Ear piercing for babies.

Personally, I wouldn't have my child's ears pierced until they were at least three years old, but having said that, several cultures give their babies piercings of some kind... that's their way, and they have a religious reason for doing so. Their babies are note affected, so other cultures are going to follow suit. I don't think that, medically, there is any argument against it, and if you ponder on it, the baby's skin is softer and therefore it would probably be less painful, heal more quickly, as you would make sure the piercing was bathed and the earring turned in the required way, thus the baby never knowing anything different. After all, we are expected to take them for innocculations at six months and less, so really, I don't see that there's much difference apart from the fact that ear-piercings are an option. Therefore, Cloud, I feel it's just one more of those matters of choice or belief, and if a mother thinks it better to have their babies' ears pierced early in life, then that's their perrogative. Thank you for this interesting discussion, my friend, and Brightest Blessings.

OK, I am not trying to offend anyone so I hope it is just viewed as my opinion. I do not think any parent should pierce their children's ears until the child decides! Beyond that...I have never understood why parents did this to the child! It is way too easy for the child to get it snagged or rip it out. Then, once the lobe is ruined...forget it! They will have the scar for the rest of their life! And I have seen parents put those backs that screw on so they will not pop off! Ummm...it popping off is a safety feature!! Instead, like I said before, it just rips the baby's ear. Ouch! No! And people are so set against circumcision...but then turn around and pierce the baby's ears. Um, hello!

I agree with you and I did not get my daughters ears pierced. For me, I believed in respecting her and when she got older and decided for herself, then I would let her have it done, as she did. A few years ago she wanted her belly button pierced, at 15 yrs. I said no to this as she was underage, and although she had a few tantrums, now she is glad she didn't. I was at work today and a mother brought in her new born baby, I noticed the baby already had her ears pierced and she had a gold chain round her wrist. I do not like seeing any jewelery on babies, as you say, a baby is a baby, not a little doll to dress up.

One of my ex in-laws had both of the daughters' ears pierced as infants. There was no family custom or other practice being followed in those cases. The theory was apparently, "Well they screech and holler for a couple of minutes and then they forget all about it." I personally didn't think that was reason enough to justify it but to each their own, I believe. Personally, I left the idea of ear piercing up to both my girls, deciding that they could or would have it done when they asked for it themselves. At 16 and 13, they do both have pierced ears now... but one rarely even wears earrings. She finds them bothersome.

Honestly, I have nothing against small children having their ears pierced, but I think 2 weeks old is a little on the early side to be honest. There are some cultures who do piercings on their babies, it's their way of life and is based somewhat on their belief system too,. I guess it comes down to personal choice, and while this mother obviously chose to have it done, it's not something that I would ever have done to my daughter as a baby. She's 9 now and still hasn't shown an interest in having her ears pierced, so I guess in that respect, I'm lucky.

I had my daughter's ears pierced when she was about 8 months old. I did this because I figured it would be less painful in the long run to do it while she was little than to do it when she was older. Babies don't tend to mess with the ears during the "healing" stage after a piercing but older children will (and I just think the memory of the piercing would be there as they are older). I remember getting my ears pierced and it hurt. This way, I feel she was too young to remember having it done. She is 5 years old now and she loves changing her ear rings. I believe this is how she's learning to be a little girl. In my opinion, earrings aren't what make a little girl grow up too fast. What's making girls grow up too fast is the activities they are allowed to participate in and how early it's being allowed. That's just my opinion though. :)

In India Its actually customery to get girl's ears pierced as its consiodered auspiciou and tyhough no scientific proof is there the old ladies say it prevents hernia from developing. How far its true I don't know. Infact girl's ears are pierced when she is as old as twelve days as its painless then because her neres are not fully developed and child doesn't touch her ears so infection does not sets in. Personally I will get her ear's pierced when she is four and able to understand what it is all about. Infact we have a proper ceremony for this and whole family is invited and sort of function is organised like baby shower.

I have never understood why people pierce their baby's ears. I think that this should be a personal choice where the girl decides if this is something that should happen. I remember that after getting my ears pierced that I had a hard time sleeping on my sides and had to make sure that I always slept on the back of my head. It was extermely hard to get a good night's sleep. With that in consideration it seems almost cruel to pierce a baby's ears when you consider how much sleep they really need. To address your question about are girls growing up too fast ... absolutely. I have a hard time finding clothes for my toddler that don't look like their made for a teenager ... and don't even get me started on how teenagers dress!!!! LOL.

I got my oldest daughter's ears pierced when she was 11 months old. I got tired of the boy comments even while wearing pink. She only cried for a few minutes then it was over. She never had any problems with her ears or anything. Now that she's older, she can't wear cheap earrings. They have to be either pure gold or silver or her ears will get infected really bad. My youngest was around 3-4 years old when we got her ears pierced. We told her since she wanted them and she be good and didn't move she could buy something else. She sat there and didn't even move. People were starting to stop outside the store and watching her. As soon as the lady was done, she just simply said Ok, now can I get me a purse, lol. I don't think getting a babies ears pierced will make them grow up to fast. I think it's more for the parent, than the child. A baby could care less if they have a $ 5 dollar stud or a half a million dollar stud in there ears.

