EAR PIERCING A BABY

blond45

was in dunns to day getting a few bits for dinner, what i saw upset me , a baby with pierced ears with big ear rings in that you see for an adult, isnt that so wrong?? or am i over reacting here. wouldnt she pull at them , and the pain getting them done it bloody hurts. anyone here thinks its abuse. when i say baby ,it was just about able to sit up.

Lillylilly

It's horrible to see it alright. I cannot believe that a piercer would do that. Even Claire's Accessories have an age policy (I think it's no under 13's). I used to babysit a baby girl, and she was three weeks old when she had her ears pierced. It seems to be common with foreign nationals to have a child's ears pierced at a young age. I recently saw a boy of about two years old with a big cubic zirconia hanging from his tiny ear

LashingLady

Going to try to be diplomatic here but I would not be a fan of small children with pierced ears. I got mine done at six but I remember being aware that it was going to hurt and holding my auntie's hand at the time. But for my own kids I would probably think that six is too young.

I was in Kiddie's Kuts a few weeks ago to get my little boy's hair cut for the first time. Ahead of us in the queue was a woman with two little girls with her, one of them was only three. She sat up into the seat and I was assuming that she was getting her haircut. But to my horror a piercing gun was produced and earrings picked out. The child had NO IDEA of what happening. She was happily watching Peppa Pig and then of course started HOWLING when the first ear was done. And then they had to do the other and she howled again. And the worst thing was that the woman was actually her aunt, her own mother couldn't bear to be there while they did it and was waiting outside the shop, she only came in when it was all over!

I hated watching it unfolding knowing that she was going to get such a fright and not be able to stop it, I felt so sorry for the poor little thing. I feel sorry when my little one is getting injections and they are (arguably) for his own good.

My mother-in-law tells me that if I have a girl she should get her ears pierced at a few months whe "she won't even feel it". I have made it perfectly clear that my child can get her ears pierced only when she can ask for herself and mean it.

Lillylilly

LashingLady wrote: »

I have made it perfectly clear that my child can get her ears pierced only when she can ask for herself and mean it.

I totally agree. I was about 5 or 6 when I told my folks I wanted mine done but they made me wait til I was seven. They explained the pain and the risks to me and I think I understood (as well as I could) what I was letting myself in for. This is the important bit- kids need to make their own decisions regarding their appearence! It's not good enough for the parents to think that "it's cute!".

Jinxi

Lillylilly wrote: »

It seems to be common with foreign nationals to have a child's ears pierced at a young age. I recently saw a boy of about two years old with a big cubic zirconia hanging from his tiny ear [

As far as I can remember(before the prevalance of international people in Ireland) I can remember being horrified whenever we went to any of the cities in Ireland at the amount of babies and children with their ears peirced. When i was working in inner city Dublin I had( and still have) a few friends from sherrif street and ballymun areas. ALl of them got their ears peirced before they can remember and all of them thought iot was a great idea to do it to little girls.
I was and am horrified, but i is a cultural thing? I think places should be banned from doing it but then you risk having unsanitary conditions like hairdresser:eek::eek:

Nevyn

Firstly I think that piercing guns are not a safe way to have ears pierced.
Discussion of them is pretty much banned on the body modification forum here due to
how dangerous they are and it seems that a lot of people using then don't have enough
training and education about what can go wrong.

I understand that it's common cultural practice in certain counties, it is in Spain and Portugal to have a baby girls ears pierced. It denotes that the infant is female and that the family are well off enough to protect her and she has value. This thinking is common in several different cultural group.

That being said, I wouldn't do it to my daughter and think that babies suffer enough with teething with out putting them through more unnecessary pain for cosmetic reasons.

smelltheglove

To start off Claires dont have an age policy at all. I wouldnt have my girls ears pierced until they asked for it, the eldest was 5 and she had to be on to me for months before I let her get it done the youngest was just 3 but very determined, trust me on that.

Anyway I got them done in Claires, when the youngest had hers done the elder one now 7 had hers done again too.

Well the nightmare, I created a thread here a while ago about pierced ears after the nightmare we had and it would be found on a search but basically the eldest one had to have an operation on her ear lobe a couple of months ago after having her ear pierced. An infection grew inside so strong that her ear closed over the back and the back piece was lodged in there. They had tried to remove it while she was awake by pinning her down in the hospital and cutting her ear open, it was torture for her and they still couldnt get it, in the end she had to be knocked out at a scheduled op date.

