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Many parents choose to get their child’s ears pierced when they are young which has left some wondering if an age restriction should be put in place…

Posting her story to Mumsnet, a concerned mum has asked whether there should be an age restriction for children getting their ear’s pierced. The mum says that while she has nothing against piercings she struggles with the idea of parents taking their children while they are still babies or toddlers.

What’s The Rush?

The mum said that watching a baby girl get her ears pierced while out shopping made her feel uncomfortable.

“I was in a jewelry yesterday and witnessed a mum getting her child’s ears pierced,” she wrote. “The child could only have been about a year old and screamed the place down. She was so distressed.”

The mum said that she can’t understand why parents are in such a rush to have their children’s ears pierced.

“I really don’t understand why it’s necessary to do it at that age,” she told the forum. “It seems so unnecessarily cruel!”

To Pierce Or Not To Pierce

Comments on the mum’s post were mostly understanding of her concern, with many agreeing that there should be a minimum age for undergoing the procedure.

“I actually think there should be a limit of about 12 years old for this,” said one parent. “You have to be 16 to get a lot of piercings unless your parents are consenting to it and with you, but you wouldn’t take a toddler to get their belly button pierced so I don’t understand why places are treating ear piercing differently?”

“Kids should be old enough to consent, the same as any other body modification,” wrote another.

While some make the argument that having your child’s ears pierced while their young means it is over and done with, we still think that waiting until they are old enough to decide for themselves and can take some responsibility for the upkeep is the best option.

Do you think there should be an age restriction on getting your child’s ears pierced? Let us know in the comments!

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  • I guess its something we really should leave until the child is old enough to ask for them to be done. Most often they heal well but there are some kids that have issues such as myself and my eldest daughter. My other two were fine. I certainly wouldnt want those healing issues with a little bub

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  • All ‘cosmetic’ and non-medically indicated procedures should wait until a child is legally at an age of consent. While most of us can agree that a 16 yo is Far from being an adult, you are (at least In most cases) dealing with a rational person who can make informed decisions.
    Piercing an infants ears is completely unnecessary and should not be performed.

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  • It is such a hard topic. My mum had my ears pierced when i was only 6months old (back in 1987) yes i have no memory of it but they also arent even and it bothers me but ill never get it re done. I now have a daughter and i am in no hurry to have her ears done.

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  • I don’t do it, not for us.

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  • There should be restrictions babies and toddlers don’t need pierced ears

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  • Each to the own with this. Sometimes it is a cultural thing, that they get ears pierced at a young age.
    I remember getting mine pierced for my 11th birthday and though it was so cool – as my dad took me to get them done (unaware that my mum knew he was taking me to get them done).

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  • Each to their own on this. I wasn’t allowed to get my ears pierced until I was 16 although I still don’t know why. My daughter can have hers done at ten but that was my husbands decision.

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  • You also have to consider that there may be cultural issues connected to the age with which a child’s ears are pierced.


    • Exactly !
      In ancient African civilizations for example, piercings had many cultural meanings apart from being a form of body modification. and they start early

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  • Hard topic. Each to their own on this

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  • I was about 5 when I had my ears pierced. It’s up to the family. Each to their own.

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  • I never got my childs ears pierced when she was little. I wanted her to make the decision herself when she was/is ready to. Funny thing is though she says to me every now and then ‘Mum why didn’t you just pierce my ears when I was a baby’ hahaha I guess you can never win.

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  • I don’t know about an age restriction but provided it’s what the child wants and the parents agree, I can’t see that it’s a problem. I wouldn’t get my children’s ears pierced when they were only babies but that’s just me.

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  • LOL. This has been the subject of debate in my family for a long time. I was 10 when I begged, for weeks, to be allowed to get my ears pierced. Finally my parents relented. At 13 I got a second hole in each ear by sweet talking a beautician into it whilst visiting my friend who had recently moved 5 hours from my home town. Well, I got in so much trouble, but was allowed to keep them. I have long since moved to Australia from Canada and when my daughter was 2 my parents came to visit. They took her out with them on a shopping trip one day and came back with her ears pierced. It seems their idea about piercings had changed. I couldn’t believe they did it. Anyway, as it was already done I left them, but wow…what a turn around.

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  • I wouldn’t alter my child’s body without their consent.

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  • I had mine done in Grade 1, so I was about 5 or 6. I have a memory of it happening but not of the feeling. Each to their own, I think.

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  • I would say it’s up to the parents to decide when the child is to have their ear pierced. I got my daughters done when she was 6 months and I do not regret it. She is now 3 and loves the sparkle on her ears… have I set her up for diamond earrings when older probably lol.

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  • I wholeheartedly agree! I daresay a baby would not consent to a hole being punched into their ears as they wouldn’t understand! I’ve told my daughter she needs to be at least 10 and able to display enough responsibility not to lose things.

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  • It choice of parents. We did my girls when they are 6 months old.

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  • Sometimes it seems to be a family ritual to have the ears pierced. Personally I waited till my children told me they wanted it done as I didn’t have my ears pierced at that time. Guess my elder daughter was 12 or 13 and her younger sister wanted it done at the same time and she would have been 10 or 11.

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  • I had mine down when I was little and I don’t remember. My nieces have had infections from not looking after them as they didn’t want people touching them when they were little. I hadn’t thought about it but now having my own little girl I think I’ll wait until she asks

    Reply

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