DH & I just returned from Grocery Shopping at WalMart…DH was unloading the cart and putting things on the conveyor while I stood there and watched…(normally I would help, but my foot hurts)…anyway he looks at me and says “looks like somebody needs a nap”…I look up and say “who Me?” he said, “No, that baby, can’t you hear her screaming?” I turned around and we were near the jewelry counter. I said “No, that baby just doesn’t want holes in her ears!” Honestly, I am so used to children screaming at WalMart that I had just blocked it out…I usually want to scream while I’m there too! But, she was angry and I don’t blame her. I just don’t think that it is right to do that. Granted, she is so young that she’ll probably never remember the trauma, but still. Maybe I’m just old school…I didn’t have my first set done until I was 12 and then I got them done again when I was 21.
I thought it was cute for a long time, but now, after watching…not so much. Now I think that the child should be given the choice which means waiting at least until they can TALK.
I agree! I think that one should be allowed to make their own decision about getting holes in their ears. I got mine done when I was 7 and although I loved having them, they kept getting infected and I was very sensitve to metal, so I could only wear gold earrings. I wanted to wear fun earrings, but no such luck. Also, back then you used alcohol to sterilize your earrings, apparently they don’t do that anymore. Eventually they grew in because my ears hurt all the time. I got mine done again when I was about 20. Even at 20 it hurt…I’ll admit it. I’m lucky now because I’ve grown out of my sensitivity to metal, but I’m still careful about what earrings I wear. Since babies can’t make the decision to get holes in their ears, it’s up to the parents, who ultimately don’t have to suffer infected piercings.
I had my ears pierced when I was an infant. I grew up without any serious issues and I don’t hate my mom. :teehee: Honestly I’m glad I had it done back then. :shrug:
I agree! I had my daughter’s ears done when she was three months old, BY A DOCTOR!!! I had my granddaughter’s ears done when she was three months old, AGAIN BY A DOCTOR. Now both can wear clip ons or pierced earrings whenever they chose to. It is a personal choice, but it looks so cute on the little girls to have pretty earrings, dainty ones. I never put cheap earrings in their ears. Both have had no problems. Walmart, geez!!!
Thank You! THAT I would agree with. I do understand that it is done in some cultures. I was afraid to post this, because it is quite controversial, I just felt so badly for that baby. She couldn’t have been 6 months old and then to see her poor little angry red cheeks when she and her mother were leaving, just broke my heart.
A dear friend of mine had their little girl’s ears pierced by a tat/piercing place. They are sooo used to doing piercings and have to be super clean and professional. They paid a whole lot more than they would have at WalMart but…they are glad they did. Yeah…Walmart is far from the best place to get it done.
I had mine done at 2nd grade, and to be honest, I wish I had them done as a baby. It didn’t hurt horribly, but I played with them all the time and as a result they got infected so many times.
Its a hard decision to make as far as when to get them done, if at all. That would have been hard to see tho.
I take no offence from your comments. Nor do I hope you will take any from mine Jeanette.
My doctor said the best thing to do is get them done before they are one or after they are ten years of age. That way there is no “playing with” the earrings and much less chance of the child trying to pull it off and swallow it. When they are very young it is just a “part” of them and they never bother with them. This is what I did and I know my daughter didn’t bother with them, nor did her daughter.
I waited both times until the child was sleeping to have it done and it never bothered either one at the time, or since (thankfully).
I have to stress that I did NOT put cheap earrings in their ears. I kept the ears good and clean and rotated the earrings often.
I can see that a wide awake child would be traumatized by such goings on, especially because they have to sit very still for a minute, which is more the problem than pain would be. It doesn’t hurt to have it done. It is how the situation is handled at the time, and by the parent, that is the problem IMHO.
I’m an RN and worked in pediatrics the last 5 years.
We would pierce babies’ ears at 6mos and up. I never took part in it just because personally I have a problem with ear piercing at that age…but the docs say it’s just fine, very little problems with infections, etc.
I can’t imagine piercing my baby’s ears at Walmart! Eeek!