I never understood babies having their ears pierced, I was against it myself but my husbands family all liked the girls having their ears pierced and I thought, sure why not, I was the only one strict about it. Now I wish I had never done it, the eldest one says she will never wear earrings again and the youngest ones earrings were swiftly taken out, holes have closed. Neither of them will be getting their ears pierced on my watch, if they do it again it will be their choice when they are older. Now trust me I am not over protectivve or paranoid or anything, I have pierced ears and a tattoo, I have a cousin that owned a piercing shop and an uncle that owns a tattoo shop, this experience has just turned me off piercings completely.

In my line of work I very often see young kids with ears pierced and I do often tell the parents what happened my daughter and to be very careful.

dark crystal

Babies getting their ears pierced is wrong, plain and simple. They can't consent, so to me, it's a form of child abuse. It also looks awful.

My daughters begged me to have their ears pierced before their communions and I finally relented after discussing it fully with them. They cried having it done and it broke my heart seeing them in pain.

I just think it's a largely pointless procedure and there should be stricter age limits implemented. Children under 13 should not be allowed to have their ears pierced, in my opinion. Until then, they are less likely to understand the level of pain they will be faced with.

LashingLady

Well after reading Smelltheglove's account I don't think any of my daughters would be getting it done either!

As I said I got mine done at 6 but these days I never even wear earrings as I find my earlobes swell up even with the most sensitive hypoallergenic earrings. Wouldn't like to see that happen to a little girl.

cynder

I think thats just so WRONG.

Das Kitty

To be frank, I don't think cultural reasons or tradition are in any way just cause for inflicting unnecessary intentional physical pain on a baby or child. I mean female circumcision is a cultural tradition in some quarters.

I think piercing guns should be banned and put in a torture museum, they're horrendous. I had my ears pierced at 7, there is no way I'd allow my child to have it done that young and if they were having it done it would be done by a fully trained piercer not someone in a cheap costume jewellry shop or a hairdressers.

foxy06

under 13 shouln't be allowed imo.

excuse me for being a bit thick but how else can you get a piercing without a gun?

Acoshla

foxy06 wrote: »

excuse me for being a bit thick but how else can you get a piercing without a gun?

With a sterile needle, that's how most piercings are done. I'll never forget when a friend of mine got her ears pierced when we were young. I got mine done but it actually wasn't too bad, bearable enough. She was about 10 I think, and when the gun shot through her ear she jumped with the fright, ripped straight through her earlobe and out the bottom of it, she had to have surgery to repair it.

Even if you ignore the pain it causes for a second, the noise it makes so close to your ear can be scary even for an adult, I can't imagine what it does to a poor toddler who doesn't even understand what's happening. I know when I got mine done the noise scared me more than the pain itself.

Ickle Magoo

My parents resolutely stated no ear piercing until we were 10 and old enough to both know what to expect and to be fully able to care for the piercings ourselves - I'll be doing the same. I'd no more get a baby's ears pierced than I would have them tattooed.

I'm actually surprised to hear how dangerous the gun is. You learn something new eh.

As far as babies getting their ears pierced goes, I'm totally against it. For a start, it looks awful, aesthetics aside though, why on earth would anyone inflict that pain on their little innocent child? It's so painful, I remember going as a teenager to get a second piercings in my ears, the pain was horrible.
I'm fairly sure that my 5 year old is not going to have her ears pierced while she is in primary school, I don't see the need for it. Maybe if she begs me for it I will have to rethink it but thankfully she's not that type of kid (yet!)

we'llallhavetea_old

i wasn't allowed get my ears pierced when i was a kid, i was 17!!

anyway, i think it looks horrible on small kids. my little one won't be gettin hers done until shes leaving primary school. unless she tortures me relentlessly for months :rolleyes:

Gyalist

Long before there was any significant presence of non-Irish people, I worked next door to a place that does ear piercing on babies. There was always a steady stream of mothers having their babies ears pierced. Even after all these years I can still recall the constant screaming. The place also did brisk trade with navel piercings to teenagers, especially during the summer. Almost daily there would one or two of them lying on the ground after fainting at the sight of their blood.

Aoifums

I got my ears done when I was 6/7. Like smelltheglove's daughter, one ear got horribly infected. My dad managed to dig the back out before it got too bad. I can't remember getting the actual piercing, but my mam said I cried for about 3 hours after getting it done. Apparently, I said that if I'd known how bad it would hurt I'd never have asked to get it done.

