Ear piercings

[justwondered1]

Curious as to people's views on having their baby/child's ears pierced?

No specific reason just wondered!

I don't have a problem with it. My mum got mine done with a gun as soon as I was old enough. If I have a daughter I will get hers done as soon as she is old enough. And I will her it done with a gun, as they are perfectly safe.
I believe that the younger they are, the better, because they will never remember it, and the less attention they will pay to it, therefore lessen the chance of them touching it and it getting infected. Also if they grow up with it they never know any different.

11 or 12, IMO. I don't see the point of getting them done before you know if they actually want to wear earrings or not. Some people seem to assume that any girl automatically will. On the other end they would have to be able to care for them themselves because the thoughts of putting earrings into another persons ears makes me feel a bit sick.
My inlaws didn't understand why I didn't get my baby daughter's ears pierced, well for a variety of reasons. As it turns out she wouldn't have been able to wear them anyway as she's severely autistic and given to self harming.

I don't like seeing earrings on babies, toddlers and young children. For me, it's the sort of thing that if it had never been invented (for babies etc), no-one would dream of introducing such an idea and it would probably be viewed as some sort of bizarre and cruel practice. But then again, I'm boring!

I grew up with it (middle east - all girls get it done when they're babies) and wanted mine done as liong as I could remember. My mum said I had to be 16, but then relented at 14 when my younger cousin had hers.
I think it looks adorable on babies, but am aware people in the UK think it's chavvy/tacky, so would probably make my own children wait til 10ish.
I think you either have to do it as babies, or when they're old enough to look after it themselves. aged 1-9 is too young!

Babies..... hell no.

It should not be allowed til they are 10 y.o. IMO.

Genuinely don't understand why people don't find their own children cute enough without having to stick jewels to the side of their heads.

When they can ask themselves and they are old enough to understand what they are asking. My daughter pestered me at 6 but she also wanted me to change her name to Sleeping Beauty. Now at 15 she isn't interested.

I genuinely think it's a little bit disturbing to make holes in your child's skin to hang ornaments from.

I am raising my daughter to understand that it's her body and her choice so obviously I haven't made any painful alterations to it without her consent.

I hate it on babies. It's chavvy as hell (I don't care that MN doesn't like that word, I do). I also don't like it on toddlers and I don't like hoops on young children. I know someone who insisted her girls got their ears pierced at 2 whether they wanted to or not .

I'd quite like DD to have some pretty little studs. It will be her choice. She has started to ask. I've said we will revisit the idea at the beginning of the summer holidays, she will be 7. I will make it clear what's involved in looking after them, she knows how it will be done, needle in a piercing studio, not Claire's with a gun. I saw a very newborn baby having them done in Claire's the other week. It was horrible, poor baby screamed. I judge that mum and bloody Claire's for doing it.

I was desperate to have them done at that age. My GPs refused. My dad took me when I was 10, my GPs wouldn't have let me until I was much older. I now have many earrings.

In Spain babies have their ears pierced and it looks really sweet but here I don't like it at all. My daughter had hers pierced at the end of year 5. I worry that babies will catch the earrings and hurt themselves. Personally, I think that a child should decide for themselves whether they would like to have their ears pierced or not.

I'm not really bothered by the appearance.
I think babies look cute without piercing, but people put on cute hats/outfits and try and clear cosmetic cradle cap etc

However the practicalities of a baby/toddler with earrings, I'd worry when she was climbing/ sliding/ playing etc that it would get ripped out, the same way I wouldn't let a baby wear a necklace.

I think secondary school age.

Either young enough so you can do all the aftercare or old enough so they can or suffer the consequences and you not feel guilty

I genuinely think it's a little bit disturbing to make holes in your child's skin to hang ornaments from.

Thinking about it like that, it's a bit disturbing that anyone does it...

I had my ears pierced when I left home at 19 and very happy with the decision. I don't think this is a decision a parent makes for a child. I do think the child needs to be mature enough to live with the consequences.
This reminds me of when I brought my baby DD home from the hospital and my neighbour popped in and offered to pierce her ears with a needle. I was like say what now? I'm sure she meant it kindly but there is no way I would let anyone hurt my precious DCs.

Why would anyone in their right mind, want to have a baby's ears pierced, what would be the reason for doing this.?

