baby ear piercing

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 4/16/2010 1:44:13 AM
Author: Cehrabehra


but I've met more men who wish they weren't circumcised and that's a very popular option in the united states.

i heard it is 50/50 now. if we had boys i wouldn't of circumcise them either.

 

[pinkstars]

I''m another one who got their ears pierced at a young age(under 1, I don''t remember how old I was.) I''m glad my mom did it then. The only thing I''m truly sad about involving my ears is that I''ve lost some of the earrings that I had as a baby. I had some genuine topaz earrings and now I think I can find one of a set.

If we have a girl on day, I would like to get her ears pierced when she''s a baby so that she doesn''t have to remember the pain later. I don''t have a problem with little girls or babies having earrings. I guess it''s something I''m comfortable with since all of my cousins and I had our ears pierced when we were babies.

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Date: 4/15/2010 11:22:15 AM
Author: E B

Date: 4/15/2010 10:20:40 AM
Author: hawaiianorangetree

NO you are probably not wrong, but a 4 month olds ears would probably be alot easier to care for and keep clean than a 9 year old who likes to play in the sandpit everyday and get her extremely long hair caught around the back of the studs and then cries and carries on when you try and clean them.

I can''t say that I agree. I can''t imagine my son sitting still while I clean a very *tender* area near his head. The nine year old might whine more, but at least she can understand what I need to help her with.

Piercings are a responsibility, and if wearing her hair in a ponytail and keeping her head sand-free is what it takes to avoid infection during the healing process, that''s what she''ll (my hypothetical daughter, that is) need to do.

Well that is easier said than done. As you said, yours is a hypothetical daughter, mine is not.

 

[bee*]

I don''t find it to be barbaric but I really don''t like the look of a baby with pierced ears. I got mine done at 10 after begging my parents for about 2 years and although it did hurt, I knew it would at that age and was prepared to go through it and keep them nice and clean afterwards. My mother wanted to wait until I was 18 but she got sick of listening to me moan. If it''s done due to culture, then I can understand but otherwise I think that waiting until the child is old enough to decide whether she wants them done or not is right.

 

[oddoneout]

Getting ears pierced does not hurt that much. Who''s to say the baby "won''t remember" the pain? I say let the kid decide later when they can take of of thier own piercings. I got then pierced when I was a baby and now the holes are too low and one got ripped out in the playground.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 4/15/2010 9:59:43 PM
Author: ksinger

Date: 4/15/2010 9:43:13 PM

Author: katamari

I see it as nothing more than a cultural choice.

ditto.


But I still think HH is a barbarian....


(I kid I kid!!

)

Don''t make me club you and drag you back to my cave...

 

[monarch64]

I have mixed feelings on the subject. First, I don''t think it''s barbaric or abusive to pierce a very young child''s ears, or circumsize them. To each their own. I think babies look awfully cute with tiny little earrings but I''ve never had a child and haven''t dealt with caring for a baby''s new piercings, so for me it''s just aesthetics.

Something else for people to think about is the risk of allergic reactions. Typically the skin itself will react and you will see a rash or infection, etc. I begged my mother to take me to get my ears pierced for about a year from when I was in 1st grade on into 2nd grade. My grandmother stepped in and said she would take me if my mom would not. So of course, my mom was pressured into taking me to the mall, getting my ears pierced at a kiosk, and letting me wear earrings. I had no problems with my earlobes. I took really good care of the new piercings, and I had so much fun picking out earrings.

I can''t recall exactly how I discovered that I had a problem, but I think I noticed one day while I was at school that when I rubbed my neck I could feel lumps. Lumps that weren''t there before. I told my mom and she discovered several more, in my neck, on the sides of my head, in the back of my head. I ended up having to endure a barrage of tests, several doctor''s visits, time out of school, because it was feared I had Hodgkin''s disease. (Cancer of the lymph nodes.) I had an allergy to nickel, and instead of my earlobes breaking out and getting infected, my body was fighting/rejecting the earrings internally. Freaky.

