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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
So what do we think about piercing babies' ears?
There was a pretty interesting thread on the P&CE board about piercing or not piercing baby's ears. What are the opinion about that on here? Do you think it's cute/ugly? Is it mutilation? Will you (or did you) pierce your baby's ears at a young age?
ps: please throw me a freaking bone here. I know it's late, but it's been so slow, and I have a lot of homework that I need to be distracted from.
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Re: So what do we think about piercing babies' ears?
I don't like it. At all.
While not mutilation, I just don't get WHY you would do it. And I think it looks kinda tacky, imo.
But I would also NEVER say that to someone I met in person, because everyone makes their own parenting decisions and I don't think it's a heinous crime type of thing, just totally not my style.
Thank you! We think she's pretty cute in person too
I'm not a fan...but I can't and don't judge someone who does it. It's just NMS. But I know there are plenty of things I'll do with my kids that aren't other peoples' styles so to each his own.
I would never do it for a few reasons:
#1 There's another thing you have to take care of, and you can't tell the kid to stop touching her ears.
#2 I think it is a choice the child should make. If and when she makes that decision, she has to be able to take care of the piercing.
#3 I think of piercing your ears as I sort of "coming of age" thing. When you are ___ years old, you can pierce your ears.
Plus, I just don't like the look of it.
I'm split on this.
On the one hand, getting your ears pierced freaking hurts and wouldn't it be nice to have it done while you're young enough not to remember it?
On the other hand, it's pretty freaking brutal to punch holes through a baby's ears!
I liked that I was given a choice to do it. Every kid in my family (4 of us) could do it on our 8th bday. We were old enough to choose.
I dont judge those who pierce their babies young, but it isnt something I would do to my children unless they were able to choose for themselves.
I C&P what I wrote in the other thread:
I don't think pierced-eared babies are ugly or trashy, and don't really care what other parents decide to do in regard to one piercing in each ear. I'm Mexican, and pretty much all of us (in my family) had our ears pierced as infants.
When we have kids, I figure the more privileges you can hold out on, the better. Why give away a piercing freebie to an infant when I might be able to allow that piercing to a pre-teen as an incentive/reward? Same thing with painted nails. I probably won't be giving my future toddler mani/pedis because it'll be a nice reward/right of passage later when she really wants to do it. I don't think it's stupid or trashy when other parents choose to do it for their kids. It's just not what I'm planning on doing.
Maybe it's sexist, but I won't allow my future son get his ear pierced at all. I don't like how it looks on men, and neither does my Huz.
I don't really have an opinion on it. I don't think I would do it to my child when they were small but who knows.
My parents made my sister wait to take me (she's 14 years older than I am) until I could say yes or no. I think I was almost 4.
The one thing I won't do is make my kids wait until they're 12 to get them done. I have friends who's parents did that and I always thought it was a bit over the top.
Ha. I had to wait til I was 13. It hurt. And they both got infected. It was awful.
Ha...I'm a super liberal, uber feminist, but totally sexist when it comes to some things. My super liberal, uber feminist and I were talking about this recently when I was visiting. She has 3 (21 y/o twins and a 17 y/o) and a 19 y/o daughter and just had a baby (that's another story). Her daughter wants a tattoo (on the back of her neck of all places) and her 17 y/o son wants his ears pierced. No way!!! Boys can get tattoos and daughter can get ears pierced. When we were talking about it with them we both felt similarly and admitted the sexist attitude (and it surprises me a bit) but I totally agreed with her.
I should have expanded, I thought it was ridiculous that my friends had to wait until they were 12 because of the rest of the parenting (or lack there of) that was going on for a lot of them. I felt like it was one of those "choose your battles" situations. Like maybe if they had been able to get their ears pierced earlier they wouldn't have rebelled so bad in ways that were negative.
I personally won't pierce my babies' ears and don't really "get" why people do, but I don't really care either. I don't look at babies with pierced ears and think, "Poor baby, what a cruel parent to poke holes in them." Just not my cup of tea.
