My youngest pierced her navel with a safety pin in her bedroom! I think she was 14. It didn’t last long. She did it again when she was a couple years older (I took her) and that stayed in for a few more years. She’s now 22 and has a nose piercing and a lip (don’t like that) piercing that comes in and out depending on her mood.
When I had mine done, all I remember was that the healing process hurt soooooooooo much! It seemed like, every time I moved my body, it pulled. I kept it for a few years and then took it out. I was over it.
Personally, I would let her get it done. You can take her yourself and go all “mother hen” on the person doing the piercing. There’s all kinds of “stuff” to help the healing process too. And, if it gets infected, you either take it out or go to a walk-in and get an antibiotic (did that!).
It sounds like your daughter is on the “right track” so I would say she may be deserving of the perk, despite the fact that you may not agree with her choice. Frankly, it could be worse. My oldest pierced her nose like a bull when she was 17 w/out my knowing. When I saw the ring tucked up in her nose, I FREAKED OUT! Yup, she took it out 5 minutes later.
Things like piercings and crazy hair color are definately negotiable, in my opinion. Hair grows back and piercings can come out. A belly button piercing is very very common in girls of this age group, so I say “why not?” She may decide, after 6 months, that it hurts too much and take it out.
On another note, my oldest (26) is now in NC as we speak completing the tattoed “sleeve” on her left arm. After that, she’ll go back to Chicago and finish up the other arm. Good Lord! Now THOSE are permanent! It’s her “thing,” though, so who am I to judge.
I’m done now…
As long as there is signed parental consent this is not an issue! Some studios will request that the parents come in. Some will simply ask for a parental signature on a waiver. Some will require a notary signature.
I know i might only be 15, but my older sis, who is turning 18 this weekend actually, got hers done when she was 15. She was exactly the same way your daughter is now. Made good grades, was very active in sports. In fact she still is. She is a very good kid for kids her age. I know that this might not be right, but she had her friends dad do the piercing. He is a piercing and tat artist though… She just put on the bacitracin on everyday, and I think it only got infected once. But, it wasn’t bad, she didn’t even have to go to the doc to get antibiotics. I think my sis likes it though, because it show’s off her flat stomach when she goes swimming and stuff. Which is why i never got a belly button ring… My mom said that the belly button was fine, because no one saw it on a daily basis, unlike the nose i want to get pierced. Oh, well.
My parents would have flipped if I had suggested it, but I have a different opinion.
I never liked piercings (ears not included) or tats before I got to college - hey, that was how I was raised. My roommate had her navel pierced and a tattoo on her belly, and she opened my eyes - she had gotten both because she has a large scar and felt less conscious with people distracted from it (as an actress, she often changes clothes in front of fellow actresses). Since then I’ve realized that even if a person doesn’t have such a good reason to get piercings or tattoos, they really aren’t as bad as my parents made them seem.
I say let your daughter get the piercing, as long as, as others have suggested, she is responsible and mature, and you get a good place to do it. Also - I’m going to assume that your daughter wears other jewelry and is aware of any metal allergies she has? I’m allergic to “probably nickel” (we had no idea what was in the watch) and only wear sterling silver or gold for that reason.
Guess I would agree with this. My question would be why?
If you aren’t against the idea of piercings, I would say that there are a few things to take into consideration:
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Where it will be done. Make sure that the place you go to has good reviews. Maybe go in and check that they are using sterile, wrapped needles
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Find someone who has been a customer and ask them what they think of it
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Make sure your daughter knows how to take care of the piercings. A lot of people don’t know that with body piercings you are supposed to soak the hole in hot saline water for ten minutes every single day, which can be particularly difficult on navel piercings
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Who will pay? piercings are expensive and the sterile jewellery comes at no small price either.
I have my nose pierced and before I went in to have it done, my mom sent me an absolute ton of pictures of horror story piercings and a video of the process. In the end I decided that I was mature enough to research the shops (It took a while, but I found a surgically-sterile shop), pay for the process, and take care of it. I got it done as a birthday present to myself last year and I haven’t had any problems.