I just came across someones facebook photos earlier. showing their baby's photo's. baby of 7 months old. with pierced ears, as in gold hoops., plus with pink lipstick and pale blue eye shadow, the mind boggles,

There is pros and obviouly cons for both.
Getting it done when they are little they cry less/ forget quicker, they are less likely to keep touching them and put and infection in and they will let you clean them.
For older they get the decision over their body and when they are ready.
I went with the 2nd option for my dd but I do see both sides.

Ok, I'm going to go against the grain here. My sister and I both had our ears pierced as infants and I think that's the best time to have it done. They heal quickly and babies are too young to really mess with them and have them get infected etc. When you have them done young they are permanent and won't ever close up (which I view as a good thing). My family owned a jewelry store for over 30 years and the only female customers that did not have their ears pierced were born pre 1940. Growing up in the 80s/90s all of my girl friends wanted and eventually had theirs pierced. I think around age 10. I don't know any women who don't have or don't want their ears pierced so I think it's a trend that will stay. I think waiting until they are old enough to decide is a bit more like saying old enough until they ask.... They are tiny holes and if they don't want to wear earrings when they are older I doubt they'll be traumatized they had them pierced as an infant...

This subject comes up with unfailing regularity. Did you not check that first, OP...the numerous posts/threads? It will start off with the anti-piercers then move to earpiercing= child abuse, scorn of penile circumcision and then round off nicely with dissing others' cultural practices and preferences. Interspersed here and there with posters who aren't fussed either way. Is it even a month since last thread...

Eventually succumbed to adolescent pestering when DD was 13.
After all,all her friends were allowed!
But piercing a baby's ears without consent ? FFS......you got to be kidding. It's abuse.
What next? Tattoo 'em?

I don't care about how it looks if it was pain and risk free I'd say each to their own but it's sore and if they get infected can be really bad. My 5 year old wants his ear pierced I just can't say yes while he's so young I wouldn't want him to feel the pain.

gigi556 it's not true they are perminant mine closed up after 2 weeks when I was on holiday about 15 I got them redone and had to take them out when I was pregnant at 25 because they irritated the skin they closed up in 3 weeks and 5 years on you can hardly even see the hole.

babies are too young to really mess with them and have them get infected etc.

By the same logic, it would be sensible to tattoo a baby.

See while I think it's each to his own I wouldn't personally do my children's ears until they asked.
I got mine done day before my 7th bday.

I'm covered in tattoos and piercings so when dd asked at about 7 I couldn't say no.

However we did have a talk about what piercing actually is and the pros and cons and she still wanted to go ahead so I took her.
She 13 now and is asking about having her belly pierced again we've had a chat and she's seen what's happened to my belly piercing (it grew out due to having 2 babies in the 18 months after I had it done) she's nose the pros and cons and if she wants it I will take her.

In my DH culture they are done very young but I resisted despite his family asking why they hadn't been pierced yet. When my DD was 5 1/2 I asked if she wanted it done and if so why. She argued her case well (!) and her DGM took to have it done in her country. So it was nice that her Granny was able to do something with her and she misses out a lot by living abroad.
I know loads of folk on here detest it but I think there are cultural considerations. I had to wait until I was 16 to have my ears pierced, I was never going to make my DD wait that long!

Would never have dreamed of having DD's ears pierced when she was little. She pleaded to have them done at the age of 11 because all of her friends at school had pierced ears by then. I did try to argue that for many it's cultural and they have them done as babies but she just thought I was being unfair! She really was the last one to get them done in her year group though. I wasn't over keen but decided I was being rather old fashioned. She went with her 15 year old cousin and they had them done in Harrods (as had been recommended here on MN at some point). She's coped well with them (she only wears silver and gold earrings). However, one of her friends tugged on one of her earrings and has seemingly made the hole larger than it was. She's already asking for a second piercing but I've told her she'll have to wait until she's at least 14.

I didn't get mine done until I was 21 - when I grew up it wasn't considered 'the done thing' to have pierced ears in childhood or even as young teens really. Most schools wouldn't allow girls/boys to attend with earrings in at all. I recall a huge fuss made by one teenage girl and her parents which made the local papers back in the day. She effectively was suspended for the full six weeks it took for her just pierced ears to heal! Seriously!

@Anditstartsagain sorry I wasn't clear - if you have them done as an infant, they are permanent which isn't the case later on.

I can't believe people are comparing them to tattoos! Ffs. Completely laughable.