I agree. I have a little niece who has recently gotten her ears pierced, i was very surprised. I of course, being a good Aunt and sister, will never speak ill of her parents or their choice, but it will not be something I would choose if I'm ever blessed with a girl. I didn't recieve piercings of any kind while I lived with my parents, we had intended to get my ears pierced and never got around to doing it, so I got mine pierced at 18 when I moved across the country to go to school. I think many parents do it because they think it's pretty, or because their daughter is always being called he, but to me those are silly reasons. I think getting your ears pierced could be a wonderful memory for the daughter and her mother, something to plan, and celerbrate. I think when you do it while the child is oblivious to it, you lose that chance to celebrate. Society is constantly pushing our children into adulthood faster and faster, and this is just another way they do it. If I am ever blessed with a girl, I think 13 to 16 would be a good age (somewhere in between) as they would be old enough to request it, appreciate it and become responsible for the care.

I got my daughters ears pierced on her 1st birthday. She had VERY little hair and everyone said she looked like a boy! Even in a pink outfit.LOL She pulled at them and was always acting like they bothered her so I removed them. On her 10th birthday, She wanted her hair cut really short, and I let her since it was summer and she was old enough to decide. Well she will never do that again! Everyone kept calling her a boy. It does not help that she is a BIG tomboy and she wears clothes that are generally more boyish, never pink or frilly. So after a few months of this she decided she wanted her ears pierced to help look more like a girl. The hole was not grown up and although it was slightly painful, it was not as bad as getting them pierced. now with longer hair and less of the boy calling, she rarely wears them again.

Personally, I'm not fond of the idea of piercing a babies ears. Yes, it looks nice, and it will enhance the aesthetics of a baby in her frilly dress, or in his dress clothes, but at the same time, of what use does a baby have for jewelery? I like the idea of waiting to see if your child actually wants piercings before doing it.

Well I had my babys done at 2mo Just because my mom said that she did mine and she said because I always had them I never messed with them.And she was right because my baby is almost a year and she never messes with them say with her neckless we put it on her the day she came home and she never touches it.

How come? Haven't the mother thought of infections or something else before the practice? Baby is fragile and easy to be infected. Luckily this baby didn't get any hurt from this ear piecing. But for me, i will never ever to get my baby take this risk.

Believe it or not, I don't have my ears pierced and I'm almost 39 years old! I don't see where this can't be done safely for infants. But, I think getting babies' ears pierced is a cultural thing. In the culture I grew up in, girls didn't get their ears pierced until they started wearing jewelry or until their teens. But, not everyone does that. I, personally, think that a child's ears shouldn't be pierced until they are capable of making a decision that they want to do so. The reason why I never got my ears pierced is that I've never really liked to wear jewelry and it would be a waste of time and money to get them pierced if I don't really want to wear earrings.

I know my sister got her daughters ears piecred when she was a couple weeks old. Her reasoning was that the little girl would be used to her ears being pierced and not mess with them. My daughter is a couple weeks apart from my sisters daughter. I have not got her ears pieced. Per her dads request. My daughter is six and want her ears pierced now. I wish I would of gotten them done when she was a baby. Now I am going to wait til she is older. I don't think she would leave them alone it she got her ears piecred now. I think I will wait til she is 10 or 11 yrs old. Maybe even twelve the age I was when mine got pirced.

I have seen many babies and very young children with pierced ears and personally I find it horrific! I have even been unfortunate enough to be nearby a two or three year old girl who screamed and cried while having her own ears pierced. It tore my heart out. I don't think you are old fashioned at all. I too believe it to be an unnecessary practice. My daughter is 5 years old and although she is not with me I would like to think that her ears would not be pierced until she was much older! Maybe 10 and above if she wanted them done..... It would only be on her request though.

I have 3 girls and I waited until they asked to have it done and I thought they were old enough to take care of the cleaning and changing with little help from me.

Oh no, I hate this, it is only to satisfy the parents. I think its totally wrong and horrible for parents to do this to their child. What if the baby dosnt want to be like a pin cushion when she grows up, and the parents have taken that away from her. It is ok to wait until she is old enough to actually ask to get it done.

It's definitely a personal decision. I have mentioned in a previous discussion that i have a Mother in Law & Sister in Law who are both covered in piercings so you can imagine what sort of influece they have on their 6 young nieces & more coming nieces & nephews. Anyway, 1 of my nieces saw her Aunty's tongue stud & wanted one of her own - she was told no but was allowed to have her ears pierced if she wanted to. She said she did & had them done around the age of 2 i think. She's still very happy with her earrings as far as i know (we don't see them often but she'll be 4 this year). I had mine done when i was little maybe 5 or 6 i think, i had my belly button done at 16 - i don't think we have laws here in Australia on things like that (Aunty with the tongue ring is 17 & covered in them) - only on Tattoos! I don't think i'll get my daughter's done for a while yet - she's 10 months but maybe 2 would be an ok age - it all depends though coz she has very sensitive skin & i don't want her to get all infected or anything - whether i clean them or not. As for something someone else said about making extra work if you have your newborn's ears pierced - that's not entirely try - a bit of warm salt water isn't exactly much effort & since you bath them, they get cleaned then too - along with the baby!!!