Cultural meaning of baby/child ear piercing?

[Anonymous]

Very common in LatAm, among all classes, akin to dressing Larlita in pink and little Larlo in blue.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you for the African American, Hindu and Indian perspectives that were shared here. The acupuncture point practice is fascinating! I appreciate those insights.

And again, I want to say, I do not think pierced ears on babies or children is "trashy." That was a completely seperate poster, and this thread was not meant to start a debate. I was interested in the "why" of something, not in any kind of "should you" discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Genuinely curious question (not snarky!!!): when the baby is little, how much does it appear to hurt? Does she cry for long after? Or is it like a shot that is over in a nanosecond? I always wanted to do it with our daughters but my husband freaked out that it would traumatize the baby.

Mine cried for about 30 seconds, then had a bottle and fell asleep. We did it late in the evening intentionally, and she fell right asleep in her stroller. Woke up the next day oblivious to the whole thing.

[Anonymous]

My mother was born in Cuba and I was born here. She had my ears were pierced at age 6 mos. Yes, it is a cultural thing, but I don't know the specific reasons, other than it looks cute. Love my baby pictures with those little gold studs. We are white FWIW.

I actually think doing it at an early age is safer. The mom is the one taking care of the piercing site to avoid infection, etc. I know too many tweens who have gotten infections, gotten earrings stuck in place, all sorts of ugly stuff. If I had to do it over again, I would have had my daughter's ears pierced as an infant as well.

As for the people saying it is trashy, these are the intolerant ugly white Americans who are an embarrassment to our country.

[Anonymous]

It's very common in South and Central America (including the whiter-than-America Chile and Argentina) and it's also common in southern Italy. So it's not just a people of color thing.

I don't particularly care for it nor think it's appropriate on babies and young children.

[Anonymous]

Culturally it’s very popular among Latinos, Indians and African Americans. Especially getting it done as an infant. I have been told it’s just a tradition, it helps people know the baby is a girl and also that the baby doesn’t feel it. In some places outside of US they will do this in the hospital before baby is discharged after birth.

[Anonymous]

Among US whites, it’s much more common in the south. I always assumed that’s why higher income northerners call it “trashy.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Genuinely curious question (not snarky!!!): when the baby is little, how much does it appear to hurt? Does she cry for long after? Or is it like a shot that is over in a nanosecond? I always wanted to do it with our daughters but my husband freaked out that it would traumatize the baby.

Mine cried for about 30 seconds, then had a bottle and fell asleep. We did it late in the evening intentionally, and she fell right asleep in her stroller. Woke up the next day oblivious to the whole thing.

Thank you! That is much as I thought but my husband thought it would hurt for days and days. He was very upset about the thought of it. And then because he was upset I got upset. I appreciate your honesty!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Genuinely curious question (not snarky!!!): when the baby is little, how much does it appear to hurt? Does she cry for long after? Or is it like a shot that is over in a nanosecond? I always wanted to do it with our daughters but my husband freaked out that it would traumatize the baby.

Mine cried for about 30 seconds, then had a bottle and fell asleep. We did it late in the evening intentionally, and she fell right asleep in her stroller. Woke up the next day oblivious to the whole thing.

Thank you! That is much as I thought but my husband thought it would hurt for days and days. He was very upset about the thought of it. And then because he was upset I got upset. I appreciate your honesty!

Honestly, she cried more getting her shots!

[Anonymous]

Completely aside from whatever cultural thing is going on, I honestly think that piercing a young baby's ears is practically easier than when we got my DD's ears pierced for her 7th birthday at her request. If she had been 2 months, she wouldn't have been rolling, wouldn't have had hair to get tangled in anything, and would have been fine with me cleaning them. When she was 7, all that stuff was an issue. I strongly considered piercing our second DD's ears for that reason, but DH was against it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Completely aside from whatever cultural thing is going on, I honestly think that piercing a young baby's ears is practically easier than when we got my DD's ears pierced for her 7th birthday at her request. If she had been 2 months, she wouldn't have been rolling, wouldn't have had hair to get tangled in anything, and would have been fine with me cleaning them. When she was 7, all that stuff was an issue. I strongly considered piercing our second DD's ears for that reason, but DH was against it.

Your examples are exactly why we chose earlier. She had no clue they were even there at 3mo. Cleaning was a breeze. She never touched them once.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious, too OP.
I had mine pierced at 13, and my three girls are all desperate to have theirs pierced earlier.
I’ll be the one to say: it’s trashy to pierce babies’ ears.

I never get this. You guys keep saying it, but no one ever has a good answer as to why its trashy. SO I think it's trashy to attach that thought to someone's baby.

They aren't your ears to pierce. Modifications to your daughter's body should be made at her discretion when she is old enough to make such a decision. I'm not sure how you can do something like this and then turn around and tell her that her body belongs to her. You've already shown very clearly that it belongs to you and to society.

I take it you think the same thing about parents who circumcise their boys?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious, too OP.
I had mine pierced at 13, and my three girls are all desperate to have theirs pierced earlier.
I’ll be the one to say: it’s trashy to pierce babies’ ears.

I never get this. You guys keep saying it, but no one ever has a good answer as to why its trashy. SO I think it's trashy to attach that thought to someone's baby.

They aren't your ears to pierce. Modifications to your daughter's body should be made at her discretion when she is old enough to make such a decision. I'm not sure how you can do something like this and then turn around and tell her that her body belongs to her. You've already shown very clearly that it belongs to you and to society.

Oh can it. Are you the same poster who says you can't even call your baby a girl until she decides she's a girl? You're tired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's very common in South and Central America (including the whiter-than-America Chile and Argentina) and it's also common in southern Italy. So it's not just a people of color thing.

I don't particularly care for it nor think it's appropriate on babies and young children.

It’s pretty common in Mexico which is in North America. I think what you mean to say is it’s very common in Latin America.

[Anonymous]

I love the acupuncture reason, agree it is fascinating! It looks very sweet, but if I had a girl, I couldn’t do it for the simple reason that I would hate for her to go through the pain. But, then again, I also think circumscision is barbaric but necessary, especially at a bris. DON’T FLAME ME! My son is circumcised I’m not Jewish. And no judgement to those not circumcised. I will admit that I dated a Jewish guy who was hinting at marriage. Honestly, the whole bris thing (plus many other things) freaked me out and I thought for sure I’d end up with a gaggle of boys with him.