To think dad should have stopped babies touching handrails on the tube and then sticking their hands in their mouth after?

This

I was listening to that Michael Mosely thing that said vaginal babies are healthier long term because they swallow their mums poo when being birthed rather than sterile C sections.
Exposure to general bacteria is what builds your immune system.

Wait till that baby goes to playgroup or nursery and starts mouthing all the toys all the other kids have licked too with germs and colds!

Urine is generally sterile anyway. Mindyou the toilet seat may not have been

Would it be reasonable to have said something to the man?

What would you have said @bottomsup12?

Disgusting and why I think eating on the tube is equally as disgusting

Said what?? I mean assuming the "baby" was to young to understand hygiene, what do you want him to do? Tie her hands down??

It wouldn’t have been reasonable because it’s non of your business.

Carrying the child his main concern was probably not bumping into anyone or dropping them and safely being able to sit/stand.

Same, and I wonder how much these chemicals in all these products is worse that what mythical thing people think will happen in the first place

I'm glad you didn't say something because that would have been a bit bonkers tbh. I don't think you can do much about sport handles, stair rails and the like.

I used to lick the windows of the District line. I am alive and have a great immune system.

This wouldn’t bother me. I certainly wouldn’t say anything. I probably wouldn’t be concerned even if it was my own child doing it. My DC have grown up in London and are well exposed to the tube. No-one in my house has ever had a tummy bug.

And I bet when the child grows up it'll have less colds and stomach upsets than any child of a woman who disinfects everything.

@FrontalHeadache isn't it. I am not sure they are real people.

MN is a gathering of the most anxious collection of human beings I have ever ‘met’. It’s mind-blowing to me.

You're not going to get TB from a tube train as a poster upthread thought. TB is caught from prolonged exposure, usually in the same house.

Honestly.

Blimey. My two commuted on the tube every day as babies. They probably licked the floor sometimes. Immune systems of steel.

I don't sanitize my own hands every time I get off the tube (MN is full of people who do though).

It must be very wearing to see peril constantly.

The hand rails are cleaned daily, so probably no more dirty than a soft play.

https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-2420-2122

I think it was worse that he was walking around the tube with the baby (was it moving?) I've been on a tube that stopped suddenly and wouldn't have wanted to have had a baby in my arms.

Oh, I know, all of us are routinely exposed to germs on a daily basis, which can't be avoided. It's about being mindful of cross-contamination and viral load, to try and avoid infecting ourselves with those germs that could cause unpleasant or serious illness. I don't know why people wouldn't want to do that.

Wasn’t Covid airborne in the end?

Eh!? Colds, flu and D&V are all transmitted this way. Oh, and a virus called Covid!

A PP upthread explained how an entire floor of their company caught SARS from a lift button. People don't want to get ill if they can avoid it, which in many cases, you can. It really is simple logic. Not really much to 'understand'.

I avoid using public toilets where possible. No problem handling cash, just make sure I wash my hands as soon as I'm able. To be honest, I just do that routinely when I come in from being outside.

As for restaurants, I obviously apply some 'mind over matter' here, if I want any sort of social life. But I do pay close attention to hygiene ratings.

I'm 45 and I can count my brushes with those aforementioned viruses on one hand!

It’s better than nothing isn’t it which is what I said. I suggest hand washing as the ideal but you said that wasn’t always available so I gave some less good alternatives in a pinch. I am not going to play a game of hygiene top trumps with you. You may not like it but we are often exposed to germs and it’s not always a bad thing.

Absolutely gross and I wouldn’t let my babies do it! I wouldn’t have said anything though

This! You'll often hear someone say: 'I picked up a bug.' And I think: 'Yes, you literally did!'

Like you, I try and avoid contact with high-touch points when I'm out, and don't eat or touch my face if I know my hands aren't scrupulously clean.

Rarely get colds and haven't had a stomach bug since the 1990s!!