DD 13 has come home with a belly button piercing. Her friend did it on a sleepover!!!

[PatButchersEarring]

I have posted in the support for teenagers thread in this topic re issues we are having with DD.

But this evening, I think I am speechless. She's come home from a friend's where she's had a lovely time for the afternoon. She was wearing a crop top and I looked down- she's had her belly button pierced!!

When asked, she has said that a friend of hers did it (not the one she was with today) a couple of weeks ago on a sleepover. DD is 13, friend is 14.

Piercing looks sore, but not infected as such. I will be taking her to the doctor tomorrow.

I've also called the Dad of the girl in question..he was unaware of what she was doing..although he had bought her the piercing needles, apparently. Long story with this girl and her Dad- she's parented with a very light touch imo. Anyway, thankfully they are moving away very soon, so I'm hoping there will be a natural end to this friendship..but in the interim, DD is livid with me and says I have ruined her friendship by calling this girl's Dad....but I feel he needed to know.

Take me back to the toddler years, please!!

Since my 16 Yr old at the time started college she has, had tattoos done with single use needles and ink from wh smiths in the stairwells, had piecings done with single use needles on sleepovers and had derma piecing done by god knows what in the toilets ! Teens are twats and will do twatty things Since I dragged to a gp to have bloods done all clear and made watch a video on them going wrong she now goes to a tattooist (she is 18 now) good luck and yes all needles bought from amazon and YouTube provided the tutorials on how to do this rest.

I added to my ear piercings in English at school with a safety pin. I'm still alive 42 years later.

Op if you are worried of course talk to the gp. But I would probably try a piercing shop first. IIRC you shouldn't take it out if it's infected as it kind of seals in the infection as it heals and is harder to resolve. They might also be prepared to tell if if it looks at the right stage of healing and how she should manage it from now on.

I'd be annoyed but you've got to admire her chutzpah, that must have hurt like hell.
I took my dd to have her belly button pierced at 16 and I fainted in the piercing shop watching it being done!
I'd take it out too and let it heal.

I'd be cross. And saddened at her stupidity. I might take her to a reputable piercing shop to get it checked. Isn't she underage? In a shop you have to be 13, with a parent with you, parental consent to have it done, don't you? 16 with ID. So friends dad has let them do something underage? He's clearly a berk anyway.

Then find a therapist for DD. This was a form of self harm

This bloody ridiculous

Jeezus some people on here are nuts.

Police, therapist and the stuff are not needed!!

It’s a piercing. Teenagers do this shit. No it isn’t ideal she had it done at a friends house rather than a proper place but it’s not the end of the world

GPs rarely test for HIV or Hepatitis unless clinically needed. Go to a Sexual Health clinic for that, but if clean needles were used then I would say no real risk. They're 13 and 14 fgs!!!

GPs do not give PEP - and anyway would need to be started within 72hrs, and 13 & 14 yo giving each other belly piercings would not meet the criteria.

I'd get her to take it out (if you must) and use salt water to clean.

It's not the worst thing to have happened tbh.

I'm not sure what the police would do - no crime seems to have been committed, as far as I know.

hahahahaha
no they wouldn't
jeez

I’m utterly dismayed at how many “cool mums” there are on here who seem to think that it’s perfectly OK.

I wonder if the attitude would be the same if it had been done by a professional or the father (both arguably less likely to give the child sepsis)?

@PatButchersEarring did dd pay towards any of the equipment? Was the other child pierced? Were any others present? Did they film it?

Agreed

Also the don’t bother the NHS crowd. This is the point of the NHS - chec

Posted too soon. It’s not unreasonable for OP to take her daughter to the GP.

Ugh. Definitely get her to a doctor to make sure it’s healing properly. I’d be having serious words with her about how silly she has been.

There was a girl in my school who would pierce your belly button for a fiver, and even as a teen I recognised how stupid and unsafe that was.

I’m not a cool mum and neither do I think it’s ok. However I don’t think that it warrants a GP counselling the police or safeguarding, it’s a stupid teen thing which needs to be pulled up on firmly but in the grand scheme of possible risky teen activities it’s within the realms of normal and stupid as opposed to red flag. Presumably the girls are year 9, year 9’s do stupid things like this every day. Not sensible and not advisable but not a tragedy

Exactly. And as a Sexual Health nurse who works in Young Persons clinics - if this is the worst thing the OP has to deal with she's very lucky.

There's so much worse that 13 & 14 yo do unfortunately.