A mother has been slammed online after piercing her one-year-old daughter’s ears — in particular, with the earrings she chose.
Molly Ahern shared a short clip to social media showing her baby girl and it left many viewers horrified.
In the video, the baby, who was nine months old is seen snuggled under a blanket with her mum, wearing chunky gold hoop earrings.
“Holy council estate”
Molly jokes about soaking up the sweet moments of babyhood before teenage drama arrives.
“Treasuring these cuddles cause in 15 years i’m gonna be a ‘fat s–g’ for not letting a drug dealer with one tracksuit and a 3.5 to his name stay in my home with her,” she writes on her post.
The caption read simply: “no boyfriends.”
But while Molly’s humorous take on motherhood raised some laughs, it wasn’t the caption that caught the internet’s attention. It was the eye-catching earrings.
The video quickly went viral, with commenters quick to weigh in on the gold hoops.
“Holy council estate,” one person commented.
“The earrings say enough already,” another judged.
A third criticised: “So you put your baby through pain, like your actual baby. So they can look ‘cuter for your eyes?’ Really no point is there?”
“You abused that poor baby by piercing their ears and putting chavvy earrings in,” another added.
“Everyone’s just hating because they can’t put their own kids in gold.”
Some commenters expressed their concerns more gently.
“Babe just out of general concern the earrings are gorgeous but do you take them out at night or when she sleeps? Just don’t want them to get caught on anything,” came one cautioned comment.
“Are they heavy? Because in some scenarios, especially in a growing baby, it can weigh down the lobes and cause unwanted stretching or looseness. Especially if the baby grabs or tugs.” another warned.
But not everyone was critical. Several jumped in to defend the mom.
“Piercing baby girls’ ears is a traditional custom in many cultures. In a great part of Europe they pierce every girl’s ears as a baby. It’s not at all painful. Lets not shame this poor mum. It’s her baby and it’s painless!” wrote one user.
A second agreed: “I think they are cute. I don’t get everyone’s problem. Everyone’s just hating because they can’t put their own kids in gold.”
Molly clapped back at the backlash, telling one critic to “put a sock in it.”
She clarified that her daughter was nine months old at the time of the piercing and insisted the baby hadn’t cried during the process.
“She’s my princess not yours,” she defended.
There are no national laws regulating infant ear piercing in Australia, but state rules and business policies vary.
In most states, children under 16 require written parental consent for ear piercings.
Health experts advise parents to use reputable, hygienic piercing services and to monitor healing closely to avoid infection or injury.