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

I never let my dc touch anything like this and carry hand wipes to sanitise their hands regularly when out, we change clothes as soon as we get home too , wash school uniform daily as well etc etc etc . We’ve been fined over school attendance so we have to keep them well at all costs now

How well do you think that would have gone down - some stranger giving you parenting advice. Good luck with that!

It's pretty normal - exposure to germs in day to day life is good for immune system development.
As for it being blokes scratching 'things', yesterday I had the delight of seeing a lady on the bus give herself a 'scratch and sniff' 😬

A good reminder of why I usually drive! If you're going to demonise men, at least pick something that's unique to men.

So would you have been filled with the same urge to patronise the baby's mum, or is it only dads who fill you with horror?

Couldn’t get worked up about another parents parenting really. I’d have been extremely pissed if someone pointed out to me my (at the time) toddler DC trying to (and occasionally successfully managing to) lick public rubbish bins was unhygienic. I knew it was, sometimes the wee bugger just managed to lick it as we walked a tad too close. No idea what the fascination was but they have the best immune system of anyone I’ve ever met. Somehow manages to avoid every single bug the rest of us come down with, including the twice caught Covid we all got that darling DC had not a hint of.

Don't push your anxieties around germs on to others. What the baby did is normal, their using their senses to discover the world around them. However the way you live your life like pressing buttons with your elbow and being so bothered by strangers that you start a thread on mumsnet is not normal. If your daily life is being affected by fears around germs and cleanliness I would suggest you speak to your gp.

My nephew (3) licked a lamppost the other day. Very gross but ….

@Jumpingthruhoops - Not touching any surfaces in public for fear of getting ill is disordered thinking. You might want to look into getting some support for that.

That’s what hand sanitiser and baby wipes are for. Not as good but better than nothing. Using your elbows and wrist to touch anything in public is not healthy behaviour. HTH 🙄

I feel with you, but many people are oblivious and I don’t think it would have been worth your while to say anything.

We lived in a hot county when my Dd was young. Once we were shopping in a supermarket I remember turning around and seeing her licking the short Perspex stand on the raw chicken counter!

This was a county that didn’t have the food safety laws we have, nor refrigerated trucks or food handling safety regulations.

Im older now and since COVID I’m much more aware of the presence of germs on most things we touch.

Please don’t ask about dishes of free peanuts that used to be common in bars.

The fact you press lift buttons with your elbows makes me think you might have undiagnosed anxiety/OCD. Or did Covid affect you really badly psychologically? Either way, you don’t want to make your kids germaphobes, it isn’t good for them. I have friends who grew up with mums like that and it’s messed them up a bit.

@bottomsup12 when mine was a baby she would lick my elbows frequently 😂

I wouldn’t have said anything. His child and he is the parent .

It’s him that has to deal with the consequences of a potential virus that his child may have picked up from allowing them to do this.

It has nothing to do with you at all.

You do realise that's not always possible when you're on the move? Just a thought. 🙄

Think 'ridiculous' is a bit OTT.
Great that your DC love holding the hand rail.
Not so great that they could then ingest norovirus.

I agree @bottomsup12 that is so gross. I don't see any reason to let young babies/toddlers drag their hands up and down dirty surfaces - they can either hold your hand, or hold a toy etc. The odd touch here and there happens and catching bugs is inevitable even if you're careful. But I don't think that's an excuse to let them touch every single dirty thing. I think it's better to encourage good hand hygiene and distract the hands away if possible! I try to limit the germ spread especially if I'm snotty or my child is.

I don't think I would have had the bottle to say anything though 😏sadly I think those that feel this kind of thing is ok, just don't get our point of view!

I would be horrified too if I saw this happen. I can't believe the amount of people replying that think this is actually ok! This is surely bad parenting from this father. I also use my elbows and other parts of my body to open doors etc in public places as I am just so sick of everyone getting ill from public places!

OP, you're not "triggering" anyone by asking if you're being unreasonable and being told yes, YABU.

That's what babies do, it's fine. You'd be the weird one to say anything.

Triggered does not mean what you seem to think it means, OP.

I'm laughing at the idea of soft play being cleaned daily, though. Even if they tried, how would that even work? Are they cleaning every ball in the ball pit? Does a staff member squeeze through the toddler-sized assault course with a bottle of Dettol? Soft play is a cesspit for germs, it always has been. You've just got to plunge in and hope for the best (as in life).

Actually I strongly disagree with you. I'm on the side of the dogs in the highchairs...

Do you disinfect your elbows and wrists too? I wonder what your immune system is like.

You could just wash your hands regularly and especially before eating. Just a thought.

I don’t think my kids licked stuff, but I never carried hand sanitiser anywhere when they were young. People are so OTT about this stuff now.

A child licking a handle is as gross as somebody scratching their bum and touching a handle. People are people and there’s not much we can do about it but wash our hands when we get home.

I doubt any child has got really ill from this kind of activity and people need to get a grip and sense of perspective about germs and hygiene.

It would have been the appropriate response.