I had to get rid of the earrings. I let my holes close up until I was 14 and then I pierced them again myself because my mother refused to let me go to the mall and have them done again. I still have a nickel allergy and can only wear certain earrings, and even the ones I am typically able to wear I sometimes have problems with depending on subtle changes in diet or body chemistry.

I probably would not pierce a baby''s ears but only based on what happened to me. I can''t imagine having to go through all that as an infant!

 

[mrscushion]

I think in many cultures this is common, but I will certainly not do it to my daughters, if I have any. Who knows whether the girl will even want to have pierced ears when she grows up? It seems to me that the practice just corresponds to the mom''s idea of what looks good.

I think the arguments of saving the kid a later ordeal are not valid. When the girl wants pierced ears, she''ll get them.

 

[everything posh]

I have two girls and will not be getting their ears pierced until they ask for it. My oldest which is 5 1/2 had some interest, but we happened to be in Claires getting hair accessories and a little girl was getting her ears pierced. She started screaming and crying and as soon as my daughter saw that she decided to wait a while longer! She''s fine with clip on earrings.

 

[RaiKai]

Date: 4/16/2010 9:10:34 AM
Author: monarch64

Something else for people to think about is the risk of allergic reactions. Typically the skin itself will react and you will see a rash or infection, etc.

Being exposed to nickel via pierced ears over the long term is said to be how many women develop the nickel allergies. Unlike with wearing say a ring containing nickel on your finger where the skin is less likely to be broken, piercings have a tendency to have broken skin (and even after healing sometimes it becomes broken again when jamming earrings back in and so on).

While I know in some places it is cultural (which to me does not in itself say it's fine to do), in my experience the parents who have pierced their babies ears did it admittedly for aesthetics (it looks "cute"). I just have a hard time thinking that is a good idea. And again, it just for me really comes down to my belief that body modification (which piercing IS) - unless it is medically necessary - should be a personal choice.

After reading more of this thread I also have to say I guess I don't even understand the "saving them the pain later" argument. It is still painful at the time. Babies still cry! To me knowing that it may come with some pain is part of making that personal decision - I knew it might sting a bit! For some kids they may not be willing to have this pain to get the result - fair enough! That is their personal choice. I don't see how that means they should have had it done earlier. If they were able to make decisions like that as an infant they probably would not have been less pain-averse! To me to use that as reason to get it done earlier is more about the parents preferences than what the child may prefer. Sometimes parents do need to make decisions for their child that exposes them to pain....medical decisions need to be made, safety decisions made....but I do not see why this makes sense for an aesthetic choice.

Most kids are going to go through more painful experiences in their young lives. Needle vaccinations, scraped knees, broken bones or more, unfortunately. You can't save them from every possible pain they are going to experience. An ear piercing...which is a VOLUNTARY pain, is not that big of a deal for a kid to do when they are ready to get it done.

And not every girl wants pierced ears! I have met many women in my life who chose not to get their ears pierced, or removed piercings (some that were there when they were infants). Why take this choice away?

There are boys who DO want pierced ears (my brother has them for example) - should they start to be done too to "save them the pain" later too? But most people don't pierce their baby boys ears....I suspect because they don't want to make that decision for their son who is more likely NOT to want them in their minds....which again makes me think it is more of an aesthetic thing then really a "pain" argument. Otherwise, if it is not such a big deal and "someone can just remove them anyway", why don't we do both boys and girls ears so they can decide later whether they want to wear earrings or not?

 

[kenny]

I do my best to respect the customs of other cultures.
But I still reserve the right to judge actions accepted by a culture.
There are even customs of my own culture I disagree with.

I do not respect executing people for being gay.
I do not respect female circumcision.
I do not respect cutting off the hand of a thief.
I do not respect eating dogs or cats.
Though it was long ago I do not respect Mayan human sacrifices.