I'm dreading the day my daughter (or son I guess?) wants her/his ears pierced... I don't do well with piercings. I'll probably make C take them.
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Personally, I wouldn't do it. I suppose by the strict definition of the word, it is mutilation but then, by the same definition, so is circumcision and removing molars.
Ok, just playing devils advocate 
I don't particularly like it but I don't think it is a huge deal. You could decide not to wear earrings and the holes would be hardly noticeable.
No, I will not be piercing my sons ears
Lighthouse State Beach, Santa Cruz.
I wouldn't do it because I don't want to have to take care of the ears after that. I would want my kid to be old enough to do proper ear care on their own (I had to wait until I was 10). I don't think it's mutilation though and I don't care if other people want to pierce their baby's ears as long as they take care of the piercings.
Growing up in a Mexican household, I guess piercing our ears was something our parents did automatically. As a matter of fact, my grandmother pierced my ears, and most of my cousins ears, when we were just weeks old. I now look at my ears and though the holes are uneven..lol. I look at them and smile, because now that my grandma is gone they always remind me of her.
I think parents decide what is best for their children, and whether they do want to pierce their childs ears or not. It doesn't bother me either way
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we've discussed piercing rosie's ears .. it was either do it when she's REALLY young before she starts pulling/tugging on them OR wait until she's old enough to take care of them herself (10 or so).
we lollygagged and it looks like she won't have pierced ears until she's 10
as to cute or fug .. it's a matter of opinion. earrings for kids should be SMALL studs or SMALL hoops but i can't imagine having to deal w/ that in addition to everything else i have to deal w/ in the morning (so says the girl who literally leaves her studs in her ears 24/7).
I got my ears pierced when I was 5, and my 2nd holes when I was 16. J got his left ear pierced when he was 11, and still has it pierced. He wears a small onyx stud all the time and 99% of the time, I forget his ear is pierced at all!
J and I were actually talking about when we would prefer to pierce our daughter's ears. I think doing it to infants wasn't that bad until I remember how excited and grown up I felt having to take care of my 1st piercings at 5. J and I decided we'll wait until she asks for them, or maybe offer (but let her choose to wait or not) when she's around 5-6.
I see it all the time at the clinic and the only thing I don't like is when they don't wait for the first tetanus shot at 6-8 weeks of age. I also recommend that they get the screw on posts rather than the ones the baby can easily pull off (choking hazard).
Otherwise, I see it as cute and cultural, but nms. I agree it's a nice memory for me of getting my ears pierced at 13, not because I had to wait but because I was somewhat scared. My mom actually helped me to get the courage up when I wanted to do it .
One huge advantage is that the babies don't really touch their earrings, they do it so early that they don't really have that kind of purposeful motor control to pull at it, so they basically just learn to completely disregard them. As opposed to a 4 or 5 year old that would probably fiddle with it a lot. Just something I've noticed.
Aww, thanks M! And Mystery, I think our DDs look like they could be sisters.
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Wow. I am surprised that there are so many people against it. I won't be piercing my daughter's ears, but it isn't for any moral reason.
When I was a child, I begged and begged to have my ears pierced. My Mom would say, "if God wanted you to have holes in your ears, he would have put them there." Drove me freakin nuts! It was even more annoying because she pierced her own as a teenager.
When I turned twelve, I begged and begged and my mother must have been feeling nice, because she let me! I got three holes and it hurt like a mother f'er. I am an extremely fast healer so I have now had my ears peirced a total of 5 times in the same holes. If I go without wearing earrings for a little bit, I have to go through the whole process.
I liked that my mom gave me a choice. I felt like it was a rite of passage and I felt so grown up the first time.
I also want to say that I have abnormally fat earlobes and that I have had a few other body parts pierced and nothing felt as bad as my ears. I have had my eyebrow, tongue, and some unmentionables pierced.
So, to be long winded...I hope to give my little girl the choice.
On a side note, I am constantly threatened by my sil that she will take my daughter to do it since her aunt took her(without her mother's permission) to get her navel pierced. Irritating.