Charles and I are thinking ahead and if we have a daughter (no, I'm not pregnant) I'd like to have her ears pierced when she's a baby and he disagrees , he thinks it should be the child's decision when she's around 13 she should decide if she wants or not her ears pierced.
So what do you think? I'd like to know people's opinion, because in Brazil it's very common to have your babygirl ears pierced even at the hospital when she's born, and apparently it's different in the United States.
Nessa

Why pierce so early, do you put earrings on them as babies?

I think girls should be able to choose when they want pierced ears... Babies are cute with ears pierced, but I would be afraid that the earring could get pulled out and swallowed.
On the other hand my mom said I couldn't pierce my ears, so I didn't get it done until 22.

my niece had her ears pierced when she was just a few weeks old. although i don't really agree with it, shes not had the least bit of problems with it.
our daughter had her ears pierced this weekend. but it was her choice and we agreed that she was old enough

Nessa,
Tell him that if its a boy, the baby will have the same right about the circuncision surgery.

Yes, of course... why pierce and not wear the earrings???

In Brasil is very common and the earrings are made with a safe lock for the baby dont take it out.

Yes here in Brazil it's like getting a driver's license when you're legal to drive, it's normal and it's also a way people distinguish the baby from being a boy or a girl.

interesting...

My daughter wanted and BEGGED me to have her ears pierced when she was 4. Did it and a month later she decided she didn't want them anymore.

Now I will go into nurse mode. I've seen many little girls that had their ears pierced as infants and the earrings made little sores behind their ears. I know my earrings hurt sometimes when I sleep on them and I just rearrange myself, something an infant cannot do. After seeing all the infected little sores on babies, I wouldn't get their ears pierced, but that's only my opinion.

Unfortunately we already agreed on that, we both want if we have a boy circumcized when born, or right after. I don't think I can win that way , I was just interested in people's opinion, not because I want to decide what to do, just to see if it's really an american thing. I won't change my mind , I want my babygirl wearing earrings!

I think its nice seeing a baby with her ears pierced. i had them young, and will do the same for my daughter one day.....In jordan, all the baby girls get their ears pierced so i cannot see sofyan to object....I think, as a parent, if you devote time to taking care of them, you wont encounter any problems....anyways, the first piercing will heal in as little as 2 months....

i had my daughters pierced when she was small also. they are too young to know how to take out the ear rings and by the time they figure it out the holes are already healed and u dont have to wear the earings always.

if they dont want them when they are older then they just dont have to wear the ear rings. the holes are not that noticable anyway.

i havent really ever seen any girl who absolutly hated their ears pierced and was emotionally scared from it. its kinda like something thats always been there so who cares.

we have our belly buttons from birth and we dont go around saying ohhhh i wish i didnt have that there. when u grow up with something then u just figure it was always meant to be there. we dont go crazy over it.

My parents didn't give me any mandatory piercings and to this day (I'm 24), I'm glad I still don't have any. I have this weird thing with unnatural objects stuck in / through my flesh

Why not??
Dave and I talked about it we'll do it to our baby girl I think.
That was never even a question to me until I met him.... and realized that was a Brazilian thing.

My girls' dad and I agreed that there were to be certain 'rites of passage' that the kids would have to look forward to.... they were able to use their own table knife during meals at age 5, ears pierced at age 10, cell phones at age 13, drivers' permit at 14 + 9 mos (yes, THAT early in MI), group dating at 16, etc... They looked forward to each of these 'milestones' and never disputed them because they were just part of growing up.

(For the record, any additional body piercings would be at their own discretion once they turned 18.)

Jen

I voted "other" because I think a little girl can choose, but I wouldn't make her wait til she is a certain age, just whenever she wants it. That's how it was with me and it seemed to work out well. I was well aware of what was going on and got my ears pierced when I was 4, I think. My mom asked me if I wanted to. The holes never closed up or bothered me. I wasn't allowed to get second holes til I was a bit older though, like 12 or something.

It's the same custom in Indonesia, almost all baby girls got it. We also put earrings (very tiny ones with "locks") as soon as the wounds healed. I got mine when I was baby and I'm glad my parents did it. It's more painful if you have it when you are already a teenager I suppose. If it turns out that the girl doesn't like it, she can just leave them without earrings for a couple of months (or weeks ??) and the holes will shut. No biggies !

I don;t think the parents should make this decision. Should be up to the girl to decide

As this is permanent in my opinion it should wait until adulthood.

I wanna do our baby girl when she is an infant. I think its important thats because, babies are cute with little studs Javed said NO. like charles. I got mine done at the age of 4. but, I am gonna get my babies
ears done anyway. its comon on my culture too.. I also have my nose done.
my husband oddly dont care if our daughters nose is pierced.

babies getting ears pierced is not just a brazilian thing. is common in my culture too.

This is one of those things that I think is up to each parent. I personally don't have my ears pierced and never really wanted them pierced. I haven't talked to my fiance about this one, didn't think to lol, but I personally would rather wait til my daughter spoke up and said she wanted them... and then my fiance and I would discuss it and see what we would do when the times comes. I wouldn't want to get a baby or young child's ears pierced... the locks so they can't take them out are good, but I'd be afraid that they'd somehow catch on something and tear the ear - Not so much for the infants but when they get to the running-terrors-stage.

I like the sound of JenT's idea... it gives them more to look forward to than "I can legally buy cigarettes at this age" and "I can legally drink at that age."

I know it looks cute but I wouldn't let my kid get anything pierced until they were at least 12 and old enough to know how to take care of it. Earrings are a health hazard because they can get tugged on, pulled out, fiddled with until they get infected, and even RIPPED out, all before the kid is even old enough to know what they're doing...

I had my ears pierced at around 8 or 9, if I remember. Had to have them done again because they closed up. Then one night, I was wearing earrings to bed and woke up to blood all over my pillow... I had ripped one out in my sleep and you can still see the faint scar that left behind (decades later ;-)). Needless to say, I had to let that completely heal before I could have it pierced again.

As an aside, when my oldest daughter had her ears pierced at age 10, I added a second hole to my left ear at the same time she had hers done... she's left-handed, hence the choice. Something special for us both. Then when it was my daughter's turn, I 'balanced out' with a second hole in my right ear. She is right-handed so it worked out perfectly!

When I divorced, I had my naval pierced... that's it for piercings for me.

Nessa,

I wouldn't have a baby's ears pierced, but I wouldn't wait for a girl to reach her teenage years before considering it - including asking the girl's opinion - either. I suspect that most girls who haven't had their ears pierced by their parents decision will bring the subject up themselves prior to reaching age 13.

Yodrak

I dont think its right to pierce a babies ears, I think it should be their decision when they are old enough to make decisions. But going completely off topic, I also dont think its right to decide what religion, if any, a baby should be, I feel they should be make that decision also.

I used to pierce ears and I would do them as an infant. They will be so used to them, never pulling or having problems.
Most girls won't want to wait until they are 13. They will be about 3-6 and then there will be problems with the pain, playing with ears and getting infected.

I told my mum I wanted to get my ears pierced when I was 6 and she let me. She got her ears pierced at the same time too. I will let my future kids make their own decision.

i would have it done when they are babies. they wont remember the pain. just watch out for infection.

I told my mom when I was 5 that I wanted the things in my ears! We decided to let our children decide for themselves.