Clearly piercing a baby's ears is not in the same league as these, but I would not come down so hard on someone who feels it is wrong.
Just because a culture condones something does not mean you have to respect it.
There's nothing wrong with thinking for yourself.

 

[princesss]

Date: 4/16/2010 11:26:19 AM
Author: kenny
I do my best to respect the customs of other cultures.
But I still reserve the right to judge actions accepted by a culture.
There are even customs of my own culture I disagree with.

I do not respect executing people for being gay.
I do not respect female circumcision.
I do not respect cutting off the hand of a thief.
I do not respect eating dogs or cats.
Though it was long ago I do not respect Mayan human sacrifices.

Clearly piercing a baby''s ears is not in the same league as these, but I would not come down so hard on someone who feels it is wrong.
Just because a culture condones something does not mean you have to respect it.
There''s nothing wrong with thinking for yourself.

Out of curiosity, Kenny - how are cats and dogs different from cows or chickens or pigs? Just because we''ve marked them as different doesn''t mean all cultures do. In many places they''re animals people wouldn''t dream of keeping in the house, and viewed largely as pests. (I know I''m totally off-topic, OP, sorry! I''m just really interested in this line of thinking.)

 

[kenny]

I totally understand the reasoning behind eating all animals if you eat any animals, but we don't just operate 100% from reasoning.
My pet dog (or a cockroach) is not appetizing to me like chicken or steak is.
I guess it is my culture, or just what I'm familiar with but there it is.

I would also totally understand the logic of keeping any animal as a pet and falling in love with it as part of the family, be it a cat or a leach.

We hold associations with certain animals, fairly or unfairly.
You can argue that it does not make sense, but a crying hungry cute furry kitten gets a different reaction out of me than a hungry worm. Sorry.

I think most of us hold views that do not make sense to the rational mind.

 

[Shoopy]

In my culture it is normal to pierce a baby's ears. I had mine done before I turned 1 as did all of the girls in my family. I never missed the opportunity to pierce them myself, I do not see my mom as a horrible mother for doing it, and never had problems with infections. ETA: Just to add a little more on the culture thing, for DD's baby shower we recieved 7 pairs of earrings. It's something that is almost expected amongst my circle and they're all in shock that I haven't done it already.

I will be having it done to DD probably before she turns 1 or a little after.

You can call me a child abuser if you wish. I am not so that's that.

Another ETA: I used to pierce ears for a living for about 2 years. I did from 6 weeks and up. The older infants would cry, then do a little sniffle, and get over it. The newborns would cry, get a pacifier, and get over it. DD cried harder when she received her vaccines than the way these babies cried when their ears were pierced.

 

[princesss]

Date: 4/16/2010 1:16:16 PM
Author: kenny
I totally understand the reasoning behind eating all animals if you eat any animals, but we don''t just operate 100% from reasoning.
My pet dog (or a cockroach) is not appetizing to me like chicken or steak is.
I guess it is my culture, or just what I''m familiar with but there it is.

I would also totally understand the logic of keeping any animal as a pet and falling in love with it as part of the family, be it a cat or a leach.

We hold associations with certain animals, fairly or unfairly.
You can argue that it does not make sense, but a crying hungry cute furry kitten gets a different reaction out of me than a hungry worm. Sorry.

I think most of us hold views that do not make sense to the rational mind.

Makes sense. I was just curious because the other things you listed were (IMO) human rights issues, so that example really stuck out to me. I spent 4 years in college having these conversations, so I get excited anytime I see the chance for one again!

 

[zoebartlett]

I wasn''t allowed to get my ears pierced until I was 12. If we have kids, I''ll probably have my daughter(s) wait until they''re old enough to be responsible for taking care of cleaning/changing their own ears and earrings. I don''t think it''s barbaric to pierce a baby''s ears, but I don''t love the look. If others choose to have their baby''s ears pierced, I don''t judge, but it''s not a choice I''d make.

 

[Bleed Burnt Orange]

I had my ears pierced when I was a baby. I will probably have my daughter''s ears pierced as a baby.

