In some cultures, it is customary to have your newborn baby girl’s ears pierced before even leaving the hospital, or within the first few weeks of birth.

The idea behind such early piercings is traditional as well practical, it is believed to be less painful than later in life. In Spanish and Latino cultures, it’s believed young girls will want to wear earrings as a symbol of their femininity from an early age.

While in other cultures, piercing such a young child – without their consent, is sometimes labelled as child abuse in the media and usually piercing their daughters (or sons) ears waits till between the ages of 5 and 16.

When it comes to piercing there are two schools of thinking:

Parents who do it as early as possible, and
Parents who wait until the child is old enough to make the decision for themselves.

No matter which age ears are pierced, there is always the risk of infection. There will also be a small amount of pain and you may have to put up with some comments or unwanted advice if you have decided to pierce early.

On a positive note nobody will say “oh what a cute little boy!” incorrectly anymore and you won’t have to do it later. Oh and there’s earrings of course!

Charlie Rose is 7 years old today and her mother is taking her to get her ears pierced.

“She asked me if that’s what she could have for her birthday. I jumped at the chance to forfil her wishes, my own mother wouldn’t allow it until we were 16.” Says Kate, Charlie’s mum. “Mum had misconstrued ideals that pierced ears made you look ‘cheap’ from her own conservative, religious upbringing,” Kate explains. “When we challenged her later in life, she couldn’t even define what she even meant by ‘cheap’. But as kids, we assumed it meant something like slutty.”

Gabriella, 34 remembers from her childhood “I’m Italian and in Europe most children get their ears pierced at birth. My parents broke with tradition and didn’t get my ears pierced. I eventually decided to get them done when I was 14. I don’t think it’s a big deal either way.”

What age should you pierce your child’s ears? It’s a personal decision – the only one that you can make. You may be influenced by your own experience as a kid or your cultural background but at the end of the day; there is no right or wrong age for piercing, the best age for getting ears pierced is the one that you decide after weighing up all the risks and benefits.