Mum shamed after asking for advice on piecing her baby’s ears
A UK mother who posted on online parenting forum Netmums is receiving massive backlash after she posted a thread asking fellow mums for advice on getting her baby’s ears pierced.
“I understand some parents may have mixed views on this subject,” the woman, who goes by the name of Layla A, began. “I’m planning to get my daughter's ears pierced tomorrow.
“She’s fully breastfed, I just want to know if any mum's have got their daughters ear pierced whilst breastfeeding. How did you manage to breastfeed/the after care? Did it take long to heal?”
Angry parents quickly stormed the thread to criticise the mum’s choice, with one going so far as to call it “child abuse”, saying it “should be made illegal”.
“And you’re planning [on] inflicting pain on your child why?” one user wrote. “Leave her alone until she is old enough to choose for herself whether she wishes to have her own ears pierced. It’s her body not yours.”
Others agreed, one writing, “Totally disgusts me that you would even consider doing this to a child ... I would never put my little 11-month-old girl through that pain for nothing. It’s selfish in my opinion they are little people not a fashion accessory.”
However, one mum did jump to the woman’s defence, saying, “I don’t class this as child abuse at all! I personally haven’t got my little girl’s ears pierced as I’m not a fan but if I was thinking about it I would go straight ahead! Babies have been getting them done for years and those that do wake up and cry it's forgotten about in a flash ... it's your own personal choice.”
To her credit, Layla did take on all the advice, writing in an update that she has decided against getting them pierced. “I will wait until she’s old enough to ask for herself and if I really want it for vanity reasons then I could always put on the clip-on ones.”
Tell us in the comments below, what do you think is the right age for a child to get their ears pierced?