EAR PIERCING RECOMMENDATION

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the Indian culture, most baby girls have pierced ears, and it's unusual not to.

Not true. I am Indian. It is not "unusual" to not have pierced ears as a baby. My husband is from India, and so are my parents. I did not have my ears pierced as a baby. Plenty of my cousins and nieces also did NOT have their ears pierced.

I had my nose pierced in college at a piercing studio. They did piercings only with needles, which makes so much more sense to me - thin, hollow needle slices through skin and causes less tissue damage than shoving a blunt stud into an earlobe. I told him that he'd done such a great job that I'd bring my kids there for piercing when the time came.

Turns out they don't pierce anyone until 18, even with parental permission - even they felt that piercing was a form of bodily mutilation and that you should be able to consent meaningfully to such mutilation; the fact that it's common practice to pierce young children is irrelevant. That stuck with me.

Also, and perhaps this is selfish, I don't want the responsibility of taking care of a piercing. I'll have enough on my hands with an infant. I soaked my nose piercing in salt water three times a day for several weeks to prevent infections and keep it comfortable. I'm not going to go through that hassle with an infant. I know what I need to do to prevent discomfort and infection, and it seems like an unnecessary burden to do that when caring for an infant is difficult enough as it is.

[Anonymous]

White, upper-middle class, Jewish girl here and my ears were pierced at 6 weeks and my girls were done at 6 months. When I was around my family before my girls had pierced ears, I was often asked, "Why arent their ears pierced yet?"

I think they look adorable and I never would have considered not piercing them. DH was a little hesitant, which is why we waited, but he thinks its super cute too.

[Anonymous]

Same background here, but I had to BEG my mom to get my ears pierced. I was 6, and a family friend who was a doctor did it in his kitchen.

She was in her 40's at the time and had never gotten hers done (wore clip-ons every day), so she ended up doing hers too. I guess when she was growing up (the 1940s), pierced ears were for "loose" girls. (It probably has something to do with your body being penetrated by the earring post or something...though maybe that's a stretch.)

I'm not sure when I'll do DD's (she's almost 1), but I think I'll wait until she asks and/or can care for the holes responsibly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:14:04 the cultural meaning is the same as here VANITY.
The difference is that we do it earlier.
Here you wait until the child begs for it, back home we don't.
And honestly I can't understand the difference... Why it's trashy to have it done early on and it's not trashy to do it when they're 7yo...

It's trashy at 7 too. Earrings are for women, not children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14:04 the cultural meaning is the same as here VANITY.
The difference is that we do it earlier.
Here you wait until the child begs for it, back home we don't.
And honestly I can't understand the difference... Why it's trashy to have it done early on and it's not trashy to do it when they're 7yo...

It's trashy at 7 too. Earrings are for women, not children.

who said that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"You know, in many cultures, piercing of infants' ears is traditional and is very important to families. It is not "grown-up stuff." I have one Latina friend who had hers pierced as an infant by her grandmother - the grandmother did all the girls in the family, and it is still very special to my friend to know that her grandmother did this for her. "

Oh, brother! This is a stupid argument.

you're stupid! and jealous.
maybe you're raised by a wolf or a chicken... so you have no family traditions to hold on to...

[Anonymous]

"White, upper-middle class, Jewish girl here and my ears were pierced at 6 weeks and my girls were done at 6 months. When I was around my family before my girls had pierced ears, I was often asked, "Why arent their ears pierced yet?"

It's ghetto where I live. Big time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the Indian culture, most baby girls have pierced ears, and it's unusual not to.

Not true. I am Indian. It is not "unusual" to not have pierced ears as a baby. My husband is from India, and so are my parents. I did not have my ears pierced as a baby. Plenty of my cousins and nieces also did NOT have their ears pierced.

