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Parent24 : Toddler 1-2 : health safety : What moms think of piercings

What moms think of piercings

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Where, when and why would you allow your child to be pierced?

By Sumanda Maritz

Pic: Shutterstock

Article originally in Parent24

Thinking of having my little girl’s ears pierced I started asking questions of everyone I know. A friend had told me to have it done at 6 months. She would be young enough not to pull out the earrings, but old enough to not lie on them the whole time.

The women at the pharmacy said that they don’t do babies before 1 year old. The ears are so small that it is very difficult to get the hole in the centre. Even when it looks as if it’s in the centre, once they grow a bit, it becomes clear that its not.

One friend asked if I’d had my boys’ ears done. Of course that started whole other line of questions. Finally I just drew up a questionnaire and send it out. The results were very interesting.

Piercing survey results

Thirty moms responded to my informal survey. To start off with, I asked the moms whether they had any piercings themselves and where.

The vast majority (87%) had at least one piercing in each ear.
44% of the mothers had more than one piercing in their ears.
33% had a belly button ring
20% had a piercing in the nose
27% in the mouth and tongue
17% had a piercing in various private parts and only 7% had eyebrow or other facial piercings.

Piercings and kids

Only 29% of the children already had piercings. Of the children that had piercings only one was male (and he is a 22 year-old). The girls had pierced ears and three had belly rings.

Only 37% of the moms believed that there is a difference between the genders. But the age they would allow piercings for boys are usually much older than for girls. Almost all moms agree that boys have to ask for piercings where as 13% of mothers would make the choice for their daughters. Some of the reasons given for early pierced ears were custom, looks and easier to care for while they are young.

The majority of mothers would take their children’s wishes into consideration as well as other factors like maturity, school rules, etc. Most mothers consider earrings as acceptable, with 33% of the mothers believing anything goes (with one or two exceptions of course). Some mothers expressed the wish that their children do it behind their backs so they don’t have to decide! Fashion also plays a part. Various mothers agreed that belly rings are acceptable.

I am one of those mothers that would take the decision for my girl to have her ears pierced. I would be doing the aftercare of her ears, and I know I’ll do it right. I think little girls with earrings look pretty, but little boys with earrings plain weird. Should my boys want earrings when they are teens, I’d probably allow it, but I won’t have their ears done while they’re still young.

After reading all the responses and looking at everyone’s opinion I’ve decided that I’m a forward-looking-slightly-old-fashioned mom.

What do you think of piercings for yourself and for kids?

*Please note that the image on this article was Photoshopped and no babies were harmed in the making of this picture.