Is it Cruel to Pierce Your Baby’s Ears

[Wobbles]

Click HERE to read the article on Momtastic and keep the debate healthy

An old article but an ongoing discussion among parents!

 

[loeylo]

Personally I think it is.

Firstly, it is putting a child through pain for something which is not necessary. It is also putting the child at risk of infection.

Secondly, it is making a permanent change to the body of someone else, who has no power to say no. Even after earrings are removed, there is still a mark left where the earrings went.

We didn't get ours done until we were 8. It was almost a rite of passage for us. We had been asking for years by that point, and were always told when we turn 8. It was a big event, something to look forward to. It meant our parents though we were "grown up" enough to look after them. Although I rarely wear earrings, I like having the option to. I own lots of nice earrings.

There is no way Gracie will be getting hers done until at least school age. I also think it looks pretty tacky on young kids, as it has purely been done for the pleasure of the parent and not the kid.

 

[vaniilla]

I'm not sure if cruel is the right word, I don't think it's done with bad intentions I just don't think it's necessary, it seems wrong to do something to their body without their consent that isn't beneficial in any way. For us as kids it was made a big deal thing, getting your ears pierced was a sign that you were grown up/mature enough to look after them.

 

[babyjan]

If I had a daughter I would wait, personally not a fan of it. I got my ears peirced when I was 8 and I remember wanting them so my mom took me to get them done.

 

[RainbowDrop_x]

My oldest DD had been asking to get her ears pierced for years. She had friends who had them done and so she wanted the same. I put it off until her 6th birthday when all she asked for for her birthday was to have her ears pierced. We made a big deal of it, she picked the earrings etc etc etc and it was done. I have NEVER heard a scream like it. She cried for hours about the pain. She wouldn't sleep unless she was propped up for 3 days. She wouldn't turn them, she wouldn't let me turn them. She wouldn't let me near them to clean them because she was convinced it was going to feel the same as the actual piercing itslef. Fast forward a few weeks, infection.

Fast forward to DD2 me and my husband went back and forth on it before she was even born. We made the decision to get them done young. So 5 months old she got them done. She cried for 2 minutes and then she was fine. I had no issues with her sleeping, cleaning them, turning them and most of all, no infections. They do not bother her at all. If she doesn't want them when she's older, she can always take them out but for the amount of hard work it was with DD1 there was no way I was going through that again. I totally get some people are against it and that's their choice and their prerogative NOT to get their babies ears done but I don't agree that it gives those people the right to scream cruelty or abuse. And I certainly don't think they look tacky

 

[.Mrs.B.]

I think people don't do it to be cruel, but ultimately yes, it is.
Nobody needs their ears pierced, it is purely for vanity reasons and I think because it's such an old tradition people don't really think it through. It is putting a painful hole through someones body - someone who is too young to object. There really is no good enough reason to do it. It's not 'saving' anyone from having it done when older because they may not want it done when older, plenty of people don't and it's down to individual choice.

I also personally know two people who have had earrings rip through their ear as children. It can happen easily in play and even when the piercing is fully healed.

Even if the initial piercing didn't hurt, I still would not have wanted my babies to have to sleep on uncomfortable studs or hoops while they are unable to be taken out. People can argue that they are not uncomfortable to sleep on but unless you are the baby, you will never know.

I don't agree when people say they look 'tacky', but I think it does come with a stigma of parents who are following out of date traditions without considering that what they have actually done is put a hole or two in their babies body for fashion purposes.