Piercing baby girl’s ears

[PumpkinSpiceMuffins]

Has anyone pierced their baby’s ears? When is the best time to do it? Is it uncomfortable for the baby to be wearing earrings all the time? I’m interested in my daughter having a piercing that never closes even if she doesn’t wear earrings for years.

Wow you are geting a pasting on here OP.

Its fine to pierce your babies ears in the grand scheme of things its not the worst thing that could happen.

Personally I am for body autonomy and I think you should let her choose whether she wants to peirce her ears, but if they are pierced and she doesn't like them they can close up (mine did). I would also be wary of earrings around babies as things can fall out and they put them their mouths.

Not until they are old enough to want it and to care for the piercing.

Just why? Do little boys have to suffer having needles punched through their ears as babies? Or just girls?

I love my pierced ears. I had them done as a consenting teenager. The problem isn't pierced ears, it's doing it to a baby. Why? She can get them done when she chooses.

This is what I'm wondering. Plus, who on earth thinks their baby would look better with jewellery, and have holes made with needles to accommodate it? Awful.

I absolutely do not understand why this has not been made illegal before a certain age by now in the uk.
I don't give a stuff if it's the done thing in some families/ some cultures there is no reason whatsoever to do something so barbaric to a baby or toddler .
I can't imagine the guilt if something went wrong such as an infection or Injury also.
Babies are perfect as they are !

Exactly

I got my daughter's done at about 4/5 months. Never any issues, she didn't touch them and they've never been infected or anything. More babies have them done before they're 1 than don't in my culture.

Had mine done at 10ish and then 2nds maybe 12/13. I barely ever wear earrings now and they have never closed up (I’m 37) I sometimes stick a stud through once a year if I’m in a non earring chase

Over here in the UK we don't agree with needlessly harming a child for vanity/aesthetic reasons. That's the clear and simple difference. But then I'm aware the US is similarly obsessed with hacking away at a baby boy's penis, which is definitely fucking barbaric. Just leave your baby alone. They are beautiful as they are. And maybe let her make her own choices - she is not your property or an extension of you. She is an individual with rights, regardless of her age. And you don't have the right to cause her harm (unless it is in her own medical interest, which a piercing most definitely isn't).

And in answer to your repeated insistence the piercing is stable when done when so little, my DS still falls asleep rubbing his earlobe (it's adorable to watch). Can't imagine any piercing would've lasted long on him!

Don't inflict something unnecessary and painful on a baby girl just because of "culture". Females have suffered too much in this respect.
You weren't giving her an essential vaccine.
It was body modification for jewellery.

What has the slave trade got to do with it?
Talking of ridiculous and irrelevant whataboutery "arguments", let's not forget the Spanish inquisition while we are at it.

Besides, the British abolished slavery long before the Americans did, and we didn't have a war about it.

Why would you even want to? If she chooses to have pierced ears in the future, then fine, but what purpose does it serve having them done as a baby?

It’s barbaric to inflict unnecessary pain on a baby just because you want to add some bling to their earlobes. Why do you want to harm your baby?

I didn't do it because of culture, I just said it's the norm in my culture.

I did it because that's what I wanted to do. All this nonsense about it being barbaric is frankly hilarious. So you can mentally scar a child for life by confusing them about their sex and gender these days but you can't pierce their ears. Okay.

I also always judge any parent who does it as a halfwit.

It seems wrong to me to impose mutilation, no matter how small on children.
I hate the argument that it is the culture in my country.
Many, many countries still 'cut' women. Female Genital Mutilation, FGM. For example, 87% of Egyptian women suffer FGM as children, even today.
Some mothers excuse ear piercing in little children and it can start a whole chain of feeling you have to change your body to fit in with what we think women should look like. Look at the rise in cosmetic procedures and Botox etc.
Your daughter may well choose to have her ears pierced as an adult but that is her choice.
I appreciate you love your daughter, OP and you want to do what is right for her. Hold off and let her choose.

I think male circumcision is quite normal in the US.
I think preventing access to abortion is quite normal in the US.
Being 'normal' in the US doesn't make it ok.

How do you know she will want them done when she is older? Would you do the same to a baby boy just in case he wants them when he’s older too? I’m not sure why you would want to inflict pain on your baby for purely aesthetic reasons as well as the risk they catch on something and pull out.

We're not talking about sex and gender.
We're talking about taking a sharp instrument, and putting a hole in a baby's ear.
For jewellery. Really.
That's the discussion, and that's what many of us on here find cruel, and totally unnecessary.

When the baby lies on her side or with their head turned to the side doesnt the earrings poke them a bit? I'd imagine aside from the pain of the piercing there'd be that element. You've got alot of negative comments on here so I won't pile on too much but it does seem unnecessary at this age, she can decide when she's older and enjoy the excitement of getting them pierced and picking her first studs etc, I remember that well when i was about 10 getting first earrings.

I don't understand why anyone feels the need to puncture a baby's flesh just to put a bit of bling on them. I hate those horrible big bows parents put on their little girl babies, just in case someone - shock, horror - mistakes them for boys. But at least you can remove those without leaving permanent damage (apart from the trauma of revisiting the baby photos!) As others have said, let them decide when they're older. They might not want any piercings or they might want dozens, but at least they get to make those permanent aesthetic choices about their own bodies.

its also common to pierce baby ears in Spain but my Spanish friends earring holes are so close to her head now she is an adult she can’t wear lots of earring styles. We waited until our daughter was a teen and her ear mostly grown so piercer could choose a good spot. Baby ears are tiny and it’s likely the holes will not be in a good spot / different each side as the ear grows

I know in some cultures people pierce the baby soon after they are born, I think its horrific.

Please don't do it. There is no need.

My kids are in primary and even though I've been asked, I still refuse. I just think its unnecessary.

Perfectly safe for the baby? No it’s not, what if they get a blanket caught around the earring and pull it out, catch it on something, pull at it, as they get to toddler stage more things to risk being caught on, other children might take and interest and pull. It might be considered ‘normal’ in the US but that doesn’t mean it’s ok. Why put a baby through it? Wait until they are old enough to decide if they want it or not. You’re being vain, doing it for vanity… it’s not even your body to decide you want to have holes in it!!
Ear piercings are common in the uk so it’s not that reason why people are disagreeing with you

It's more a 'coming of age' thing here. It's barbaric because you open up your child to infection and cause pain just for cosmetic purposes.