Mother Pierces Daughter's Ears One Day After Birth, Internet Trolls Her For Doing So

A mother on Tiktok, who goes by the name @laraticaofficial, uploaded a video of her daughter, Lara, showing the difference at one day old and four months old. She wrote in the caption, “The time past too fast 🥺Missing you being this small.” However, viewers didn’t choose to focus on the fact that the baby grew up too soon. They zeroed in on another detail in the video—her piercings. In fact, the post went on to become viral, amassing 43.4K likes and 841 comments on the video. 

The video shows the infant with flower studs when she was one day old that transitions into silver hoops as the video shows her at four months. This received some major backlash, with people reacting strongly to the piercing. Comments on the video ranged from humorous and concerned to adoration for the child. A user with the handle @user9691575638024 commented, “so do they pierce the ears before they cut the cord?” while another, @n.o.e.l.l.e_b.e.l.l said, “How is that ear piercing even legal? I thought the age was 3mo.” However, many users have pointed out that it is common in their culture and that they have pierced their children’s ears around the same time. 

The mother, who is from Colombia and posts under the child’s name, felt that it was not that big of a deal. In response to people who kept asking her why she did it, she said, “Well the answer is, because I wanted to, and that it is possible in our country. I think a few days after birth is much more non-traumatic for a child to pierce their ears than when they are one or two. Lara had no reaction when the doctors gave her the holes." 

As mentioned above, while there are many cultures that support piercing children’s ears, it is a debatable topic in the US and UK, according to Newsweek. There have been similar stories in the past, including one where the mother got the child’s ear pierced behind the father’s back, causing an uproar in the household, and even gaining traction on Reddit. The mother went on the “Am I the A**hole” forum and asked Reddit users whether she was to blame or not. Many agreed with the father and said he was justified in getting angry at her. 

Although, in this recent case, the mother explained that the infant, Lara, didn’t feel any pain and therefore, isn’t that bad. Some users on Twitter also commented on this, with one person saying, “Pierced my daughters at three months I’m sure it was less painful then (than) my son(‘)s circumcision.” Others have made it clear that it must be the child’s choice when and if they should get a piercing. One user said, “I'm glad I wasn't forced to get my ears pierced as a baby. It should be the choice of the child”. 

A similar reaction was seen when Kylie Jenner shared a video on her Snapchat, where her daughter Stormi also had her ears pierced. One user tweeted, “Don’t impose your painful aesthetic preferences on the bodies of babies who have no say.” Others rallied in support of Jenner saying that it’s odd that mothers still get judged for getting their baby’s ears pierced. The cultural argument was also made in this situation to support the entrepreneur, VOGUE reported. The journalist writing the article also expressed her personal experience of getting her ears pierced as a child, mentioning that it is perfectly normal. 

This discussion that started on social media has been aided by some professional insight from the American Academy of Pediatrics. They recommend that ears should be pierced when the child can do the piercing aftercare on their own. However, the AAP notes that “piercings are safe at any age as long as the piercing is performed with sterile equipment and techniques.” The general consensus shows that people feel the appropriate age for getting an ear piercing is nine years old.