If your DC had their ears pierced under the age of 2...

[doodlydooo]

How was it?

DC is 18 months and for about 9 months now she loves earrings etc. I feel like she is too young to have her ears pierced and won't understand and might tug on them. I wasn't planning on getting her ears pierced until she was about 5 really. But my mum said my sister and I had our ears pierced around the age of 2. SIL also had her ears pierced as a baby.

My 13 year old got her ears pierced recently, she hadn't expressed a great deal of interest until then. Even then I felt guilty because it really hurt her! It felt like I'd allowed her to get something done that was pure vanity but felt quite medical and invasive. There's no way I could do that to a baby!

Just girls, or do boys get them pierced as well?
I don't think "holes closing up later in life" is justification for inflicting pain and distress on a baby.

It being a cultural thing doesn’t make it necessary.

I got my first ear piercings at 10 and they’ve never closed up despite long stretches with no earrings in. I got my second holes done at some point in my teens and they have never closed despite the fact I never wear earrings in them. Don’t try and sell a fake benefit of piercing a baby’s ears.

This has got to be one of those posts where someone writes something controversial then sits back to watch the chaos, right??

This thread is clearly marked as "IF your DC had ears pierced under 2"

It sounds as if only one poster on here actually did have their baby's ears pierced!!

Why is everyone else weighing in with unasked for opinions?!

Because it’s a public forum so people can’t dictate who responds.

Has your baby had their ears pierced under 2?

Wait until they're 10 months old and more mature.

Friend did it to her toddler, they were in A&E a month later as the baby got them caught in a blanket she rolled in, blanket really pulled tight and ripped one out. Obviously baby not aware enough to take care of them. Horrible thing to do to a tiny baby. And looks tacky as hell!

Mine did (it’s cultural, before the judgement train runs me down) and it was absolutely fine. A little cry as the piercing went through and then nothing.

No judgement it's your kid's ears. How did they cope with the earrings?

I don’t think ‘it’s cultural’ is a good enough reason to cause pain to a baby for vanity purposes personally.
My sister lives in Spain, married to a Spanish man. Their daughter doesn’t have her ears pierced as my sister said no. No harm has come to my niece as a result of that decision.

No problems at all. I made sure to choose plain, smooth gold earrings rather than anything with gems to avoid them getting caught on anything. They did close up a few years later when we lost a pair though, so I’m not sure about the “not closing up” theory. We never bothered getting them repierced then. She’s 15 now and earringless; how the tables turn!

Ok.

So actually your argument adds to the one most are making of letting them decide themselves when older. nothing at all was gained from having them done so young given she has decided for herself she doesn’t want them done yet

So a 1 year old ‘loves’ earrings? I assume she likes grabbing shiny things hanging from other people’s ears rather than hanging around outside Claire’s Accessories pointing wistfully at the starter studs?

I worked in Claire's as a student and it's hard enough to get the holes in the right place on an adult (very few people are symmetric!). Aside from all of the much bigger issues, I'd worry the piercings would look a bit wonky when she's older.

Wait.

Just girls, because whether you like it or not, traditionally it's girls who wear jewellery. And this is still the prevalent stance across most of the world. But you know that 🙂

That's not what I was asking. All you needed to say was that in your culture it's only girls.
My husband had his ear and nose pierced as a child, because that's what happened in his village in the country he grew up in.
You probably didn't know that.

No one said it was necessary. I'm certainly not trying to sell anything. It was absolutely a benefit for me. It continues to be popular amongst many cultures. Just because it's seen as a terrible thing amongst the middle classes in the UK, it does not make it a terrible thing. People are different.

No. And mine are all adult now. I opened the thread just as i was curious to learn how it went at this age. And was very disappointed there were no exeriences really to read about.

I think inflicting unnecessary pain on a baby for aesthetic reasons should be seen as terrible everywhere, personally.

It's not about a hairstyle or clothing, though is it? So people will comment because it's a controversial thing to do to a baby in our culture, whether you like that or not.

Gosh, imagine if it were a free world, and people were allowed to express hardly controversial opinions on an internet forum…

Mediterranean country I come from pierces girls’ ears in hospital right after birth - you have to really make it known if you don’t want your baby’s ears pierced when you get admitted for the birth, otherwise it’ll be automatic very shortly after they come out. It’s not child abuse, even if I don’t like the custom.

Having said that, I didn’t have mine pierced, don’t plan on having my children’s pierced, because I believe it’s a decision they need to take independently, when they’re old enough to understand what they are doing.