The mother of 4-month-old Lara decided to have her baby’s earlobes pierced when they were still in the hospital following her birth. However, apparently, her decision wasn’t well received on social media.
Culturally around the world, it’s normal for both girls and women to have their ears pierced. However, it depends on each nation whether it is customary to put earrings on babies from birth or if the girls themselves choose once they grow up. This was the controversy that Lara’s mother sparked on TikTok.
Lara is just over four months old, but she’s already a “mini influencer” on TikTok. Her mother created the user @laraticaofficial to show how her daughter is growing day by day, and she has already gained more than 776,000 followers on the social media platform. Although the baby’s mother’s videos were always well received, this has changed drastically.
In a cute clip posted on TikTok, a comparison of Lara when she was just 24 hours old, to what she looks like now, at four months old, can be seen. However, what bothered netizens wasn’t the little girl’s overexposure, but that they noticed a small detail: She had her ears pierced since she was born.
Immediately, TikTok users took aim at Lara’s mother, making her understand that her decision to put earrings in her daughter’s ears less than 24 hours after she was born was a mistake, as many said it was painful for the baby.
“I just don’t get it, and it hurts just like when they’re older! Don’t kid yourself”, “It’s their choice if they want their ears pierced, isn’t it? I’m going to let my babies decide when they understand these things”, “Maybe it’s just me, but the day my kids were born, getting their ears pierced was way down on my list of concerns”, are among the many criticisms Lara’s mother received.
Even after the barrage of scolding the baby’s mother received, she decided to tell her side of the story, justifying her actions.
“When they are 2-3 days old, they don’t feel the pain like a year or two! The holes are given to them by neonatologists in the hospital at birth,”
After her clarification, other users defended the actions of the baby’s mother, stating that in their respective countries, it’s normal for newborn girls to have their ears pierced, using the excuse that it doesn’t hurt because their earlobes are still very soft.
The debate sparked TikTok, as the decision to pierce a newborn girl’s ears or not probably depends on the country’s culture, rather than being a general global rule. And you, what would you do?