Pierced Ears - Page 5

[Ldavis24]

Originally Posted by jocelyndale

A reputable piercer with clean equipment will not modify the body of an infant.

I have to disagree with that. My niece had her ears pierced as an infant and now she has 2 large lumps of scar tissue!

To the OP, do I think it is cruel to pierce your baby's ears? Yes, selfish also quite frankly. You aren't thinking about your baby at all just your own feelings about her being mistaken for a boy which is definitely not one of the better reasons I have heard for making a baby deal with that. You obviously haven't heard a baby screaming after a vax because to them it is no small prick. I know it is very normal for a lot of parents to pierce their babies ears but I find it disturbing that a parent would cause their tiny baby pain like that out of pure vanity. The kid doesn't even have a say in the matter at that age! I think like other PP have mentioned it is at least nice to let them be old enough to decide...

This is coming from a mama who has had her ears pierced 5 times throughout my life (all just single holes that have closed). My ears the first time when I was 5 were so infected because my mom wasn't completely on top of it that I had to go to the doctor to have them removed (the skin healed around the earring because I didn't turn it)...What if you accidentally let your babies ears get infected. That can become very painful.

Sorry to be so blunt but I just think it is wrong for parents to do this to their baby girls. I am not against ear piercing or any piercing having had a tongue ring for many years just not on a baby! I know this is going to come off horribly but I just can't not pipe up about this.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Ldavis24

I have to disagree with that. My niece had her ears pierced as an infant and now she has 2 large lumps of scar tissue!

I'm confused as to how this argues against the point the poster you quoted made. The fact that your niece was pierced doesn't say anything about the person who pierced her.

My ears the first time when I was 5 were so infected because my mom wasn't completely on top of it that I had to go to the doctor to have them removed (the skin healed around the earring because I didn't turn it)...What if you accidentally let your babies ears get infected.

I wasn't there, so I can't speak for your mom, but the tone of this part kind of bothers me. Infection isn't always something that someone "lets" happen. If we had total control over infection, then nobody would ever get one at all, yk? I had awful problems with one of my ears after I got them pierced (I was 12). It was done with the gun...at that time (1981), I'd never heard of any other way, and that's how everyone I knew got it done. One of my ears puffed up like a balloon and was swollen and red for days after the piercing. We turned it, treated it with the antiseptic stuff, etc. A year or so later, I went without earrings for a week or two, and wasn't able to put an earring in when I wanted to, as the hole had partly closed up. At my request, my mom pushed the piercing stud back through, which hurt like hell.

Through all of that, I was "on top of it" - I regularly turned my earrings and used the antiseptic liquid. Despite that, my ear got infected three separate times...twice during the early months, and again after we "repierced" it. When turning my earrings (multiple times every day), I often felt a tearing sensation in the hole. An infection doesn't mean someone has to be blamed for it. (Of course, imo, that makes it even less desirabel to pierce an infant. An infection could happen to anyone.)

It's strange how differently they heal. There are people who get it done, and the holes stay open beautifully forever (whether this is desirable or not depends on the individual's feelings, of course). Then, there are those like me. I got mine done almost 30 years ago. I still have trouble getting earrings in if I go more than a month or two without wearing them...and I do that quite frequently when I have a small baby!