I don''t understand it being barbaric just because it''s done to a baby. The fact that it''s done at all to anyone for an accessory is pretty strange, no?

I think at least a parent that does it allows their baby to be pretty instead of their child asking for it later on out of precociousness or some kind of peer pressure situation. What do I know...I''m not a parent. I hope never to have girls. I suck at being a girl myself.

 

[Kay]

I begged my mom to let me get my ears pierced all through junior high and she finally relented when I was in 8th grade. She did not have pierced ears and was tired of clip-on earrings, so we got it done together. It was done at a mom and pop jewelry store by a middle aged woman with a piercing gun. I had no idea there was such a problem with guns -- my holes are properly placed. Personally, I could not have it done with a piercing needle because the sight of a needle makes me woozy.

When DD was born, I asked DH whether he thought it was better to have her ears pierced as an infant (so we could care for them) or wait until she was a pre-teen and able to deal with it herself. (I think it is just too problematic with in-between ages.) His reaction made it clear that he thinks piercing a baby''s ears is ridiculous. I''m glad we didn''t do it, because it would just be one more thing to worry about between avoiding infection and getting earrings caught on things. I already struggle to get t-shirts over DD''s head (especially going past her ears), so I would not want earrings in the way. Plus, she has such a fresh-faced, innocent cuteness that adorning her with jewelry just seems silly and incongruous. Just my personal preference of course.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Date: 4/16/2010 6:39:49 AM
Author: oddoneout
Getting ears pierced does not hurt that much. Who's to say the baby 'won't remember' the pain? I say let the kid decide later when they can take of of thier own piercings. I got then pierced when I was a baby and now the holes are too low and one got ripped out in the playground.

Studies have shown that babies do "remember the pain" even though they won't be able to verbalize it. The studies were actually done on circumcised males because pediatricians used to argue that babies brain's were not far enough developed to remember pain so there was no need for anesthesia. Now it is standard of care to do a nerve block before the procedure.

As for the ear piercing, I would not do that for my own daughter as an infant. I will allow her do it when she is old enough to want it, understand that it will be painful, and clean them. For me I was able to do all those things at 7, and after much fighting with my parents, I got them done.

However, I do not think piercing the ear's of an infant it is barbaric or child abuse and don't pass judgement on parents who decide to do that.

 

[oddoneout]

Date: 4/16/2010 8:22:36 PM
Author: LtlFirecracker

Date: 4/16/2010 6:39:49 AM

Author: oddoneout

Getting ears pierced does not hurt that much. Who''s to say the baby ''won''t remember'' the pain? I say let the kid decide later when they can take of of thier own piercings. I got then pierced when I was a baby and now the holes are too low and one got ripped out in the playground.

Studies have shown that babies do ''remember the pain'' even though they won''t be able to verbalize it. The studies were actually done on circumcised males because pediatricians used to argue that babies brain''s were not far enough developed to remember pain so there was no need for anesthesia. Now it is standard of care to do a nerve block before the procedure.


As for the ear piercing, I would not do that for my own daughter as an infant. I will allow her do it when she is old enough to want it, understand that it will be painful, and clean them. For me I was able to do all those things at 7, and after much fighting with my parents, I got them done.


However, I do not think piercing the ear''s of an infant it is barbaric or child abuse and don''t pass judgement on parents who decide to do that.

Thank you for saying it a lot better than I could.

 

[FrekeChild]

Oh, since I forgot to post it, I got my ears pierced at 4 after begging my mom for quite some time. I don''t remember it hurting at all, but she was the one who had to deal with it.

I would say either as a baby or as an older child with some sense of responsibility. I imagine that my mom had a heck of a time cleaning my ears, especially because at that age, I was really into playing in the dirt.