My thoughts are that if your daughter is a good, responsible girl, and is willing to pay/help pay and take care of the piercing, let her do it.
The decision, of course, is up to you. If you do say no, try to give your daughter a solid reason. Not just “I don’t think you should” but also why you think that. A good, true reason should hopefully let her understand your thoughts better.
When he was ten my (male) cousin once came home from the mall with his ear pierced. My aunt was surprised how he’d managed to convince someone to do it considering he was so young but she decided it’d probably get infectected or he’d get bored of it in the end and take it out - dunno if he still has it now he’s 21.
I would say as long as you check the place out first, and she promises to keep to the cleaning rules I would. But I’m not a Mum.
I have a navel bar myself, but I am one of those flat tummy people you were speaking of! Sorry, tried to fatten up didn’t work! I had mine done when I was 18, my mum hadn’t let me when I was 16 and she said I might change my mind, I didn’t I have always liked mine and haven’t regreted it. On the other hand my Dad HATES it, so I enjoy teasing him with it!
I want a ‘tat’ done but at the moment my hubby is dead set against it. Maybe I should do a bit of this… :flirt:
I believe in picking your battles and fighting over a pierced belly button is not worth it. If you give some freedom on the little things then youcan stand firm on the big ones.
A pierced belly button can be removed at anytime and grow in without scarring.
When my daughter wanted hers done I lloked around and was not happy with the places that were doing it so I did it myself (I am a nurse). Your family Dr might be willing to do it to insure sanitary conditions.
I agree with picking your battles. What seems bizarre to many of us older folks is now very common among kids. You could make a deal such as allowing her to get her naval pierced, but nothing more till she’s an adult and over 18 and it can only be done by a reputable place, or have her wait 6 mos and if she still wants it then the above applies…or some such thing. As for infections… sure they are possible, but considering the number of piercings I think the incidence is pretty low if you take care it as you are supposed to.
My DD2 has her naval pierced and it’s actually kind of cute. Maybe I’m just used to it living in an area where minimal clothing is worn a lot of the year. The one that freaked me out was the tongue piercing…:ick: She was over 18, but had it removed when she started working in preschool and felt it wasn’t professional. :yay:
Exactly.
i wouldn’t.
if it’s still important to her in 2 years (when she turns 18) then she can get it done herself.
this is another thing that dh and i agreed would be on the list of “no daughter of ours” 
Well, I’d be a total hypocrite if I said no, considering I have 9 piercings and 9 tattoos. 2 of the piercings I got when I was 17…my parents signed for them, and were in the room when I got pierced.
I also agree with the picking choosing battles. I mean for god’s sake, it’s a belly button piercing.
If one of my children asked for a tattoo at a young age, that would be different. I would want to make sure they were positive they wanted to have their bodies permanently inked. However, a piercing can be taken out at any time and usually heals without any scarring.
Out of all my piercings, only one ever got infected and that was my lip piercing, which I ended up having to remove altogether when I found out I was pregnant with my son…I couldn’t keep taking antibiotics all the time. However, the infection cleared and I’ve had no problems since taking my lip ring out.
I don’t know, maybe it’s just my outlook but I don’t see a piercing as a big deal and especially nothing to get upset over. There are so many BAD things children can do such as drugs, crimes, violence, etc. that a piercing absolutely pales in comparison. In addition, when you have a child who [I]asks[/I] their parent/s first instead of doing on their own without parental knowledge or consent, I think that speak volumes of the child.
I also seriously doubt she’s trying to send any message to anyone with a belly button piercing. I could care less what people think of me and what I do. I didn’t get pierced for anyone but myself. Hubby, after all these years, still isn’t crazy about my septum piercing, but oh well, take it or leave it. I’m not taking it out just because he doesn’t like it! He met me with it and fell in love with me with it and if he doesn’t like it, too bad.
