Ear piercing children/infants

[Boozy]

On the one hand, I wish my parents had pierced my ears as an infant because then I'd have pierced ears and could wear all the stunningly gorgeous earrings I see and I wouldn't remember the pain lol.

Me too! I didn't get my ears pierced until I was 16, and it hurt. I have a low threshold for pain, and I bitched and moaned about it for days. I told my mom that if she'd done it for me when I was an infant I wouldn't have had to go through all that.

And yet, if I were to have a child, I wouldn't do it to them. Unless we're talking about fixing a harelip or something, I think it's important that people make their own decision about body modifications.

I can only imagine an American Mother having a baby at a Mexican hospital, after she discovers the nurses have 'helpfully' pierced her babies ears for her.

Can you say "International incident"?

[Flyndaran]

I don't give a care what is culturally normal. An innocent's safety is more important.
I even am against cirumcisions on children, partly because of a thread from this very forum.

[IDrinkaRum]

I didn't get my daughter's ears pierced. BIL#1 and his wife got their oldest daughter's ears pierced, MIL gave her diamond earrings, and the child lost them. Then she decided she didn't want to wear earrings anymore, and the holes closed up. Then 2 years later, she wanted the holes back, so they had to re-pay to have her ears re-pierced.

If Child Rum wants her ears pierced (just like me! I was 17 when I got mine done though), I'd like her pediatrician to do them. However, she thinks I have "boo boos" in my ears.

[PepperElf]

my own personal thoughts on this... granted yes technically parents have the right to do this to their children... i just think the child should be of an age or mentally capable of knowing what is happening to them and being able to say whether or not they want the piercing.

my mother took sis and i to get our ears pierced. I don't remember how old I was... maybe 8 or 9? Sis is about 1.5 years older (one day off).

we were both involved in the decision, it was something we wanted. so yes, it hurt, but we were willing participants.



i just feel bad for the infants and tiny children who don't have a choice and don't know what's happening to their bodies other than "Mommy that HURTS!" at the initial piercing, and then all the pain and soreness that follows.

I honestly think those parents aren't thinking things through.

[fireheart17]

As far as ear-piercing goes, I honestly think it should be for children of about 4, maybe 5 years old and up. The ONLY exception being for religious or cultural reasons.
In Australia, from what I know, there's no legal baring on ear-piercing, but for most other body piercings, the minimum age without a parent or guardian is 16. For nipple and genital piercings, it's 18. There's also meant to be a cooling-off period I believe...
I'll agree with the others as well, there is more than one way to show that your child is male or female. From my experiences at a supermarket, I've made only 3 mistakes with babies genders and that's it.

[BroomJockey]

The ONLY exception being for religious or cultural reasons.

No offence intended, but that's about as useful as saying "you're not allowed to drive drunk unless you promise to be really really careful." And by that, I mean anyone can just say it's cultural reasons.

[Fashion Lad!]

The thing with ear piercing is if at the end of the day you don't want your ears pierced, you don't wear earrings. Yes, you'll probably always have holes in your ears, but it's not like they're very noticeable. After time, they probably start to heal to a degree.

At the same time, I would never pierce my infant. That's a decision my child would have to make on their own. Or, unless their mother decides it's time and in that case she would win because she's the boss. (I'm kidding.)

I'm against ear piercing infants, but, in the end, it could be just like a really bad hair cut: correctable and or manageable.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Just saying, female genital mutilation and footbinding were both handed out due to cultural reasons, so it's not really a reasonable excuse.

Not comparing them to ear piercing, just saying that anything no matter how awful can be blanketed under that phrase to become acceptable if you use that to excuse one thing like ear piercing.