For the record, my tragus took a year to heal (thick piece of cartilage, that one) and my rook never healed, and I took it out after 3 years.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I didn't realize piercing guns were so bad either. I'm pretty sure all my ear piercings (2 sets of holes, one when I was about 6 months old and one in 8th grade), my cartilage piercing, and the holes in both ears halfway between my cartilage and ear lobes were all done with guns. Out of all of those, I had to take one out (my left middle piercing) because it got really infected (the piercing was done when I was in college) though my right middle was perfectly fine and still is.

I had my belly button pierced a couple years ago at a reputable piercing place with a needle and it freaked me out. That was a BIG needle!!! And he did it crooked. Not happy about that.

ETA: Is it weird that I want to get a real gemstone and gold belly button ring made?

But I'm afraid to take my current one out because I'm afraid I won't be able to put it back in!

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 4/16/2010 1:47:19 PM
Author: fiery
In my culture it is normal to pierce a baby''s ears. I had mine done before I turned 1 as did all of the girls in my family. I never missed the opportunity to pierce them myself, I do not see my mom as a horrible mother for doing it, and never had problems with infections. ETA: Just to add a little more on the culture thing, for DD''s baby shower we recieved 7 pairs of earrings. It''s something that is almost expected amongst my circle and they''re all in shock that I haven''t done it already.


I will be having it done to DD probably before she turns 1 or a little after.


You can call me a child abuser if you wish. I am not so that''s that.


Another ETA: I used to pierce ears for a living for about 2 years. I did from 6 weeks and up. The older infants would cry, then do a little sniffle, and get over it. The newborns would cry, get a pacifier, and get over it. DD cried harder when she received her vaccines than the way these babies cried when their ears were pierced.

my daughter didn''t even acknowledge the piercings. She made a little face but she was O-U-T asleep and could have cared less.

I do want to say that if you''re going to do your daughter''s you should do it sooner rather than later. After a point they DO start to mess with them and getting them to keep still for cleaning is harder. A baby/infant is much easier to deal with than a toddler. Pretty much anything between 8 mos and 8 years is an extra challenge.

 

[arjunajane]

I was in a pharmacy a couple of weeks ago, and had to wait almost 40 minutes for my prescription whilst both the owner and her assistant pierced the ears of a baby (maybe around 3-4months? with her mother).

It took aaggeesss to get her to stay still enough to even prepare to do it. The owner was doing one side whilst her assistant was supposed to do the other at the same time (with guns).
The assistant however went off maybe a second after the owner and I'm pretty sure his side ended up not level, because of course the baby moved.

The look of shock when they did it, than pain and disbelief, then she started bawling her eyes out - she was inconsolable.
Sorry, but I don't buy that that baby didn't feel any pain

It was actually quite a surreal and odd thing to watch..if I'm being honest, I did not approve and said so to my partner when I (finally) got home.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 4/17/2010 4:55:43 AM
Author: arjunajane
I was in a pharmacy a couple of weeks ago, and had to wait almost 40 minutes for my prescription whilst both the owner and her assistant pierced the ears of a baby (maybe around 3-4months? with her mother).


It took aaggeesss to get her to stay still enough to even prepare to do it. The owner was doing one side whilst her assistant was supposed to do the other at the same time (with guns).

The assistant however went off maybe a second after the owner and I''m pretty sure his side ended up not level, because of course the baby moved.


The look of shock when they did it, than pain and disbelief, then she started bawling her eyes out - she was inconsolable.

Sorry, but I don''t buy that that baby didn''t feel any pain

It was actually quite a surreal and odd thing to watch..if I''m being honest, I did not approve and said so to my partner when I (finally) got home.

I bet the child DID feel pain. No doubt. I did my daughter''s while she was asleep because I didn''t want her to move during it. I planned to only get one done if she woke up (and come back when she was asleep again for the 2nd) but she didn''t wake up so we got them both done. She didn''t wake up the 2nd time either.

There is no blanket statement that can be made with certainty - all we have are a variety of anecdotes and opinions.

 

[sunseeker101]

I wouldn't have a baby's ears pierced any more than I'd dress it up in evening wear and have permanent eye-liner applied

Though if it was part of my culture I'd probably feel a need to have it done. As for when, I'd wait for the repeated request.


