<p>I’m with WashDad, roshke et all who are for the “just say no” approach to this sort of thing…at least while they’re in my house and financially dependent on me. ;)</p>
<p>I’m not known for outright “NO’s” too much (though my kids don’t ask to have/do outlandish things by and large), but tattoos and unusual piercings (non ear) would be among those things.</p>
<p>One of the biggest issues I had with our h.s. yearbook last year is that it gave a HUGE, color, two-page spread to tattoos and piercings, complete with an endorsement to “go behind your parents’ backs” to get one if they disapproved, but did not include ANY statistics re: infection or risks. </p>
<p>I would stress to my kids that this is a fad and likely to not be something they wish to have later, BUT…if they still wished to have it later, they could always get it on their own then! :D</p>
<p>~berurah
(mother of three daughters <em>and</em> three sons)</p>
<p>One of my very favorite high school employees (now in college) had a belly button ring. Her story is my favorite anecdote about piercings. </p>
<p>The rule in the pet shop is NO PIERCINGS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM. Now, since the rule is also NO BELLIES, NO BOOBS, NO THIGHS, NO TOES, NO SHOULDERS … technically a belly ring would be OK. (And little stud earrings are ok … but I’m disclaiming responsiblity for any injuries caused by parrots playing with said earrings.)</p>
<p>Then I tell them about Olivia. She got kicked in the belly ring (through her shirt) by a bunny who apparently got a toenail hooked in. OUCH!</p>
<p>I tell them if they have a belly ring, it should be bandaided before coming to work. I don’t want to pay a workman’s comp claim for a piercing that got in the way of one of our animals.</p>
<p>PS: Don’t assume that a navel piercing implies a “ring”. I’ve never worn a ring, I always wear small, slightly curved “barbells”. Bunny toenails wouldn’t get caught in my navel jewelry, even if my shirt wasn’t covering my piercing. :)</p>
<p>Anyone have any experience with eyebrow piercing? My daughter talks about it and I think it would look nice on her but knowing how her dad would feel she understands I won’t give consent for it. It’s one of those things she’ll have to do on her own dime in her own time if she wants it, I just would hate to see infection/scarring be an issue.</p>
<p>There are some outside issues with face/lip/eyebrow piercings. My nephews did the eyebrows then they got ummm underlip piercings? stud worn under lip, or I think same piercing - ring that went over bottom lip?
When they went to get part time jobs (h.s. kids) they were asked repeatedly if they would remove them when working. It took a while to find a place that would hire them if they left them in at work.</p>
<p>Don’t know if enough folks are reading this, but although short shirts and belly piercings are still big here in my little corner of NJ, where are they over with, or considered tacky/slutty. A few people mentioned that. My dd had it done but I think got tired of it after a few months.</p>
<p>OK, my d. had her navel pierced at age 15. I consented to it the same week that she needed oral surgery to have a chain implanted in her gum to pull up a recalcitrant tooth. Her reasoning was that she might as well get the navel piercing while she had the anticipated vicodin prescription available. My rationale was that if I was paying some guy a small fortune to anesthetize my kid and drill metal into her mouth, it was rather silly to get all worked up about a piece of jewelry.</p>
<p>D. researched and we all marched off to what was reputedly the most famous and well-maintained piercing parlor in all of San Francisco. They were indeed very professional. Decor on the walls consisted of many stomach churning photos of people with multiple piercings. Long counseling session with all risks exhaustively described before paper-signing, and then piercing. Piercer recommended against it for her age, said she was better off waiting a year – she wanted it anyway. She went to the back room with piercer and her best friend. I was too squeamish to watch, so I stayed out in the waiting area. It took about 5 minutes. She came out and said it was painless. </p>
<p>She was scrupulous about hygiene, rinsing her navel with special sterile solution/soap several times daily.</p>
<p>I never saw the slightest degree of redness or swelling.</p>
<p>She has one of those barbells like Mootmom describes. Big discussion prior to purchase about proper sizing. D. apparently has very small navel, needs extra-small barbell inserted backwards. I have not known her to have any issues with it. </p>
<p>D. is a dancer but this has never been a problem for her. </p>
<p>The area got plenty of exposure to air and experienced no chafing because d’s jeans barely rise above her pubic bone and her tops don’t come down far enough to cover anything - so basically d. went around for a year with her midriff exposed. Hey, what’s the point of having a piercing anyway if you can’t show it off to everyone and their respective grandparents?</p>
<p>So basically… no big deal. </p>
<p>Ironically neither my d. nor I wear earrings any more because we both had a lot of issues with our earlobe piercings. My d. had her ears pierced at age 6 and her skin was so soft that the weight of dangly earrings almost sliced right through one of her ears – so she got a 2nd piercing around age 9 or so to fix that… but she would get gunk & itching in the piercings – I had the same thing, could only wear hypo-allergenic or gold stud earrings. Anyway, we both took out our earrings and let the holes close up… but she’s never had an issue with the navel ring.</p>
<p>I grew up in a family where piercing of anything was forbidden. As a result, I am a 49-year-old without any piercings ever - not even my ears! My 20-year-old and 17-year-old daughters do not have any piercings either. They don’t even want them. </p>
<p>Pierced ears are attractive to me; however, I always felt that if God intended for me to wear pierced earrings, I would have been born with holes in my lobes! Our family doctor often comments on “how refreshing it is to see young girls without any piercings.” He (and I) especially hate to see baby girls with pierced ears. They need to at least be old enough to decide for themselves if they want them.</p>
<p>Just in case a parent didn’t know, there are clear plastic pieces (made of bioflex) that can be inserted into facial piercings so one can work, perform, sing in the choir etc and it is invisible. One can even put in the clear plastic, small, unobtrusive pieces for job interviews, etc. </p>
<p>(My D used this as an excuse why they would be OK!! I still said no wait until your 18.)</p>
<p><em>Shrug</em> memie it’s traditional in my culture for young girls to get their ears pierced. It’s rather condescending of your doctor to ignore this fact. I for one am glad my parents pierced my ears at 6 months because I can’t remember feeling any pain whatsoever. And because I got my ear piercings at such a young age, I never developed rebellious attitudes toward piercings–I wasn’t one of those girls who pestered her mom to let her be “grown-up” and get a piercing when she turned 13.
Really, the parents are not making some life-changing decision when they get the baby’s ears pierced. I have never met a girl who regretted her parents’ choice to do so. And even if she did, she could just remove her earrings and the holes would close up naturally, and no one would be worse for wear. In my opinion it’s much more drastic for a parent to, say, circumcise their newborn–a decision that can’t really be reversed and which also has questionable value. It’s all really cultural.</p>
<p>Is the belly-button piercing made through the central little belly-bean thing itself, or in the skin around it? If the former, I would imagine that having an innie or outie type would make a big difference in the success of the piercing.</p>
![http://www.silverflake.com/images/bellybuttonring1.jpg[/url]](http://www.silverflake.com/images/bellybuttonring1.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