I had my nose pierced in college at a piercing studio. They did piercings only with needles, which makes so much more sense to me - thin, hollow needle slices through skin and causes less tissue damage than shoving a blunt stud into an earlobe. I told him that he'd done such a great job that I'd bring my kids there for piercing when the time came.

Turns out they don't pierce anyone until 18, even with parental permission - even they felt that piercing was a form of bodily mutilation and that you should be able to consent meaningfully to such mutilation; the fact that it's common practice to pierce young children is irrelevant. That stuck with me.

Also, and perhaps this is selfish, I don't want the responsibility of taking care of a piercing. I'll have enough on my hands with an infant. I soaked my nose piercing in salt water three times a day for several weeks to prevent infections and keep it comfortable. I'm not going to go through that hassle with an infant. I know what I need to do to prevent discomfort and infection, and it seems like an unnecessary burden to do that when caring for an infant is difficult enough as it is.

Thank you. Also, the older women in my family who had their noses pierced as babies are resentful of it because it's true: if you pierce something as a baby, it doesn't just close if you decide not to wear earrings/nose rings as an adult. You just see a hole.

[Anonymous]

which culture pierces babies' noses?

[Anonymous]

I would not pierce an infant's ears, but that's just me. I wouldn't circumcise my baby either, for similar reasons. But I don't think people who choose otherwise are bad parents or people. If you do decide to pierce, I'd go to a doctor. I had a bad experience as a 5 year old with the ear piercing gun getting stuck on my ear, it was horrible.

[Anonymous]

DH is Indian and all the baby girls in his family had the ear pierced from birth at the hospital.
I'm from SA and same thing there. The nurses do it if you ask them to.
I wanted to have it done but he's asking to wait until she gets her first round of shots...

[Anonymous]

I'm also from Indian Descent and I have to I get asked all the time from relatives when I am getting my DD's ear pierced. I just told them that I will wait until she asks me for it..low and behold at 2 could not stop asking me for earrings. She is drawn to earrings like a magnet. I put clip ons to appease her but now at 3 I could not put her off any longer. She even asked me if she can have that as her b'day present. I relented. She has tiny dolphin earrings. They are quite cute..not at all Womanish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14:04 the cultural meaning is the same as here VANITY.
The difference is that we do it earlier.
Here you wait until the child begs for it, back home we don't.
And honestly I can't understand the difference... Why it's trashy to have it done early on and it's not trashy to do it when they're 7yo...

It's trashy at 7 too. Earrings are for women, not children.

Anyone who would deem a child "Trashy" for any reason is a bit of trash themselves. You should be ashamed of yourself.

And to your last point, that is merely your (old-fashioned) opinion. It is not a universal truth.

[Anonymous]

One consideration to keep in mind is a jewelry allergy. I had mine done at 6yo and they got horribly infected, even though my mom cleaned them nightly. I had it done again when I was a little older and managed to keep the allergy at bay by swabbing my ears with hydrogen peroxide or alcohol at least once a day. But it stung because there were still smaller infected areas. Even now, at 31, I can only wear gold or platinum, and even those types I can't wear for more than a day before my ears start getting itchy and red. Both times I had them done by a professional in a clean environment and they were gold studs.

Obv you can take them out if you start to see an allergy or infection developing, but it's still something to keep in mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This. Your DD is only a baby for a little sliver of time. Save the grown-up stuff for later and allow her to be "all natural" for the time being. It doesn't last long.

You know, in many cultures, piercing of infants' ears is traditional and is very important to families. It is not "grown-up stuff." I have one Latina friend who had hers pierced as an infant by her grandmother - the grandmother did all the girls in the family, and it is still very special to my friend to know that her grandmother did this for her.

You don't know why the OP is doing it or what her background is, and she asked for recommendations of where to have it done, not your opinion on whether she should.

I agree, why do you need to be so judgmental?

I personally haven't done it but have nothing against people piercing their babies ears. I'm saving it for when DD is older and begs to get her ears pierced, figure it'll make a really awesome birthday present