Hilary Duff Gets Majorly Mom-Shamed For Piercing Her Baby's Ears

Ear piercing is a very divisive issue among moms, it seems

Proud mama Hilary Duff loves to share the sweetest photos of her two children, and we love her for her honesty. She probably wasn’t expecting any backlash, however, when she recently posted an innocent photo of her 8-month-old daughter — wearing earrings. The mom-shamers came out in full force to let Duff know what they thought about her daughter’s ears being pierced.

You wouldn’t think the below photo would be prime for controversy, but here we are:

Her followers instantly noticed that baby Banks has her ears pierced — and many of them are not happy about it. She later confirmed via a now-deleted Instagram story that she and her fiancé did, in fact, pierce Banks’ ears.

Bring in the droves of mom-shamers.

The ear-piercing debate has been a hot topic for a while now. Some moms feel that a child should be old enough to consent when it comes to body modifications and make their own choices. Which is totally fair and makes sense. Other moms figure, “It hurts for a second and earrings are cute, so why not?” And that is also fine. Because ear piercing, while totally valid on the age/consent issue, is not the equivalent of child abuse. And you also have the choice to just…not do it, if it’s not right for you and your family.

And we don’t need to make Hilary Duff or any other mom who chooses to pierce their child’s ears feel guilty or shameful about that decision.

Now onto the other matter — the mall vs. tattoo shops. Piercing places at the local mall have been a staple for many of us for decades. It’s where I got my first two ear piercings done, and it was fine. No infections, nothing. But that’s not the case for every person who gets their ears pierced. Many people are opting to take their kids to tattoo shops to get their ears pierced now.

Why? Because tattoo shops use sterile needles. Piercing shops at the mall use guns that can’t be properly or thoroughly sanitized. According to the Association of Professional Piercers, piercing with a needle is much safer than the guns used in many jewelry stores and mall kiosks.

While we don’t know for sure where or how Hilary Duff’s daughter came to have her bejeweled ears, can we all just agree that going on and on about “inflicting pain” and “crying and screaming” is unnecessary to do to any mom?

TODAY consulted a pediatrician about the issue, and here’s what he had to say: “I don’t have a good reason to say that parents can’t have a baby’s ears pierced,” he said. “Caring for an infant with pierced ears is no different than caring for another child, except (in a baby’s case) it’s up to the parent to care for (the child’s ears).”