Should It Be Legal to Pierce Your Infant Child's Ears?

I don't think that piercing a child's ears should necessarily be illegal, but certainly piercing guns. People should only be pierced with hollow needles by people who have had proper training and education on piercing. If a child cannot sit for two separate piercings, then it shouldn't be done, and in the best case scenario it should be done with their consent / their wanting to have it done.
If they go to a professional piercer, they will also be told the correct aftercare and what to do if any issues arise.

@ lonely girl.
I agree with the hollow needle thing -- I got my ears pierced when I was 9 by guns and had no end of issues (even had to get one of them re-pierced at a higher area on my lobe because it was pierced too low because of the gun). Got my second ear piercings with hollow needles, and didn't have any issues (as well as my nose, but that's pretty much a given). And if a child cannot sit through two piercings, I definitely agree that it shouldn't be done. I know a friend who took her toddler to get her ears pierced and she squirmed so much that the piercing ended up going in wonky, which is probably going to cause issues in the future. If the child is obviously in distress and doesn't want it done, I don't see why somebody should put the child through that.

@ nearly witches.
I had my lobes done with guns as well and (stupidly) one of my helixes. It's just not worth the risk, especially when there are better piercing options and hollow needle piercings heal (on average) faster and are less painful.
Even for kids who do want it done, a gun is just not the way to go. One of my kids came to me the other day and told me all about how she got them pierced with a gun and was told to turn them after spraying them [with an anti-bacterial spray]. That aftercare is unhygienic, not to mention anti-bac dries out your skin which can lead to healing issues. For the love of god, leave your piercings alone and use a sea salt solution!

@ lonely girl.
Definitely not! I had so many issues with mines healing after I got them done with the guns that I didn't have the second time I got my lobes pierced. And they did heal slightly faster, and were less hassle to deal with.

Yeah, for sure -- I feel like places that pierce with a gun / don't give correct aftercare advice are going to lead to worse experiences, especially for little kids. I mean, if you think about how many toddlers will probably fiddle with them anyway and if you couple that with bad aftercare advice, you'll end up with a massive mess that could harm the kid more than anything. I was given the same advice as that when I got mine pierced at 9 -- turn them, and clean them with a cotton ball with solution on it. Didn't do that the second time around and didn't do that with my nose (just used saline / salt water and left them alone) and didn't have problems with either of them. Just shows how different it can be when you get piercings done properly.

no? personally from a latina background experience, it’s totally normal for babies to have their ears pierced. i had mine done when i was like four months i think. i think if people are going to pierce their babies they should do it safely.

I think as long as the earrings aren't hurting their babies or their babies aren't allergic to the metals/materials that make up the earrings than it should be fine but if a kid is being forced to get a piercing that they don't want then they shouldn't be forced.