My wife wants to pierce my daughter's ears! She's only 6 months old! She's sick of people calling her a "him" even when my li'l girl is dressed in pink dresses.
Just because people are morons is no reason to mutilate my little princess' ears- is it?
How can I convince my wife that they are not my wife's property to mutilate- that piercing the ears are a decision that only my daughter can and should make?!!!!

Mr(no poker face)Sensitive

I went through the same thing some 22 years ago. All my complaining fell on deaf ears. Look at it this way, there will always be an option for gifts down the road.

Any procedure that invoives penetration of the skin carries a risk of infection. These days there are some pretty mean and nasty infections out there. Also the procedure is painful -- I know, I've had it done.

Listen, Mr. Sensitive, this is one case in which manipulation is O.K.

I'm sure you can guilt your wife out of this procedure. Would she actually put a tiny baby through a procedure that does nothing at all for the child except hurt her and put her at risk, and only benefits the mother, who apparently can't deal with 'what other people say'?

Plus, these same 'idiots' might still call her a boy, since males have this procedure done commonly these days.

As a last-ditch strategy, insist that she have it done by your family doctor, if and only if he will guarantee, in writing, that she will not cry from the pain, and that she will not under any circumstances develop an infection from the surgical invasion.

He'll never sign such a thing. You're home free.

Bless your heart for sticking up for your little kid.

First of all, it's good to have you back, Mr. Sensitive and congrats on the new baby; I always enjoyed your posts.
Years ago when my sister was living in Key West, she had a lot of hispanic friends. Many believed that having a young girl's ears pierced was a sort of exorcism -- sort of letting the devil out. I don't think that my sister bought into that but did have her daughter Jessy's ears pierced at six months at the urging of her friends. Jessy has grown into a beautiful 25 year old (who presently works for Club Med now) and whether or not your daughter has this procedure done, I guess I just wanted to say, that it really won't make that much of difference. Just, as Babs has pointed out, have it done under sterile conditions. And welcome back!

Even if there is no infection caused by the piercing, that doesn't mean you can relax! A friend of mine had her daughter's ears pierced at a very young age. The child caught an earring in the chain of a swing when playing in a park and ripped her ear lobe badly. She still has scars over a year later.

If your wife has this done, Mr. Sensitive, please please have it done at a place where they do not use a piercing gun. No matter how sterile they say those things are, they harbor so much bacteria, from past piercings that its not funny. No matter how well they clean it, they 'd have to essentially take the whole gun apart to get all the blood splatter and everything off of all the equipment. With that said, I don't know of any piercing parlors that will pierce a baby's ears. Best of luck to you.

You really should talk with your pediatrician before piercing your daughter's ears. He/She will be able to answer your questions.

What does your baby want? Of course she is gonna want them pierced. Not having your ears pierced cuts out an entire jewelry line!