Babys First Year Blog
Please do Not Kiss my Baby Complete Stranger.
So I just spent the last four days with about 3,500 women, most of whom LOOOOVE babies. Their own babies, other peoples babies, babies dressed as animals, babies with animals, babies on YouTube, babies in calendars dressed as flowers, babies on pinterest, babies on flickr, babies in strollers but more specifically MY baby. Which I don’t blame them. My baby is touchable. Squeezable. Lovable. Delicious. But that doesn’t mean you can or should. After all, she is MY baby. So what do you do when there’s unsolicited baby touching?
At first it was no big deal, I was with my friends, so of course you can touch my baby! We’re friends! Then more people started showing up, sure I knew them, but not very well. They kept to touching her feet. But then complete strangers showed up. There was hair rubbing, there was cheek pinching, tummy tickling and even more feet rubbing.
THEN THERE WAS KISSING.
Do not kiss my baby. Please.
Unless a DNA test proves you related to my baby or you have seen me in my underwear, please do not kiss my baby.
I was never big on holding other peoples babies because they would cry. And then I would feel bad. “So, I know I asked if I could hold your baby but I made it cry so here have it back.” But it seems that everyone around me loves holding babies. Vivi had her fair share of snuggles from friends this weekend, which helped a lot given I was by myself. I had a friend who while in Costa Rica, a grandmotherly woman not only took her baby, she took her baby OFF HER BOOB and down the hall to show her friend.
Apparently they’re much more touchy in other countries.
But tell me, where do you draw the line as to who can hold/touch/kiss/smell/love your baby?
(Also, funny side story, upon arriving at the hotel someone picked up my baby without asking. My baby pooped on her. Talk about built in defense system.)
(Have you seen these Do Not Touch the Baby signs? Would you use one?)
Go Back To Babys First Year Blog
32 Comments
[...] Via Scoop.it – Blogs About Google+ , Google, Twitter , LinkedIn, FaceBook, Skype Babble (blog)Please do Not Kiss my Baby Complete Stranger.Babble (blog)on her unintentionally authentic personal blog, moosh in indy as well as twitter. Roni Noone is a web publisher, healthy living blogger, social media fanatic and, of course, mom.Show original [...]
Please do Not Kiss my Baby Complete Stranger. – Babble (blog) « Jaideepkhanduja’s Weblog commented on Aug 08 11 at 8:03 am[...] wrote about bringing your baby to BlogHer here. And I wrote about strangers touching my baby [...]
moosh in indy. » perinka, pouty faces, photos and pads of two varieties. commented on Aug 20 11 at 9:02 pm[...] you remember I took my tiny baby to BlogHer back in August where she was poked at, kissed, touched, held and picked up by complete strangers. I kept this in mind as a wandered around oogling other babies. I never touched let alone kissed and [...]
I Missed My Baby. | Babys First Year Blog commented on Oct 17 11 at 8:24 pmAnnabel commented on Aug 07 11 at 8:24 pmRelax! No one is trying to steal your baby or infect her with some strange disease.They think she is adorable and it is just what happens when you have a baby. You would probably be more upset if no one ever looked at your baby or told you how cute she was. A little love never killed anyone and being the crazy mom with the “please don’t touch the baby” sign is just creepy.
loubird commented on Aug 07 11 at 8:35 pmNo stranger should ever kiss your baby. Period.
KH commented on Aug 07 11 at 11:06 pmI think those signs are for babies in incubators – did you bring your baby to BlogHER in an incubator ;)
All kidding aside, I agree with Annabel to a certain extent, BUT I definitely wouldn’t be very happy if someone picked up my baby without asking, and actually kissing the baby does seem a bit off side. I’m all for a little foot touching, holding or back rubbing though!
Just to totally confuse my point I have to add that it weirds me out when people leave blog comments that say thinks like “oh I just want to smooch that baby” or “look at those kissable rolls”, etc. Yikes!
Sofi commented on Aug 08 11 at 2:34 amI don’t have kids yet, but I admit that I’m already trying to come up with strategies that prevent strangers from touching my baby (or rubbing my pregnant belly!).
Grace M. commented on Aug 08 11 at 11:09 amNo one but healthy family members kiss my kiddo. The rest of the world can kiss my jiggly post-partum tushie.
Katie commented on Aug 08 11 at 2:22 pmI don’t have kids, so maybe my point of view will change when that happens, but I think a little touching isn’t so bad. Is it? I would never pick up someone’s baby without asking or kiss a baby I barely knew (I’m not a baby-hussy after all). But if I’m talking with someone holding a baby, I tend to coo at the baby or hold it’s hand or tickle feet. Is that weird? I hope that’s not weird. Otherwise I’ve been acting crazy for a long time!
