baby's ears. That would resolve that issue for you.

I never liked that look very much, but I haven't seen it recently. I assumed maybe it had become illegal.

If you can commit a crime, you can get your ears pierced.

I know what you mean, but that gave me a delicious mental picture of a 10-year-old committing a crime to prove they were mature enough to get their ears pierced.

It's just cruel.

@GandTfortea

It’s a certain type of people who have this done to their baby You either silently judge them Or you agree with them ,and probably had your own kids ears done Not much in between

There’s a whole cultural range in between - see Nigeria, India, Brazil and Hispanic countries for where it’s close to the norm. Guess here were hearing tbe white woman’s perspective

< waits for tbe ‘it’s chavvy’ posters to declare they’re Nigerian etc >

A lot of people always say it's for cultural reasons, as if that's a free pass to let it go...

Personally, as there is no medical advantage to the baby of getting their ears pierced, I don't think it's something that should happen until the child is old enough to be Gillick competent and enthusiastically consent to it.

It's interesting how we don't typically bat an eyelid at parents sticking holes in their children because we think the result looks pretty. I think pretty is a terrible reason to override consent.

It's so wrong. They have no say in the matter. What if they decide they want unpierced ears? Even if they do later want it, they won't remember the special occasion of having it done. I really think it should be illegal until they're old enough to express an opinion.

I’ve told this story before on here.

Had DD in Brazil, when she was about 20 hours old the paediatrician came to our side room equipped to pierce her ears. We were like WTF???
He was concerned for us and explained patiently that people might think she’s a hermaphrodite if we don’t pierce her ears.
He was not wrong, we had people laughing and pointing and were continually asked what had gone wrong.
We moved back to the U.K. before she was one.

I think there needs to come a point when "it's part of my culture" doesn't cut it. There are many traditional cultural practices which can't happen in the UK because they are in conflict with our standards for human rights and child welfare.

Having holes made in your baby should surely fall into this category. I STILL haven't seen anybody actually try to engage with the question of how it is acceptable to perform a procedure on someone who is too young to consent to it, when there are NO behefits to that person and there are both risks and pain involved in performing it.

I really cannot see how any reasonable, rational person can argue against this.

'Culture' is just a neutral term that means what a lot of people tend to do - and a lot of things that a lot of people do can be unkind, cruel, abusive, harmful and controlling, however they justify it.

At one stage, in the UK, we had a culture of paying women far less than men for the exact same work, because 'in our culture', men were assumed to need to earn more to keep their families whilst women liked a bit of pin money to buy makeup and get their hair done. Anybody want to fight for us to 'reclaim' that 'culture'?

@Ohyesiam

I’ve told this story before on here.

Had DD in Brazil, when she was about 20 hours old the paediatrician came to our side room equipped to pierce her ears. We were like WTF???
He was concerned for us and explained patiently that people might think she’s a hermaphrodite if we don’t pierce her ears.
He was not wrong, we had people laughing and pointing and were continually asked what had gone wrong.
We moved back to the U.K. before she was one.

Bloody hell!

I think it's disgusting to get a babies ears pierced.

It's a cultural practice where I'm from op! I don't have a girl so won't have to make that decision luckily but I don't see it any different to people choosing to post baby pics of their kids online without their kid's consent. I certainly wouldn't judge someone as "chavy" either! I think there are bigger issues which would turn my head but then again I am from a place where it is widely acceptable so of course it a bias opinion!