I just got a second and third piercing done in one ear (with a needle). It hurts!!! I honestly can't believe that it hurt this much. I also can't imagine how you'd keep them clean on a baby/child. The urge to touch them is very strong and I can just imagine a small child with newly pierced ears

Besides the whole pain issue, they look awful on kids.

Nevyn

My daughter did ask, I asked her was she sure she wanted a needle driven through her ear, she hasn't asked again.

Limerickgal82

My friend went to take her little girl to have her ears pierced in Claire's but the girl working there advised her the child has to be able to tell the staff she wants it done otherwise they wouldn't do it !! Which i am glad for i can still remember how much it hurt i got them done for my communion !!

pikachucheeks

Lillylilly wrote: »

It's horrible to see it alright. I cannot believe that a piercer would do that. Even Claire's Accessories have an age policy (I think it's no under 13's)

Unfortunately, as someone else pointed out, Claire's don't have an age policy.

A friend of mine works there and she got in to a lot of trouble with management because she refused to pierce a baby's ears.

Personally, I don't think a child should have their ears pierced until they're at least old enough to vocalise a desire to have them done and are able to understand that there'll be some level of pain involved.

I don't see why parents have their babies' ears pierced. Why inflict pain on your young child, purely for aesthetics?

edit: I was just speaking to my Spanish house mate and she said that in Spain, it's very common for newborn baby girls to have their ears pierced in the hospital :eek:

me_right_one

To be honest, I think its the height of scumbaggery. I dont see the point before adolesence, and IMO, the legal age should be 18. Next there'll be two year olds with scorpion tattoos on their necks:mad:

Smurfpiss

This can definitely be seen as a cultural thing.
My girlfriend is Colombian, and she got her ears pierced when she was born. Pretty much every girl does. Her reasoning is at that age its like a small flap of skin, and causes very little discomfort to the baby, and heals much faster. If its done with a sterile needle, I don't see the problem. Yes you may not have the child's consent but if they don't want to wear earrings later on then they can choose that.
I know it looks a bit knackery, and TBH if we ever had kids I wouldn't be mad on it being done, but beyond making the child look like a skanger i really don't see the point of being outraged..

carrot_flowers

I had my ears pierced on my 4th birthday at a Claire's in the States (I'm 22 now)...after begging my mum for over a year. My experience was fine, I didn't even cry at 4, though I have always been naturally very resilient to pain. I would never get my child's ears pierced earlier than that, and if they want it they'll have to be asking for it for a good while before I'll be convinced that it's what they genuinely want. I also think the morality of it depends on the child themselves, as I mentioned I was very resilient to pain and was happy to have them but this isn't going to be the case for every child.

As far as it being cultural, I would say that it is to some degree. In the US just about every girl has her ears pierced by the time she's 5 or 6, a lot of cases earlier than that, which I don't agree with but it's common practice. Every little girl wants them because all of their peers have them. It's sort of a symbol of acceptance from the parents, most of the time, to enable the child to start making certain decisions for themselves IE what they wear (for the most part). So it feels empowering for the girls, really, and they want to be deemed a part of womanhood in general by having such important symbolism. I think any sort of pain rituals on children for a mere part of a cultural obligation is just wrong-if you have circumcision done on your baby for example it should be because there's a reason that they need it-and so forth. Earrings should be a strongly decided choice by the child and very carefully considered by the parents in each individual circumstance, in my view.

username123

My parents got my ears pierced (with the gun), in a piercing place in Dublin city centre when I was 6 or 7 years old. I dont remember asking for it, and I dont remember the pain.

What I do remember, and it still happens to this day, is that the holes get madly itchy, rashy, swell up and fill with gunk periodically.

This began to happen within weeks of them being pierced, the old nickel allergy problem was quoted and prompted my mother to insert solid gold 'sleepers', but they would still go through mad allergy patches for no reason. I last wore pierced earrings when I was 12ish - and im in my 30s now, but still the holes decide to go mad now and then and get infected and itchy.

I also hate how they look. Holes in my ears. Not nice. I hate piercings generally, I am squeamish about the thoughts of metal through the skin.

I wish I had been left alone and not had these holes put through my ears as a child. Id never inflict any body modification on a child - let them make their own decision when theyre old enough.