Beth commented on Aug 08 11 at 2:25 pmWhile I was on a plane with my daughter, the stewardess picked her up and walked her up the aisle to show the other stewardesses…without asking me. We were on a plane, in the air, and there was really no where for her to “go” but I still freaked out a bit.
A few minutes later the stewardess brought my daughter back- as my daughter, very rightly, had started screaming when she saw my husband and I and realized we weren’t the ones holding her.
So, yeah, I’m with you…don’t touch my child unless I know you…and know where your hands have been.
Melanie commented on Aug 08 11 at 2:26 pmA man I didn’t know recently tried to touch my 3 month old son and my first instinct was to slap his hand away. I couldn’t help it!
PM commented on Aug 08 11 at 2:27 pmI totally agree! It amazed me how often strangers would touch my newborn in public places, during the peak of cold and flu season no less. I appreciated the cute baby comments, but I would try to cover him or position him so he wasn’t so easily touchable.
BA commented on Aug 08 11 at 2:57 pmI laughed when she pooped. It was classic & wonderful.
But I’m raging like that.
Nikki commented on Aug 08 11 at 3:30 pmI am one of those people who have the urge to squeeze chubby little baby thighs and probably creepily tell the parents my urge to do so…but I always resist, unless it is a close friend and I have permission to hold the baby.
I would never post a “please don’t touch the baby” sign on my baby. It seems crazy. Although, I am with you…strangers, please don’t kiss the baby!
Shandeigh commented on Aug 08 11 at 4:41 pmI don’t have a problem with ppl touching my babies feet… but kissing or holding without my permission is a def. no-no.
Charlotte Anne commented on Aug 08 11 at 5:02 pmMy opinion is don’t touch a baby without permission PERIOD much less kiss them! You don’t know the parents or the child. What if the child was a preemie and is more susceptible to germs or has another disorder that could cause such? My sister in law has a sign that says “Your germs are too big for me, please don’t touch” for that very reason as her son was born at 30 weeks.
Katie commented on Aug 08 11 at 5:10 pmI don’t have kids, but I can totally see where you’re coming from on this. You don’t have any idea if that person’s hands are clean, if they’re healthy, etc. And just because you have a baby out in public does not mean that you’re on board with people putting their mouths on your baby’s body. There is a huge difference between sharing the air in a hotel or convention center and having someone else’s saliva on your kid.
And can we just make a rule that it’s never okay to pick up a baby without asking?
Katie commented on Aug 08 11 at 5:16 pmI don’t have kids, but I’ve known a lot of people on either side of this. I think its hard because some people feel icky about it and some people love when someone else wants to hold their babies. I’ve actually had people get their feelings if I don’t ask to hold their babies right away. But I understand both sides. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could all have signs that communicate pertinent information.”Allergic to peanuts. Hugger. Cries easy. Emotional eater.” You know, etc. etc. etc.
Ashley commented on Aug 08 11 at 7:13 pmI absolutely hated people touching my daughter when she was an infant. She had super chubby cheeks and everyone thought they needed to be squeezed! Drove me crazy. I would have totally used one of those signs. My husband and I are the only ones allowed to kiss her. My MIL has cold sores and I have nightmares of her passing it to my daughter. Needless to say we were not popular. Oh well! I grew her for 9 months and was in labor for 2 days I can damn well make the rules for my kid!
Marta commented on Aug 08 11 at 8:35 pmYeah I’m with you, that’s weird. Kissing babies that is. Liking your baby is obviously completely understandable, I mean after all look at her hair. I must project something that tells people not to touch my baby (or my stomach when I was pregnant) because somehow no one has ever attempted such a thing. That or it was so traumatic I’ve blocked it out of my memory.
Mrs. Wilson commented on Aug 08 11 at 8:58 pmOh, lady, I am SO with you on this. I just ranted on FB/Twitter about this a week ago. It gives me great anxiety when strangers touch/kiss my baby.
The Vivi pooping defense mechanism? SO AWESOME.
Jenny commented on Aug 08 11 at 11:29 pmMy limit for those who can’t control the urge is baby feet. My son has adorable, wonderful curly hair. He is 7. Strangers still try to touch his head. WTF?
He did tell his first grade teacher a few months into the school year that “you may touch my hair now.”. I filed that under flaunt it if you got it. I’m sure that people try to touch both your babies’ heads. Argh.
Megan commented on Aug 08 11 at 11:44 pmI’m blown away that anyone thinks it’s okay touch someone else’s baby without permission. PARTICULARLY a stranger’s baby. Picking up a baby that doesn’t belong to you? KISSING a baby that you aren’t directly related to? I would not have handled any of that well.