Personally, I’d say go for it. For some people piercings are a passing phase others, they are permanent.
I never have understood why people think nothing of allowing a child to get their ears pierced, but any other piercing is seen as taboo. No piercing is permanent and as long as you go to a sanitary, reputable piercer, the chance of contracting a serious illness is just about none.
I had my belly button pierced when I was 22, except for that I don’t have any other things (not including ears). Oh, I had a second earring in one of the ears and I removed it in the army. Anyway, I agree with said above about a reputable place and needles etc. I don’t think it’s such a big deal. Your daughter sounds like a good girl and I don’t think it’s the issue to start a battle about. My piercing was done as a bet with my younger sister. She was 17 and bet I didn’t have the guts to do something this wild (he he), because I’ve always been such a good girl. So we went together and did it. My mom freaked out when she saw the band-aids, but got used to it. We took care of it and it healed ok and only few people saw it on me. It’s not for someone, it’s only for me. I’m going to be 27 and still not bored with it. I guess I’ll have to take it out whenever we’ll decide to go for adding another lunatic to our family :teehee:.
Well, she hasn’t talked about it for 3 days now… I am hoping she will forget about it.Last year, I originally said “maybe in the future”, then “no” after I saw that you can get diseases…Now I am reconsidering because it is not a permanent thing… but it is funny how I let her pierce her ears and thought nothing of doing it at the mall…I am going to gather info about “bad piercings” and try to look for the video of the actual process (to scare her)… it is so wierd, cause she is needle-phobic when it comes to getting a shot at the Dr…
She is so close to being on her own (less than 2 years), and she is making “life decisions” now really… I just don’t want her to do something impulsively without looking into it… I may show her this post when she brings it up again…I’ll have to read it over again to make sure there is nothing “incriminating”…I put up this post because I thought I would hear if anyone had a really bad experience… thanks for all the info…
I think it would be wonderful for both of you to research the topic together, if she brings it up again. It will show her that you respect her enough to listen to her, and if she’s as mature as she seems, she’ll reciprocate by listening to your advice.
I don’t think 16 is too young for that, and she seems like a very mature responsible person. Like others have said, just make sure to go to a reputable/clean place to have it done. A few years ago, my MOTHER got hers done. I gave her a small lecture :teehee: Anyway, she never had any problems with it and I have to say, it does look kind of cute in the summer when she wears a shirt that just shows her navel. Not something I would do though, I only ever had my ears done twice when I was younger, but I haven’t worn ear rings since high school, I don’t even think the holes are still open. Besides, I’m too flabby to go around showing off my navel. 
From my point of view - as long as she’s a responsible girl and chooses a good place to get it done, then it would be better for her to get it done while you’re around to make sure she cleans it every day than later on when she’s away from home and might forget. I knew a few people at uni who had it done because they hadn’t been allowed to at home, but they got infected because they’d also never really looked after themselves before.
I don’t have mine done, but that’s because I don’t think I’ve ever had a flat stomach 
Good luck, hope you can find a balance,
Fi xxx
Not weird at all. I have horrible needle-phobia from a very very bad childhood experience. I have several piercings and love tattooes although I don’t have one yet myself. I’ve been to a tat studio several times with friends who were pierced and/or inked and had no trouble watching. I get squeamish just watching a tv show where someone is using a medical needle, though! Getting light headed just thinking about it! :teehee:
hi
yes you can get all sorts of nasties from piercings, as long as what others have said you find somewhere that uses new needles and is clean and your daughter feels comefortable there as i am imagine it would flipping hurt like crazy having it done (she says wanting it done at 26 lol). i like piercings even though i only have my ears done at the moment. and it is at the moment.
my mum wouldn’t allow me to get my ears pirced when i was 15/16 i never really forgave her (it wasn’t the ears it was the fact of her haveing total un natural control over me).
i would be inclined to say yes as she can hide it when needed. check school policy’s as some schools have stricked rules on piercings other than ears though in the uk.
if she does she will need some pain killers lol
susi