ETA: Worms are people too, but passive-aggressive worms, Gawd, insufferable.

 

[Imdanny]

Date: 4/16/2010 1:16:16 PM
Author: kenny
I totally understand the reasoning behind eating all animals if you eat any animals, but we don''t just operate 100% from reasoning.

My pet dog (or a cockroach) is not appetizing to me like chicken or steak is.

I guess it is my culture, or just what I''m familiar with but there it is.


I would also totally understand the logic of keeping any animal as a pet and falling in love with it as part of the family, be it a cat or a leach.


We hold associations with certain animals, fairly or unfairly.

You can argue that it does not make sense, but a crying hungry cute furry kitten gets a different reaction out of me than a hungry worm. Sorry.


I think most of us hold views that do not make sense to the rational mind.

Worms are people too. Oh wait...

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Date: 4/17/2010 4:55:43 AM
Author: arjunajane
I was in a pharmacy a couple of weeks ago, and had to wait almost 40 minutes for my prescription whilst both the owner and her assistant pierced the ears of a baby (maybe around 3-4months? with her mother).


It took aaggeesss to get her to stay still enough to even prepare to do it. The owner was doing one side whilst her assistant was supposed to do the other at the same time (with guns).

The assistant however went off maybe a second after the owner and I''m pretty sure his side ended up not level, because of course the baby moved.


The look of shock when they did it, than pain and disbelief, then she started bawling her eyes out - she was inconsolable.

Sorry, but I don''t buy that that baby didn''t feel any pain

It was actually quite a surreal and odd thing to watch..if I''m being honest, I did not approve and said so to my partner when I (finally) got home.

While I stated before, I would never pierce my babies ears, or the ears of other babies, I do procedures that are painful to babies quite often. Just yesterday I had a very difficult 9 mo old who has had multiple ear infections. The parents (both mom and dad) looked at me ask asked if there was something I could just inject and be done with it (I have had so much antibiotic resistance in my area, I can no longer use to pink stuff that tastes ok). Well there is an injection you can give to treat ear infections.

I explained to them that the benefit would be that there would be one shot and the baby would be treated, and they won''t have to worry if she was spitting out her antibiotics. I told them that the biggest downside is that the shot is painful even with the numbing medicine we put into it (I have had the shot so I know). I told them she would be sore for a couple days. They still chose the shot.

I think to say that babies are never going to feel pain is unrealistic. I guess it is a fine line between necessary and unnecessary procedures. But I can tell you getting my ear''s pieces was not as painful as that shot and the shot hurts much longer. I guess i just feel it is up to the parents to make the decision if a brief amount of pain is worth the benefit of the result. Clearly there is a line when it comes to elective procedures, but I don''t think piercing ears crosses it. But that is just my opinion.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I don''t think I replied to this thread but there have been a few like it so forgive me if I already have. I got my ears pierced in 6 grade (I think). Even though I was 10 or 11 I DO NOT remember the pain. That is silly to pierce them as a baby to avoid the few minutes of discomfort. I plan on doing a similar thing with my daughter. I do not want to have to deal with one more thing. She is so messy keeping her hair clean is a full time job. When she is old enough to be able to take care of her ears and ask for it we''ll get it done. Who knows. Maybe she will NEVER want her ear''s pierced. My mom was in her 30s when she got her''s done. I honestly don''t care if people get their baby''s ears pierced. It doesn''t bother me in the slightest b/c I''m not the one having to deal with it

 

[risingsun]

I do not believe this practice is either barbaric or abusive. Someone referred to as something done by the "lower classes"

Very nice thing to say,

My decision with my daughter was to wait until she asked to have her ears pierced and was responsible enough to take care of them. I don''t have a problem with those who have different opinions. I do believe that people should go to someone who is skilled in using piercing needles and has sterilized equipment. Those piercing guns are full of nasty bacteria