Did you pierce your baby girl's ears?

[hakeber]

I know this is very common in a lot of Latin America, but I'm curious about other places in the world.

My neighbor said the sooner the better, that "it hurts less when they are younger because their ears are thinner." One of the moms at my son's school implied I was being cruel to leave her unpierced, that "people won't know she's a girl." It's got me thinking about cultural norms on this.

Where I come from it's a sort of rite of passage into the teenage years. Besides, I just wouldn't feel right about poking holes in dd without her consent, ya know?

What do you think?

[earthmama369]

Like circumcision (although on a much smaller scale in terms of pain and function), I figured it would be her choice when she gets older. Who knows? Maybe she won't want pierced ears. Maybe she'll want something else pierced instead. Not my body, not my choice.

[Drummer's Wife]

no way, not a baby - girl or boy.

eta: and I don't think earrings on a baby are attractive, anyway. Also, people will think the baby is the opposite gender no matter if the ears are pierced and she is wearing a bright pink dress. And really, who cares if strangers think she's a boy?

[GoestoShow]

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Edited by GoestoShow - 1/11/11 at 10:51am

[Red Pajama]

I waited until I was over 16 to get mine done, and then I decided to put them all on the same side. It wouldn't have turned out the way I like if someone had pierced mine as a baby.

I agree that babies with pierced ears look wrong to me.

[BlueWolf]

Absolutely not. It is her body, why would I alter it without her consent? Especially for the sake of vanity.

[woodchick]

Nope. That's just another thing I'd have to be responsible for taking care of. I haven't even worn earings in my own peirced ears in years!

It is not the cultural norm here in MA.

[Auraji]

I'm Dominican and my mom pierced both my ears and my sister's ears when we were babies. She gave me the gold earrings that we wore and ALWAYS tells me to pierce her ears, that is better because she wont remember it.

I wont do it, if she ever wants earrings she can ask for them when she's older. Also it's not like getting your ears pierced really hurts, so I dont know what it's this she wont remember the pain and it'll hurt less. I know because I got extra piercings in both my ears several times.

[philomom]

Originally Posted by earthmama369

Like circumcision (although on a much smaller scale in terms of pain and function), I figured it would be her choice when she gets older. Who knows? Maybe she won't want pierced ears. Maybe she'll want something else pierced instead. Not my body, not my choice.

Stole my post!

[MsVyky]

Originally Posted by BlueWolf

Absolutely not. It is her body, why would I alter it without her consent? Especially for the sake of vanity.

This.

I'll also add that I am a body piercer, professionally, and I do not pierce the ears of anyone unable to consent- When a child can come in, ask for it (And I can tell if they're regurgitating what mum told them to say), understand (a) that it will hurt, and (b) that they will require a degree of care, and (c) that they cannot touch or play with them, THEN I will pierce a child's ears.

[eclipse]

I didn't. I will say, though, that I've yet to see a girl here in Mexico, regardless of age, with unpierced ears (well, other than my daughter). I can see how easy it would be to not even question it if your culture is one that pierces regularly.

[new2this]

I am not opposed to it and thought about it if we have a girl, but then I think when I got mine done and it was a big deal so I would want my daughter to have that experience I had.

[UberMama]

Nope. It's her choice. And now that my daughter is 5, she really wants it done. We'll probably take her in the next few weeks to do it. DP and I always said once she was old enough to take care of them, which she is now, we think.

[texaspeach]

have a boy so I didn't vote, but we would not have pierced a girl's ears either.

dh noted today at the ped that ear piercing is listed under procedures on the sheet they give you to take back to the doc so there must be some demand for it here.

[texmati]

We also come from a peircing culture (south asian). DH and I decided not to do it if it was a girl.

[Hannah'sMommy]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

Also, people will think the baby is the opposite gender no matter if the ears are pierced and she is wearing a bright pink dress. And really, who cares if strangers think she's a boy?

I agree. We've had our DD dressed all in pink or purple and she was still called "him." She's pretty much bald still at 6 months, so even if she had earrings, I think she would be called a boy for a while. I don't plan on piercing our daughter's ears until she is old enough to ask for it and take care of them.

[Rabbit8]

Okay, I voted yes by mistake, don't ask me how, but my answer is NO! for all the reasons already stated. I wish I could go back and change my vote. Seriously...

Anyway, my four year old has been saying she wants to wear earrings, but I think she's not at a good age at all to get them done, considering the after care. She just sees me wearing my earrings and wants what Mommy has. That's fine, when she's a bit older we'll make a big deal out of it and maybe I'll get my third holes I've always wanted at the same time.

[Theia]

I voted no. DD's father is from a culture where ear piercing is prevalent in infants. But I don't really care if someone mistakes her for a boy. I know what she is, and I think that is a silly reason anyway. It's her body, her choice. And she is very obviously a girl to anyone who knows us and it doesn't require being dressed in pink.

[dex_millie]

I will leave it up to her. My parents didn't pierce mine because of religious reasons and I still haven't pierce them as I don't care for buying and wearing earrings.

[Abraisme]

We've decided to wait until she's old enough to ask. I do assume that most women will want their ears pierced, but I don't see a reason to do it to a baby.

That being said, my mother pierced my ears as an infant and I have never known the difference.. I don't know if it's just fallen out of favor, but it seemed to be more common when I was a baby.