Would you pierce your baby’s ears?

The topic of piercing children’s ears is something many feel strongly on. I’m not sure I’d consider it child abuse, but I was shocked to see the video of a baby that recently swept social media, reigniting the debate.

If you didn’t catch it, here it is:

I personally got my ears pierced when I was 8. I noticed a lot of other girls in my year at school had earrings, and decided that I’d like to get my ears pierced too. My parents discussed it and agreed that they were both happy for me to have my ears pierced, and decided that I’d have it done in the summer holidays when it wouldn’t cause disruption to P.E. lessons.

I plan to do the same with Autumn, waiting until she expresses an interest to have hers pierced. However, I was curious to find out other people’s views.

Agreeable to piercing

It gets it done

Lauren’s Mummy

My daughter is 15 months now but I pierced her ears when she was 3 months old. I was a bit anxious as a first time mummy because of the pain she may experience, but she cried for a few minutes and the anxiety was over. I chose to pierce her ears early because in my family we tend to pierce our ears by 6 months. My partners mother was obsessed with the idea that my daughter needed her ears pierced to avoid looking like a boy. ( sounds silly I know) I don’t think ear piercing is mean or child abuse at all, it really depends on choice. The good thing is that babies have mums or family members to clean their piercings daily.

Young Girl Ear Piercing

I can understand this view. After all, most girls do get their ears pierced in the end. In a way, it’s kinder to do it when they won’t remember the pain for long. Their parents are also completely in charge of looking after the fresh piercings too, which will ensure it is properly looked after.

Another reason that people may choose to pierce their child’s ears so young is for cultural reasons.

Cultural reasons

Segilola of Segilola Salami says that she thinks it’s a cultural thing. She’s of Nigerian descent and says that it’s very rare to find a Nigeran female who hasn’t pierced her ears. When she had her little girl, she was actually told off by family. This was because she waited until 6 months old to have her ears pierced.

She herself says that she would have been very upset in primary school if her ears hadn’t have been pierced, presumably as she would have been the odd one out. She thinks that if anything, having your ears pierced as a baby is less traumatic than when it is done as an older child. Her daughter barely even cried when she had her ears pierced. The worst part of it was actually the sound of the piercing gun, as it made them all jump.

 She feels that people need to stop using the term ‘child abuse’ regarding piercing a baby’s ears, as it makes real child abuse seem harmless. Segilola doesn’t understand how anyone could compare piercing a child’s ears in a safe and sterile manner to a child who has been physically, sexually or emotionally abused. She feels it’s wrong on so many levels and that if this is considered as child abuse, it reduces the seriousness of how people may view real child abuse.
Young Nigerian Girl Pierced Ears

Against piercing

It’s cruel and dangerous

The Rose Beauty Files

I honestly think ear piercing in young children in cruel, they’ve not finished growing and are unable to make their own decision about it. Don’t get me wrong, I love piercings and tattoos but I got mine when I was old enough to choose. Babies in particular, do not understand what’s happening, they just feel the pain which is wrong. Something else to consider is how active babies and toddlers are, what if the jewellery gets ripped out during play? Their ears will permanently be scarred, purely because their parents wanted some gems in their ears. Yes kids grow up and may end up full of piercings and tattoos but why hurry up that process? Enjoy your kids as they are and let them make the choice when they’re old enough!

Baby Crying

It’s not their decision

Parenting Teens

As a mum to a teenager and a tween, it is certainly challenging. I have just recently been through the ‘Mum, I want to dye my hair’ saga. After a discussion with my son, listening to what he had to say and what his reasons were for dying his hair, I went ahead and helped him do it.

Recently, I have seen the pictures and video of an upset child after getting their ears pierced. One sentence entered my mind while watching it “My body, my choice”. While I have nothing against anyone getting their ears pierced, body modifications, tattoos, dying their hair – whatever – it must be the choice of the recipient. The question remains though, how can a young child make an informed choice?

As parents, we are tasked with guiding, supporting and loving our children. Do we as parents have the right to inflict our desire to have our child look a certain way by taking the decision to put them through pain all in the name of fashion?

While I understand the rationale for parents wanting their child to have pierced ears, I would love them to take a step back and wait until the child is old enough to ask for and understand what they are doing. It’s their body, so it should be their choice.

Child Thinking

I can definitely see the points that all these ladies make. On Twitter, someone actually told me that they had their ears pierced when they were 2. They were so glad their parents had done it. They like having pierced ears but think they’d have been too chicken to do it later on!