Liz Sanders commented on Aug 08 11 at 11:46 pmNo touching of the baby! Friends, Family, or if they ask, then sure, please, touch the baby! What if they had a cold, or any type of germ that could make the baby sick?
I noticed that people don’t have a boundary either. They will touch your baby while he/she is strapped to your body. A sweet little old lady patting the baby’s back…cute. A lady with smeared lip stick and a cold sore…gag.
Proud mom commented on Aug 09 11 at 3:02 amI would absolutely 100% have a sign like that. Now that I know where to get one, I will. I was at the grocery store one day, I had seen a woman staring at me as I went towards the eggs, (well staring at my 3 month old daughter I was carrying) While I am checking the eggs I can feel her breathe on my neck and she is in my daughter’s face asking HER how old she was. I have no problem with you touching her feet or even legs, but really? Breathing in her face? Crazy! Thanks for the link to the signs. I WILL be purchasing one…
1sttimemom commented on Aug 09 11 at 8:53 amI had a sign that read, “Please wash your hands before touching mine” hanging on her carseat & nobody payed any attention to it, they went right for her hands! So I don’t use the sign anymore. My baby is an early teether and all she does is gnaw on her adorable little hands. Please don’t touch my baby’s hands or face let alone kiss them!!! I don’t care what people say, there are so many adults out there that just don’t wash their hands and can care less about your baby getting sick because after all it’s not their problem… Idk about the sign but I would definitely ask people politely to not touch my baby. When someone I don’t want holding my baby asks, I make the excuse of having to nurse or change her diaper even when I don’t have to. She is my baby and you have every right to not let me hold yours. I do love the compliments ;)
Amy commented on Aug 09 11 at 11:57 amIt always used to unnerve me when people would touch my my son. He has curly, fiery red hair and for some reason, everyone felt the need to grab his face and rub their fingers through his hair. They would catch a glimpse of his hair from across a store and make a beeline right to us. Next thing I knew they would be pawing all over him.
Ironically, it didn’t bother me so much when the toucher was a teenage girl or an elderly grandmother/grandfather type, but the throngs of 20-60 year-old people totally creeped me out.
True story: I live just outside of Nashville, TN and one day I was at the grocery store with my then 1 1/2-year-old boy. This lady, wearing big dark glasses, started following us around the store. Every time she walked by she would stop and run her fingers through my boy’s hair. She even made a point of touching him again when we were in the checkout line. It was pretty creepy. As I’m waiting for the checker to finish scanning my groceries, the woman behind me asks if I knew who the woman was that was so taken with my boy. I told her I had no clue who she was. Her reply… “It’s Naomi Judd.”
Q commented on Aug 09 11 at 1:54 pmI think it’s totally inappropriate to touch a stranger’s baby. What’s even worse is when people touch your pregnant belly. I will bite your hand if you touch my belly. I just don’t DO touching if I don’t know you.
JenAHM commented on Aug 09 11 at 10:01 pmI was in the elevator at the hospital as we were leaving to bring our now 4 month old daughter home for the first time. With me was my favorite nurse from my stay and a strange man who had hopped on with us. This man proceeded to try to touch my daughter’s face with his dirty gross smokey hands because she was “so cute and little.” I seriously was ready to smack the idiot but the nurse got to him first and blocked his hand from even getting near the baby. I broke out in a sweat from hormones and pure disbelief that this guy was going to touch a 2 day old baby. Crazy.
the grumbles commented on Aug 10 11 at 9:36 amI was going to write a note about how I too did not like it when people touched my baby. But then I got distracted by how hilarious Amy’s story above is. HA! Anyway, I can handle feet or belly tickling or some friendly coo-ing but hands/holding/kissing? Stranger? NO.
Jenny commented on Aug 11 11 at 2:11 pmMy sister has a please wash your hands before touching me sign attached to my niece’s carseat. She was born at 29 weeks and spent three months at Riley. Even now that a lot of the risks have past since she is 7 months my sister keeps it on there to serve as a deterent to randome people touching her. It seems to work pretty well.
Mae commented on Aug 12 11 at 10:06 pmThat’s redonk. People touched her without asking? And picked her UP? AND KISSED HER?!?!
And I thought I was bad for asking first and then touching the top of her head for 5 glorious seconds before manhandling my ovaries back from the brink and contenting myself with just sitting there smelling her gorgeous baby smell for another 5 minutes.
But I guess I could have been worse.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Lauren Hartmann 
Arianne Segerman 
Emily Elling 
Crissy Page 
Ali Smith 
Meredith Carroll 
Emily Malone 
Danielle Elwood 
Molly Thornberg 
Selena Burgess 
Melissa Jordan 
Casey Mullins 
Roni Noone 
Madeline Petersen 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
32