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

I have and I still think it’s extremely grim.

Op, have you had a baby?

😂

I hope you remind him about this on a regular basis!

Edited to add, just realised he must only be 11 or so. Something for the future!

When my (48 year old) sister was a toddler she would sit in the garden for hours with a bowl, spoon and old Yorkshire pudding tin and make mud pies which she would merrily tuck into. Hasn’t done her any harm.

I once found my dd licking the wheels of her pushchair!

Personally I believe the worst thing we can do with our babies and children is to sanitise the life out of everything that comes their way.
Obviously we don’t want to put danger in our children’s way but young humans absolutely need to build up an immune system.

Babies are fucking gross and there is bugger all you can do about it. You cannot stop them touching things and you cannot stop them putting their hands in their mouths.

YABU and need to keep your hang-ups to yourself instead of seeking validation for them. And also mind your own business.

I turned around to see my toddler daughter licking the train window once. She'd been at it for a good while as the window was quite wet.

It would have been extremely welcome, if at that point, someone offered me parenting and germ advice. You should have chased after the man and told him OP.

Why would you assume she has nothing else to worry about?

Yes you should have said something, there’s nothing more welcome than a total stranger giving unsolicited sanctimonious parenting advice - please do report back on how it goes next time OP.

This thread is like a competitive who can claim the most disgusting thing their baby did

My baby once ate an entire dog turd. We just watched and smiled indulgently 😂

I wouldn't have said anything OP but I agree, it sounds grim

How different this thread is to the one currently running about a dog sitting in a highchair.

One: gross, unhygeinic, totally unacceptable!

The other: nah it's fine, it's great for their immune systems!

Let me guess you don't have kids OP?

DS used to like licking the poles in the bus. He didn't really do that any where else. Just the bus. Kids are weird, and gross and a bit of extra exposure to some germs isn't generally am issue.

I'd have laughed at you OP if you'd said anything to me.

YABU. Why on earth would you tell someone how to parent? To appease your own germophobia?
Edited: The title made it seem like he had multiple babies at the time but the post implied one. Make up your mind.

No! Leave him alone!

Come on, we've all eaten all sorts of rubbish as kids! This is how we build up our immune systems and it's completely normal (not to mention fun for the baby!).

My daughter tried to eat carpet when she was a baby...

I think you should get back in your box.

Why? I took my baby everywhere and their hands were everywhere that's life

And what about all the people hacking their guts up, sniffing etc? Tubes are revolting, you just have to get over it.

My son once put his finger in a drop of wee from the previous person on the loo seat and locked it before I could stop him

He has a mighty fine immune system 10 years later.

Hahahahaha.... just try and stop a child from licking the world around them.

I swear every single damn stone in our drive ended up in DS's mouth at some point. I was more terrified he would choke than the germs, tbh.

Children are grim.....

You got so get up by a total stranger getting on with totally normal family life that you wrote this? Totally ridiculous.

It is probably a very good thing in terms of immunity.

It is a bit gross to think about what germs might be there but babies need to be exposed to bacteria and allergens to build up their immune responses. Shielding them from everything makes them more prone to illness and disease in the long run. And the older they are generally the more extreme the body's response. Better they encounter it when they're smaller (for the most part).

Mine used to drag his tongue along the escalator handrail!