When it comes to Autumn though, I think she’s already been in enough pain with her operation and teething in her short life. I don’t want to inflict any pain on her that I don’t have to. As there are no cultural implications for us, I’ll be doing what my parents did with me. We’ll only get Autumn’s ears pierced when she wants. We’ll also have a discussion together first. Unlike my parents, I won’t be going to Claire’s, though. I’ll be taking Autumn to the tattoo and piercing shop that I go to for my piercings. I choose to use them because they’re clean, friendly and reputable. I know that when the time comes, they’ll be great with her.

Lucy At Home

13 thoughts on “Would you pierce your baby’s ears?”

  1. Such a hard topic to speak about especially with so much stigma and the word “abuse” being used freely. I agree with the comment about the relation between ears pierced and abuse should stop as the level of abuse to getting ears pierced just doesn’t compare.

    My daughter had hers peirced at 6 months old because it’s what we tend to do in my family. I got mine peirced as a baby and I’m thankful for that as I now have a phobia of needles there was no way I’d get them peirced. And I would have hated not getting them done.

    What a perfectly written post about the topic that is not biased in the slightest x

  2. I feel quite strongly about this. I think getting a baby’s ears pierced is selfish. The parent is only doing it for themselves, it’s like they’re treating their baby as a fashion accessory. Although the pain is brief, it is an unnecessary pain. Why put your baby through it? Jabs are bad enough but we do that for the greater good. What does a baby need earrings for?? I agree that once the child is old enough to ask for piercings then it’s a matter for discussion and it comes down to parental choice. Interesting post #blogcrush

  3. No I wouldn’t have pieced my babies ears but that was my decision. The thing about being a parent is it is our choice on how we bring up our chidlren. Do we bottle or breast feed, do we dress them in silly outfits, do we send them to pre-school or keep them at home, do we feed them a vegetarian diet…there are so many choices on a daily basis. I don’t think piecing a babies ears is abuse as abuse is to treat someone with cruelty and that is not any parents intention when they are having their babies ears pieced in my opinion. Each to their own I say but no, I wouldnt do it as I don’t think its in the best interest of the baby. That is the difference. #blogcrush

  4. Growing up, I always wished my parents had done mine before I could remember it because I was too scared to do it but finally did when I was like, 11 years old.
    As a Mom now, I didn’t do either of my girls and they’re both under the age of 5. They can make that decision when they want to because I don’t want to inflict pain on them and now I see why my parents didn’t do mine lol

  5. I don’t think its abuse and think the outrage should be saved for topics that are more worthy of it. That being said, we waited until my daughter was five and starting asking for them. We decided she was old enough to make that choice and responsible enough to keep them clean and properly care for them. She was super excited and I’m happy with the route we took #thatfridaylinky

  6. I have no problem with piercings tattoos or whatever. Except only when your child is older enough to decide for themselves. Otherwise no and babies definitely not Thank you for linking to #ThatFridayLinky Please come back next week for

  7. I remember being desperate to have my ears pierced after my best friend got hers done aged 6. I think I nagged my parents EVERY birthday after that until they finally let me (aged 13!). Now I have my own children, I think I would wait until they were maybe 9 or 10 – so that they can look after the piercings and enjoy wearing nice earrings. I think the novelty might have worn off if you’ve had them all your life? Interesting discussion! I love a good debate! (just a quick reminder to add the linky badge to your post) #blogcrush

  8. That video actually made me feel sick to watch. It’s hard enough getting my babies vaccinated without feeling awful at the pain of the jab…but that’s for their own good. There is no good being done by piercing. It is a permanent change to a person’s body, which is something I believe should absolutely be their choice to make (I also feel the same about circumcision, unless it’s a medical necessity). I have some friends who have never had their ears pierced because they didn’t want it done, and I’m so glad for them that their parents didn’t make that choice for them.

    And as an aside, they use guns in that video, which is often the case when babies/children are pierced. They are so unhygienic!

    #postsfromtheheart

  9. So tricky isn’t it? I think culture certainly plays a part. For us we’ll wait until our daughter asks for them pierced and be sure that it’screally what she wants. But I certainly wouldn’t condemn someone for making different choices. #PostsFromTheHeart

  10. I had both my daughters’ ears pieced at three months old with no problems at all. They re now nine and seven years old and love wearing earrings. Too much fuss is made about this issue and we should not be made to feel guilty if we took this decision for our little girls. In the opinion of myself of myself, and my husband, the younger they have it done the better.

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