Mum left fuming after her ex gets baby's ears pierced without her permission
A mum has been left raging after her ex got her nine-week-old daughter’s ears pierced despite her asking him not to.
Posting on Netmums, the mum explained that though she’d never judge anyone else she’d never liked the thought of piercing babies’ ears.
“I have never wanted any children I had to have their ears pierced until they were able to ask me themselves,” she wrote.
“I expressed this to my ex a few weeks ago when he said she would look cute with her ears pierced. I said that I didn’t think piercings were for baby’s [sic] and that she can have them pierced when she is old enough to ask me.”
She went on to explain that when her ex looked after her daughter overnight and dropped he home he left as quickly as possible, saying that the baby was grumpy without offering an explanation.
It was only when the mum removed her daughter’s hat that she realised why she was so upset.
“He had taken her to have her ears pierced,” she wrote. “Her ears are still flaming hot and swollen right now! I can’t believe he would do that behind my back and run off before I could confront him!”
Now the dad is refusing to say where he got the piercings done, leaving Melissa scared the practitioner isn’t properly qualified – and her baby could get an infection.
“I have tried to take the ear rings [sic] out, but it’s so sore to even touch,” she continued.
The mum finished her post by saying she had asked her ex why he went against her wishes to which he responded “told you she would look cute”.
And other parents were quick to step in and offer their own views on the thorny issue.
Many could understand why the mum was so upset.
“I would make an appointment with the doc to check over and remove them,” one user offered. “I think it’s [sic] child abuse, and a poor reflection on his parenting.”
“Oh my Goodness I would be livid,” another agreed. “I certainly wouldn’t be keen to allow him to have her overnight again until he can act more responsibly, as in have discussions and comprises, not act like a child and go behind your back.”
Other parents shared similar stories of behind-the-back ear piercing
“My dad’s new girlfriend took me to get mine done when I was about 10,” one user wrote. “My mum had said no previously. She did it for my birthday. I went home and showed my mum she went NUTS!!!! Ripped them out of my ears and drove to my dads house banging his door down. “I’m not surprised your [sic] upset! 9 weeks old!!!!!! Awful.”
While some expressed surprise that the dad had been able to get his daughter’s ears pierced so young.
“I’m surprised they did them at that age. I thought 4-6 months was the minimum? Unless he lied about her age,” one user offered.
According to YouGov, despite many piercing salons imposing their own age restrictions, there is no legal age restriction for any kind of piercing in England and Wales.
In Scotland, however, people under 16 are required to have a parent’s permission before having ears and other body parts pierced.
A recent survey revealed that the British public think there should be an age limit on getting ear piercings without parental consent in England and Wales, with more than two thirds thinking the age limit should be at least 16, and around one in five stipulating that it should be at least 18.
One mum feels so strongly about the topic she launched a petition calling for the UK to ban ear piercing for babies and toddlers.
Susan Ingram, the woman who set it up said piercing such young children “serves no purpose other than to satisfy the parent’s vanity”.
The petition, calling for a minimum legal age for the procedure, almost reached its target of 35,000 signatures in less than a week and ended up topping 86,000.
The baby and toddler ear piercing topic has been up debate many times in the past. Earlier this year a mum sparked a heated debate online after asking if she was being reasonable or not to consider getting her four-year-old daughter’s ears pierced, despite her biological father not being in favour.
Just last year a viral video of a child getting her ears pierced sparked debate with some calling it child abuse.
The Kardashians have also come under fire for their ear piercing decisions. Earlier this year Khloe Kardashian was criticised by some for getting her then two-month-old daughter’s ears pierced.
And in 2014, big sister Kim Kardashian also got backlash when daughter North West was seen wearing earrings before her first birthday.
Katie Price has also been at the end of controversy after she got her 17-month-old’s ears pierced back in 2016.
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