Is it okay to pierce newborn baby’s ears in Australia? Mum Lara slammed on TikTok

A mum has come under fire again for piercing her newborn daughter’s ears after one day in the hospital, with many parents saying she should wait until the child is old enough to make the decision for herself.

The mother, who posts under her daughter’s name – Lara – on TikTok, shared an innocent video of her baby girl just hours after her birth compared to her at three months old last year.

In the resurfaced video, the tot is seen with a tiny flower earring visible in the footage from her first 24 hours on earth, and it caused a raucous to explode in the comments section below.

But others defended the decision saying that it’s common in some cultures to pierce a young girls’ ears early in life. 

‘Maybe it’s just me but on the day my children were born getting their ears pierced was very far down my list of concerns,’ one woman said.

‘Why would you pierce their ears before they can talk?’ a woman asked. ‘If their ears feel sore or irritated, they can’t tell you. If they’re allergic to the stems, it’s misery for you and the baby.’

‘I’ll never understand why people do this – not to mention it looks absolutely ridiculous seeing a tiny baby with jewellery in their tiny ears,’ another added. ‘So gross.’ 

Some shared their own experiences getting ear piercings as children. 

A mum said: ‘I had my ears pierced before I could remember, but I never thought it would be okay to pierce my beautiful daughter’s ears. She’s 15 now and hates jewellery so I’m glad I didn’t choose that for her.’

‘When I was a baby, my mother pierced my ears herself with ice and a needle in the backyard,’ a woman revealed. ‘I’ve had crooked earrings since and I hate them so much.’

While it’s not known where Lara and her mother live, it’s presumably not Australia as she confirmed that it was the neonatologists within the hospital who ‘pierced Lara’s ears’.

‘When they are 2-3 days old, they don’t feel pain like a year or two!’ she wrote.

‘The holes are given to them by neonatologists (doctors specialising in the care of newborns) in the hospital at birth.’

While it’s not known where Lara and her mother live, it’s presumably not Australia as she confirmed that it was the neonatologists within the hospital who ‘pierced Lara’s ears’

The mother claimed that babies’ ear lobes are softer when they’re really young and her daughter wouldn’t have felt any major pain, in fact, she ‘didn’t even react’. 

Others agreed that it was common to pierce young girls’ ears as an infant.

‘In my country they pierce the baby girls on the first day they are born,’ one woman replied.

‘Love how she has her ears pierced! Honestly I’d do the same,’ said another.

A third added: ‘I love the earrings. Good job mama and congratulations. Ignore all the hate.’

While some also expressed regret at waiting until their children were old enough.

‘I wish I had my daughters’ ears done as babies,’ a mum wrote. ‘They begged me to have them done at 10-years-old and scream and shook the whole time.’

‘My daughter is so angry at me because I didn’t pierce her ears as a child,’ another said. ‘She wants earrings so bad but is terrified of needles.’