Sligo22

yea, i think its horrible!! I wouldnt let my daughter have hers done until shes an age where she understands that it will hurt a bit, that the peircings need looking after or else they'll get infected!! I think age vairies depending on the maturity of your child...we've all met those old heads on young shoulders..lol!! i had mine done a 6 i think, before my 1st communion anyway... bwas given no aftercare advice ;kept playing with them (as kids will) and got a horrible infection!!
Peircing guns are dirty plain and simple!!! they are used on person after person and connot be properly disinfected!! also they ram a solid metal earring through you ear which is really bad for a peircing!! all decent body peircers use single use sterile sealed needles that have a needle point and a hollow plastic tubing. also anyone whos not a cheap skate will use a freezing agent on the area beforehand! its more expensive but by far the only way to go for hygiene and safety!!
I'm friends with a tattooist and body peircer and they will not peirce young kids when parents come in asking for it. they say when the kids old enough to ask for it them selves and truley want and understand the risks/ pain involved only then will they do it!! they have hospital style sharps bins..use gloves, everything is spotless and sterilsed surfaces...it really baffles me that parents cheap out and bring their kids to some grotty hairdresser or acessorie shop to have it done!!!
wait till the child chooses to have it and when they do dont cheap out! go to a professional!!

twomaddogs

I used to work in Claire's Accessories as a student and got into trouble for not wanting to pierce baby's ears, so I ended up doing it. We used to get babies as young as 3 months in - as soon as they got their injections the mothers would bring them in.

It was a real dive of a place I worked, and in the same shopping centre was a market area with a stall where the owner would pierce babies ears by leaning over the stall with his gun and doing them one by one with no sterilization. So although I really didn't want to do it, I knew if I turned them away the parents would just walk down the his stall and get them done there - at least I knew I would use sterile equipment and would be as gentle as possible (although I know there's nothing gentle about it, at least I tried). I also used to make sure I always got one other girl who I trusted to be as sterile and safe as possible to do it with me, so we'd do both ears at exactly the same time so the poor baby would have it done as quickly as possible

The two of us used to be holding back the tears afterwards and we were only around 18 at the time. I've now two baby girls under two and theres no way I could ever do it now, and no way in this world mine will get theirs done until they're 16 at the very least.

Sleepy

This is one of the reasons I'd love to see the body modification industry regulated.

While any of the good studios will require proof of age for tattoos, the very places that you don't want your teenager going for a tattoo are the one's who'll do it for them at 15/16 and are doing so entirely legally.

The piercing guns and performing piercings outside of a sterile studio should be just outright banned, and some form of certification of piercers / tattoo artists should be required to work in any studio in the country (e.g have the apprenticeship run as part of a FETAC course).

Of the artists/piercers I've met, most are actually in favour of some sort of regulation of the industry. The good guys who already adhere to the best international standards would benefit from the cowboys getting run out of it and the public would benefit through higher standards and being able to tell their kids 'the policeman says you have to be at least 12 to get your ears pierced' .

FunnyStuff

My fiancee is Slovak, and over there its normal for a newborn girl to have her ears pierced. When our baby daughter was born, she wanted to have it done to our little one but i said no. For one, i didnt want my daughter looking like a little knacker, but also i feel it can be highly dangerous for a child. Her family think i'm over reacting, but absolutely no way would i let her have her ears pierced.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Thaedydal wrote: »

My daughter did ask, I asked her was she sure she wanted a needle driven through her ear, she hasn't asked again.

Did you explain it to her properly? It's not nearly as sore as the gun in my opinion. Much better way altogether.

I think it's hedious looking on an infant/child, but it's also none of my business.

I wouldn't call it child abuse either though. I think that line is becomming too fine, too many people shouting "abuse abuse" at the slightest incident.

How times have changed in such a short period of time

neoB

I myself had my daughters ears done around a few months of age once she had her tetnus shot. I don't see the problem with it. Just the same as getting her monthly shots. We didn't have the problem of infection. Nor did she tugged on them. I kept right on it! and knowing I have allergies to even the sensitive earbobs they have for people with allergies, she wears real gold. But I didn't have huge earrings in her ear either. She had small stones. She still only wears small stones. I wouldn't put anything in her ear that could be tugged on by her younger brother or other children. Now that is silly. She is nearing four years old and we haven't had any problems. She didn't even cry when it was done really. She looks fine and not some little bimbo or anything. It's classy and I don't honestly see what the deal is, but its common here . I think it's one thing to have small studs, versus a baby or little child walking around with like five holes in both ears and dangling and jiggly earbobs..... but of course everyone has their own opinion. Frankly if looked after, and they can deal with their shots ...why not?