A mum-of-three has caused outrage after she uploaded a video which shows her tiny four month old baby girl having her ears PIERCED.
Crystal Lynn, 34, sparked fierce debate after she took her now five-year-old daughter Emily for the proceedure at such a young age.
The youngster screams out in the video as she gets both of her ears pierced and wails for 30 seconds, but then appears to be fine.
The footage, which was taken initially shot in 2012, was recently posted on a piercing social media site which casued another debate on piercing babies.
But married stay at home mum Crystal wants to spread awareness of piercing children’s ears at such a young age.
Defending her actions, Crystal, from Florida in the US, said: “I hope to give everyone a better understanding to why we pierce ears at such a young age.
“We chose to pierce our daughter’s ears at a young age because it is proven that most who wait until they are older, around the age of 5-10 years of age, usually end up with an infection because they don’t stop touching them.
“When you pierce them young they don’t feel, but maybe 30 seconds of pain, if any pain at all and we as parents take care of the piercing and they are less likely to mess with them.
“Emily, who was four months old at the time, and she does not remember the piercing at all – and she loves her earrings.”
Crystal, who is also mum to her eldest child Jake, 10, and one-year-old
Adding: “You see, if at anytime she wants to take them out – then she can.”
However, Crystal has been slammed for doing “something so abhorrent” – while others have defended her decision and asked what is so wrong and bad about it.
In the comments on the video, Karen Telford Shaw said: “Cruel, just cruel. Hope mum is happy putting her lovely daughter through this trauma.”
Verity Miller said:
“Why would you want to cause your baby pain when it is meant to be mum who protects them? Let them choose when they are old enough!”
Karen Needham said: “Something else that needs to be made illegal until the child can decide for itself. It is abuse, pure and and simple.”
But other parents agreed with Crystal and have no regrets over piercing their children’s ears.
Rebekah Musson, 23, had her baby’s ears pierced when she was four months old as well – and claims her daughter loves her earrings.
Mum-of-two Rebekah, of Hull, East Yorks., said her daughter Maddison only cried for a split second and loves her earings.
She said: “Did she cry? Yes for a split second. Do I regret it? No.
“My daughter loves her earnings and she sees herself as batman with pretty ears. It’s much easier to get them done as a baby than when they’re older. Fact.
“She looks beautiful in her earrings, and she loves to change her earrings when mummy does and wears all different ones.
“She’s now two-and-a-half and has her own little jewellery box like mummy with lots of earrings in.”
Miss Musson said her daughter loves her earrings and piercing them cannot be compared to child abuse.