Most pediatricians actually recommend doing it before 6 months of age, as their earlobes are so thin they are very easy to pierce. Most of the babies don’t even notice.
Hurts much less than doing it at 10 years of age, like we had to.
But I agree, a doctor or piercing professional, not WalMart for crying out loud!
This is always a guaranteed hot subject on any mommy board!
I haven’t pierced either girls’ ears. I strongly dislike the idea of doing it as a baby. That I would be subjecting my child to unnecessary pain simply for my aesthetic pleasure just didn’t sit well with me.
I like to leave the girls unadorned as long as possible. I enjoy their fresh, childlike faces, as yet unmarred by the world we’re living in.
I’m going to let Becca be the guide, wait for her to show interest in it. I’ve already explained what they do and that’s put her right off the idea! In a few years if she does desperately want it no matter what, we’ll cross that bridge then.
Mine were done the day I was born. Back then, what the doctor did was dip a thread in mercurochrome and put that in the piercing. They’d remove it at some check up.
It was such a natural part of our culture that it never really occured to me that a girl would get to choose to have it done when she was older.
I have two boys now and that’s one issue I’m glad I don’t have to deal with.
dh and i decided that if we ever have a daughter she can have her ears pierced when she’s old enough to take care of them herself. I have my ears done, had them done when i was 5 or 6… i had my ears pierced a second time as a teenager (twice actually) and had to take them out as they kept getting infected and hte skin would grow OVER the back of the earring. As it stands, i can’t even wear most earrings because the metal irritates my skin (Even the whisper earrings… i can’t wear gold or silver either… i have to stick to surgical steel and even then i can only wear them for an hour, MAYBE 2 at the most)
especially in this day and age when there are magnetic earrings that can be used for pictures
I couldn’t see taking my baby to wal-mart either… I’m surprised they did it though…I’ve had mine pierced there before when my little girl was with me and when I asked about the piercings I was told first if it is for you ok…if it is for her we can’t do it… :shrug: …
My little girl is almost 4 and she wants them pierced cause she sees mine… but she doesn’t understand that it will hurt so we will wait for awhile…
My grandmother took me to get my ears pierced when I was 5. She took my sister on her 5th birthday one year later.
My mom started talking about continuining the tradition with my dd, who is now 4. She wanted to be the one who takes her to get it done. It was supposed to be a big deal. Dd was all excited on her birthday this year, because she figured out it would only be one more year til she could wear earrings, too.
Then my mom chickened out. She said she didn’t think she could actually be there when we had it done.:gah: So now I have a 4 year old who really wants to do it, was already told she was going to do it, and now I will have to take her.
If my mom hadn’t made such a big deal out of it, she wouldn’t even want it done! I certainly wouldn’t have done it until she showed an interest in it. And now, since it’s been promised, I have to. (We try to always keep our word to her).
Stupid grandmas. (said in the most loving, respectful way possible!)
:teehee: oh yes I’d be dragging my mom with me on that day…:teehee:
mom says that my dad always said not until she is 18…when I was in kindergarten I crawled up on his lap one night with please daddy??? please??? mom said he looked at her and said you take her… Mom was like why me??? She took me and after they pierced the first I didn’t want the 2nd one pierced…mom said it took some doing on getting me to let them finish :teehee:
I have pretty strong feeling about it… I too believe it is a personal choice, one that should be made by the person who is having holes put in their ears. I think pierced ears are very attractive but I think to inflict that pain on an infant is child abuse.
As for it not hurting a child under 6 months, every baby I have ever seen having it done is screaming!!!
At what ever age the child can understand that this will hurt and it’s your choice, then I think is fine. But to put an infant through such pain unnecessarily is terrible
Mine were done by my grandmother at the age of 5. Never had any problems, but my mother hated the fact that she was not there to share the experience with me. When I found out my first child was going to be a girl, my mother said “If you pierce her ears before she ask for it, I will kill you.” I do not want to upset my mother, so we will wait. My DH is fine with that, because he thinks little girls with ear piercings do not look like little girls anymore.
We spend so much time trying to make the children grow up quickly, so I am going to let my DD stay little as long as possible.
