Every girl in my family has come out of the hospital with earrings on. No one has pulled them off or had infections because of them.

Piercing the ear does not hurt the babies. It's a lot more painful as you get older.

The earrings put into babies ears are not hoops or dangly, they are studs. Very small ones.

What is cute varies from culture to culture and generation to generation. I suppose my mother did it because that's just what is done. When I look back at baby pics of me, I do find it quite cute. But that's just my opinion.

It's hardly an abusive thing to do. I mean, considering people circumcise their boys. Now, THAT I question the necessity/safety of.