POLLish: Piercing Baby Ears

Hello Sunshine

My H was totally shocked when I told him that my parents had my ears pierced as a baby.  My grandmother did the same thing with my mother and her six sisters, and my aunts on my dad's side also were pierced as infants.H thinks this is just F'ed.  He says there's no way in hell I'm doing that to our future children.  I don't see anything wrong with it at all.WDYT?

crfische

Personally, I think it's ridiculous and stupid. But that's just my opinion.  

kikibaby

I've always thought it was ridiculous.  My mom didn't take me to get my ears pierced until I was old enough to ask, and that's the way it should be.  Why the hell does a baby need earrings?

wadingmoose

I'm going to go with my Mom's reasoning on this - anything permanent should be decided on by the child.  This includes piercings and baptisms.I wasn't pierced until I was in my teens - thankfully.  I ended up with an allergy to the metal and had real problems.  I have no idea what that would've been like for my Mom when I was a baby.I've never been baptized.

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt

I think that parents have their children's pain interest at heart - you wouldn't remember the pain of having your ears pierced as an infant.But, by the time the child is old enough to decide whether or not they want their ears pierced, the hole is pretty much permanent.So - I wouldn't do it. Everyone should be able to make the choice about what piercings they want, and part of that decision is knowing that it's probably going to hurt.

Night_Sprite

It sounds like an unnecessary path to an infection.  We got the option of piercing our ears at 13.  It worked fine. 

bintmejnuna

I wouldn't, only because I have a friend who never pierced her ears and has no desire to. I wouldn't want to take the choice away from my daughter.

mandybear7

I think it looks weird.

tidetravel

I won't do it.  I don't think it's cute.  If/when my daughter wants her ears pierced, I have no problem allowing her to get them done, but it should be her choice as to whether or not she wants to "endure" the pain.

sucrets4

My parents had mine done as an infant.  It was neat never having that memory of pain, lol.And moose, I disagree.  It's not permanent.  If you don't like them, you take them out and they close up.

wadingmoose

I don't remember getting pierced hurting - aside from the infections the allergy caused.  And that one time I had to get an earring surgically removed...

[Deleted User]

I think it looks silly and I wouldn't do that to that to my baby. Not necessarily because of the pain, more from the fact that I think it looks stupid. I also think baby headbands look stupid.

fangsiting

I'm with your husband.  That's f'ed up. 

Hello Sunshine

Why the hell does a baby need earrings? Heh.... my family is really big into jewellery and giving new babies earrings, bracelets, etc is common.  I still have the diamond studs and pinky ring that my grandparents bought when I was born!  FWIW, there IS a lot of crazy in my family.

txmom21

My mom didn't take me to get my ears pierced until I was old enough to askThis is what I did with my daughter. Plus, caring for the piercings is a pain at first, and I didn't want to be the one to have to do it. If she wanted her ears pierced, then she needed to be old enough to take care of them.

wadingmoose

Sucrets, mine don't close up.  I don't wear earrings for months at a time and I have no problems putting them back in at all.  I think I may have gone at least a year in the past simply because of the allergy to most earrings.  It's a pain always having to find gold studs.

laurenclaire1386

An infant doesn't care whether or not her ears are pierced, so I say wait until she's old enough to decide.  I had mine done when I was five, because I asked if I could.  It seems like an odd thing to force on an infant. I've never understood the point of it, but I don't have a problem with it.

Nebb

My ears were pierced when I was less than one year old, and I looked freaking adorible. I see nothing wrong with it. No infections or anything. I still have the little heart studs that I had when a was a baby.

kikibaby

It's like decorating your child.  Again- weird. And seriously, it doesn't even hurt.  I have had my ears piereced about... 10 times, because they close up within a month.  It does not hurt enough to make that a good reason.

vgmartinez

I had mine pierced when I was an infant and they eventually closed. I got them repierced when I was 7 because I wanted earrings...it was painful. I'm not sure if wew'll pierce our children's ears. It's true that they don't remember the pain but that doesn't mean they don't feel it as anyone else would.

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt

Sucrets, that isn't always true (that they'll close up). After a certain amount of time, they're always visible (if not open enough to put earrings in).I have 3 holes in each ear, but only wear earrings in the first. The other 2 haven't closed completely in 8+ years of not wearing earrings in them. I wish they would go away

Hello Sunshine

You wouldn't remember the pain of having your ears pierced as an infant.Funny thing is, I was about a year and a half old and I remember... not the pain, but I remember crying and my older brother (by 2 years) FREAKING out and yelling at everyone to stop hurting me.  My dad had to pick him up and take him out of the store, kicking and screaming.  I have a great bro LOL.

Audrey_03

I worked at a place that pierced ears when I was 16. I had to pierce the ears of newborns being brought home from the hospital -- srsly. On the upside, they're very still and they don't get upset. On the downside, I still felt awful because they were wee babies. I've also had to pierce the ears of toddlers. Toddlers are THE worst. The first ear they're okay with because they don't know what's going on... the second one... they're SCREAMING *and* crying while climbing over mom's head to get away from the bad lady with gun. I think it's best done when the kid is old enough to ask for it, and old enough to understand it WILL probably hurt and if you really want them pierced THAT badly, you need to sit still and not cry and try to not traumatize the poor high school girl who gets stuck doing the deed.

LesPaul

I waited until my daughters were old enough to decide for themselves.  It was around 7 years old or so when they wanted earrings. Where I used to live the pediatrician would pierce baby's ears.

tenofcups4me

I don't see the point of piercing them when they're babies and honestly on the rare occasions when I've seen babies with earrings, my gut reaction is "That's weird." I know of one couple who had their daughter's ears pierced as a baby and I never understood what their reasoning was.

crfische

Seriously. Why are we even bringing the memory of the pain into the picture? It's not like it's a torturous pain or a traumatic event. It shouldn't even be part of the equation for justifying the piercing of baby ears.I had mine done at 22 years old and I don't remember it.

missy68

No way.  I was allowed to get mine done at 12. I think it looks silly on babies (and my cousin had it done to her baby - I think it looks silly on her).

tidetravel

IMO, a child making the decision to get their ears pierced teaches them a (small) life lesson.  You want something, it comes with consequences and responsibilities (potential pain and having to take care of it).  It should be a part of growing up. 

wadingmoose

I never had a panic attack when getting my ears pierced.  It wasn't painful that I can remember.  I think that's some faulty reasoning.

georgia_bride09

I will wait until my {future} daughter asks. I had an earring get stuck inside my ear when I was four; I don't know when my ears were pierced. My dad had to dig it out with pliers. The same thing happened to my cousin. Not something my husband could stomach, so we're not going to do that to our kids. Once they removed the earring, I wans't allowed to get them re-pierced until I was (I think) ten; at that point I could take care of them. My sister wasn't allowed to get hers pierced until she was (I think) 13, and she was afraid of needles, and I had to get a 2nd hole for her to get her first (for her to be comfortable), but she claimed she really wanted her ears pierced. I think they grew up about a month later. I still have my 2nd holes, but I never wear anything in them.

kschwedic

I had my ears pierced when I was four--I can't remember if I asked for it or not, but I highly doubt that I did because I was a weenie then and still am (they've since closed up and I've never had them repeirced). My FSIL is currently pregnant and, if she has a girl, she plans on peircing her ears while she's an infant.  I would wait until the child is old enough to ask.