ear piercing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Give me a BREAK! I never knew this was such a hotly debated item.

We got our DD's ears pierced at 11m at a reputable jewelry store in Alexnadria. I had mine pierced at a very young age and never regretted it. Our 2.5yo still wears the very tiny pearl earrings that we got them pierced with. If she really REGRETS them, she can take them out and let the holes close up. I didn't do it because I wanted everyone to think my child was beautiful, I did because I wanted to and think she will like them. I also didn't do it because it was a cultural thing. They did them so fast that DD didn't even cry between each ear and afterwards only cried for about 30 secs.

I can see how it might be harder on a child when they are older and that's why we did it so young.

I think some posters are saying there are cultural and perhaps class associations with ear piercing for infant and toddler girls. Do you find early ear piercing is common among others who share your racial/ethnic and cultural background?

[Anonymous]

Its definitely a cultural and class issue. You hit the nail on the head and that is a very sensitive head.

[Anonymous]

I am upper middle class and white. My parents pierced mine and my sister's ears at 3 months and I had planned to do the same to DD. DH objected until she was a little older so I agreed to wait, but I dont see what class or race has anything to do with it. Most of my friends who come from similar backgrounds are pretty evenly split between piercing and no piercing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am upper middle class and white. My parents pierced mine and my sister's ears at 3 months and I had planned to do the same to DD. DH objected until she was a little older so I agreed to wait, but I dont see what class or race has anything to do with it. Most of my friends who come from similar backgrounds are pretty evenly split between piercing and no piercing.

No, if you really are what you say you are, then you are one in a million in the upper class. Piercing an infant girl's ears is definitely a class/cultural choice. It is a third world, non-upper class option. I've worked in NICU and Pediatrics for 11 years and you can definitely guess the income bracket/nationality of the infant girl immediately if the parents have the ears pierced. Don't kid yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am upper middle class and white. My parents pierced mine and my sister's ears at 3 months and I had planned to do the same to DD. DH objected until she was a little older so I agreed to wait, but I dont see what class or race has anything to do with it. Most of my friends who come from similar backgrounds are pretty evenly split between piercing and no piercing.

No, if you really are what you say you are, then you are one in a million in the upper class. Piercing an infant girl's ears is definitely a class/cultural choice. It is a third world, non-upper class option. I've worked in NICU and Pediatrics for 11 years and you can definitely guess the income bracket/nationality of the infant girl immediately if the parents have the ears pierced. Don't kid yourself.

I am the 20:01 poster and really am what I say - why would someone lie about that?
Regardless, every girl in my elementary school class had their ears pierced, most of them as babies. Maybe its where I am from - South Florida. I never thought that it would even be a big deal to pierce DD's ears. I certainly dont care enough to make it a battle with DH, but I had never even considered that its an issue or that some people dont do it.

[Anonymous]

When I lived in Georgia and South Carolina, I saw many middle class white baby girls with pierced ears. Maybe it is a Southern thing...

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I hear the preschool beauty pagent thing is big in the south too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I hear the preschool beauty pagent thing is big in the south too.

Oh come on. Are you seriously going to go there?

[Anonymous]

20:27, I grew up in South Carolina and I can assure you that no UPPER class white child/ baby would ever ever ever ever ever ever ever have her ears pierced. No way, no how. My mother was still horrified when I got my own done when I was in college.

Hey, since someone has already brought up hair bows for little girls, let's talk about that! Can I tell you how silly I think they look???!!!

[Anonymous]

I really don't think is a socio-economic status issue. The decision to pierce an infant's ears is often cultural and/or based on the experience of the mother. Perhaps, in this area, it is also a matter of having international exposure. The latter two was the basis for our decision to have our pediatrician pierce my 5 month. I am white, from a wealthy and educated family, top 10 university educated for both undergrad and grad, and have traveled extensively. I, unapologetically, chose to have a pediatrician pierce my daughters ears in part because my ears were pierced at 3 months and I never experienced infections or closures in my entire life. I wished my daughter to have the same easy experience with a piercing that we would have done eventually anyway. My ears were pierced at 3 months because my parents were foreign service children who grew up surrounded by cultures where infant ear piercing was the norm regardless of socio-economic status.

[Anonymous]

Just the fact that someone inflicts unnecessary pain on her baby (she CRIED??!!!!) simply blows my mind. I am dreading the One Year wellness visit where my son will get a series of shots AND some blood taken for lead tests and that's for his own good! tell us again: What GOOD are earrings? oh, yeah, they are pretty!

i would never, ever, ever pierce a baby's ears. what's wrong with waiting until she asks for it? by then, she'll understand that it comes with some pain!

and, for the record, my son's beautiful golden locks sometimes get him mistaken for a girl when we are at harris teeter. oh, the horror!

[Anonymous]

When I was in 2nd grade I decided that I really wanted my ears to be pierced. It took until 3rd grade to convince my parents, but I remember how special that day was when my mom took me to Claire's boutique and I got my ears pierced - because I really wanted them. I look forward to doing that with my daughter - not doing it before she decides that she wants it done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just the fact that someone inflicts unnecessary pain on her baby (she CRIED??!!!!) simply blows my mind. I am dreading the One Year wellness visit where my son will get a series of shots AND some blood taken for lead tests and that's for his own good! tell us again: What GOOD are earrings? oh, yeah, they are pretty!

I must say, this is insane.

In fact, most of these visceral responses are insane.

Ear piercing involves putting two holes in the ears, not cutting them off.

And for the record, I don't have a girl, I have a boy. And yes, we circumcised him! I am a beast, I know.

Get a grip!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don't think is a socio-economic status issue. The decision to pierce an infant's ears is often cultural and/or based on the experience of the mother. Perhaps, in this area, it is also a matter of having international exposure. The latter two was the basis for our decision to have our pediatrician pierce my 5 month. I am white, from a wealthy and educated family, top 10 university educated for both undergrad and grad, and have traveled extensively. I, unapologetically, chose to have a pediatrician pierce my daughters ears in part because my ears were pierced at 3 months and I never experienced infections or closures in my entire life. I wished my daughter to have the same easy experience with a piercing that we would have done eventually anyway. My ears were pierced at 3 months because my parents were foreign service children who grew up surrounded by cultures where infant ear piercing was the norm regardless of socio-economic status.

Which cultures are those, PP? Not Western European?

[Anonymous]

What, no Italians from Jersey out there?!

It is pretty common practice for Italian-Americans to pierce their infant daughter's ears. In fact at the baby shower for my daughter I received a couple of pairs of infant earrings as gifts since everyone assumed I would pierce her ears. I didn’t do it not because I think don’t think it’s adorable but because I didn’t want to risk an infection and my WASP husband objected