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AIBU?

What would you do if an adult hit your child

188 replies

Breadcheesebread · 18/06/2021 13:14

Without going into too many details.

Two 6 month olds were playing, one ended up hitting the other on the hand, accidentally.
Neither reacted, carried on playing.

The mother of the one who was hit, said 'I saw that' and lightly tapped the hand of the child who had hit her child.
She then turned to her own child and asked if she was OK. Her child stared blankly at her.

The poor kid who had just been hit by the adult looked so confused.
The mother of the one that hit his friend accidentally was so shocked she didn't say anything.

If it was my child, it would take all my strength not to slap the woman.

Or is that unreasonable?

OP posts:
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Am I being unreasonable?

667 votes. Final results.

POLL
You are being unreasonable
12%
You are NOT being unreasonable
88%
NautaOcts · 18/06/2021 13:16

Do you mean 6 MONTH olds?

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Aroundtheworldin80moves · 18/06/2021 13:17

I would not let my baby near that mother again. (Or the baby unfortunately).

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romdowa · 18/06/2021 13:17

I'd have picked up my child and left. I'd have tackled her then later when I didn't have my baby with me. I'd read her the riot act.

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Breadcheesebread · 18/06/2021 13:17

Yes. Two 6 month old children.

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socalledfriend · 18/06/2021 13:18

Do you mean if an adult hit my baby?

I would go fucking nuclear.

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sneezypants · 18/06/2021 13:18

The adult didn't actually HIT the child though, did they?

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Bloodybridget · 18/06/2021 13:18

Anyone expecting a six month old to never hit another person is nuts, and I don't believe in hitting/smacking children of any age. But are you serious that the woman asked her own baby if they were all right? How did she think they could answer her?

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mindutopia · 18/06/2021 13:18

It depends on if it was lightly tapped to get her attention and distract her from hitting, or properly slapped. Because those are different. My dd was probably about 8 months when I met up with a friend and my dd lunged at her baby (same age) and tried to scratch her eyes. It happened so quickly and I wasn't close enough to grab her. Friend grabbed both her hands and held her back until I could get there. Someone might think that was aggressive, but no one wants their baby's face all scratched up.

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Noauthorityhere · 18/06/2021 13:20

WTAF 6 months old!!

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Aposterhasnoname · 18/06/2021 13:20

Well I wouldn’t call that hitting tbh. However, if an adult really had hit my child, I’d be in jail.

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4PawsGood · 18/06/2021 13:20

@sneezypants

The adult didn't actually HIT the child though, did they?

When an adult ‘taps’ a child it’s meant to be enough to ‘give it a shock’ or ‘help them see what being hit is like’. Isn’t that the whole point?

I think a ‘tap’ is a nasty euphemism.
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AnUnoriginalUsername · 18/06/2021 13:20

I'd either say "I saw that" and hit her hand or "don't you ever lay a fucking finger on my child again." Depending on who it was.

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Gullible2021 · 18/06/2021 13:21

I'd go beserk at her to be honest.

They are SIX months old. They don't deliberately wack each other at that age. They can't "learn lessons" from being hit by an adult. They can't answer "yes mummy I'm ok no harm done".

She sounds bonkers.

She wouldn't be getting near my child ever again.

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roobicoobi · 18/06/2021 13:21

I would tell her what an fucking tit she was and keep my child away from her in future because that kind of idiocy will only grow as the child does.

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Hopdathelf · 18/06/2021 13:22

Very sensible reply from mindutopia. Your sensational thread title is misleading compared to what you actually describe happening.

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Breadcheesebread · 18/06/2021 13:22

Neither baby reacted to the hitting as they were playing and they just carried on playing.

And the tapping was done as revenge.

OP posts:
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KarmaStar · 18/06/2021 13:22

I'd think she was a first time mother.
I'd say I saw that.
I would calmly tell her to never,ever touch someone else's child.

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Hopdathelf · 18/06/2021 13:23

Revenge? Confused Do you mean chastisement?

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BillieSpain · 18/06/2021 13:23

But she didn't hit anybody?

You siad 'light tap' that is enormously different from 'hit'

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MrsWooster · 18/06/2021 13:23

It’s not about expecting the 6mo to reply, this is about punishing the other child and signalling the mum’s displeasure at her child being hit.
It would outrage me and I would hope I had the presence of mind to tell her that it is wrong for an adult to hit a child and remove my child from her. (I suspect I would actually have done exactly what the other mum did and been shocked and said nothing in a frightfully British way...)

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BillieSpain · 18/06/2021 13:24

@Breadcheesebread

Neither baby reacted to the hitting as they were playing and they just carried on playing.

And the tapping was done as revenge.

revenge? Hmm
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Hardbackwriter · 18/06/2021 13:25

Tbh I'd probably just not see her again, because she didn't actually hurt the child - which is why I wouldn't immediately confront - but she is absolutely mad and not someone I'd want around my children. If they had been three then it's a question of different discipline approaches etc and that's something where friends can differ (though I don't like hers) but the fact she did this with six month olds is just so crazy I wouldn't want to deal with her again.

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IDontReadEyebrows · 18/06/2021 13:25

The baby was tapped lightly on the hand? I’d tell the woman to get a grip, the baby is just that, a baby, doesn’t understand consequences, didn’t do it maliciously as babies aren’t capable of that either and tell her not to do that again, ever. I hope that’s what I’d do anyway. I’m equally sure I’d just sit there like Confused No wonder the baby was confused- it wouldn’t have understood at all, I’m not sure I do.

If anyone hit my child then that’s different. I would be very upset

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Ozanj · 18/06/2021 13:26

@mindutopia

It depends on if it was lightly tapped to get her attention and distract her from hitting, or properly slapped. Because those are different. My dd was probably about 8 months when I met up with a friend and my dd lunged at her baby (same age) and tried to scratch her eyes. It happened so quickly and I wasn't close enough to grab her. Friend grabbed both her hands and held her back until I could get there. Someone might think that was aggressive, but no one wants their baby's face all scratched up.

Yes, we have to do this a lot at nursery. I should also point out that many 6 mo can be very overweight and be closer to a 12 mo in weight, while others may be low centile / underweight and could be significantly harmed if you just left them to it.
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justanotherneighinparadise · 18/06/2021 13:27

Yeah I wouldn’t like that. Would I go
Nuclear? Probably not because I doubt it would have happened in the first place as I was always right next to my babies when we were playing alongside other children.

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