Friend kissed my baby, feeling upset

Massive overreaction.

This has to be a wind up

If you don't have an active cold sore, you can't transmit the virus.

If you don't expose your baby to anything, how on earth can she build up resistance?! An immune system needs something to learn to fight against.

Over reacting. That's not healthy. Are you suffering with PND?

By the time my DS was four months old I'd kissed his face, his tummy, his fingers, his toes, his eyes, his nose...it's weird not to kiss your baby. And is he breastfed? Do you disinfect your nipples before every feed?!

Well, no, but then I'm not a baby person and usually avoid baby holding - I love my own of course but I'm really not bothered about other people's kids.

OP, I see you're worried but really, your baby will be fine. Presumably if their sibling was in the hospital often they had a health condition of some sort, surely that wasn't due to someone kissing them ?

Babies are fragile but they're also actually pretty tough !

Maybe consider talking to someone - either a friend or a professional - about your fears ? As it sounds like it's impacting your life, and could potentially impact your children's lives if you keep being this anxious around their health.

And I know you're probably thinking right now "well, I'm only protecting them", and of course you are, but protecting them too much can be just as harmful.

While it does appear as though the OP suffers from health anxiety it seems a bit unfair to label her ‘bonkers’. I suffer from cold sores which were passed on to me by a relative when I was very young and I can assure you it’s not fun (especially embarrassing when I was a teenager and before I worked out neat tea tree oil zaps them). As with everything in life, a bit of common sense would probably be a good idea here. No history of cold sores? Kiss to your heart’s content.

Very sad post.
Strange times. (Unless the kisser has a cold sore or illness).
Can’t imagine what the future will bring. Baby kept in glass container with ventilation probably.
Please try & lower your anxiety levels. 💐 Good luck.

I think you have anxiety issues and overreacting.
Why would you not kiss your own baby?
Im sure if you discuss this with your GP he will tell you that your baby will have its own antibodies and will come to no harm.
I sincerely hope you kiss your eldest child.

Smiley, happy babies do tend to get a lot of attention, and it becomes a positive feedback loop - Babies generally love attention and eye contact.

One of the saddest things re attention I saw was a dear little toddler at a park trying to show his or her older dad some pretty fallen leaves-🍂 🍁 - the dad was just glued to his phone.

The little one was trying so hard to get Dad's attention.

Then the little one wandered off with their Ball - Dad still head down in phone.

Poor baby..the Dad {Grandad?} should have been interacting with his child. {a good, sweet child, as we were at the outdoor cafe for 45 mins, and the little one entertained themselves for all that time.

Unless your friend has open sores on her mouth, {cold sores} then it's daft to be concerned about a kiss.

I personally don't even touch people's babies, because I know their mothers can worry, but people who ''love babies'' do tend to want to kiss them.

BF also gives babies a great immune boost as well, so your Baby should be fine.

I remember reading somewhere that kissing babies helps their brains grow into happy brains.

You're getting a lot of horrible responses. People are awful. It's your baby, and these are the boundaries you have put in place, they should be respected.

I'm sorry you're dealing with healthy anxiety, I know how stressful it is especially when you have a young baby.

I would ask permission to hold - but once held I would assume that kissing and snuggling was part of the deal

Yes, I do kiss a friends baby on the cheek
I wouldn't visit if I was unwell

I kiss babies AND give their heads/hair a good old sniff because there isn't anything quite as wonderful as the new baby smell. Thank goodness you and I aren't friends!

You are overreacting.
Show your baby as much affection as you can
I used to pretend to eat mine!

Ofcourse I have kissed a baby. Babies are eminently kissable. A bit older then yours - about 6 months and on the head rather than face. Being as I was holding her and breathing near her I don’t see what difference it makes.

Genuinely I think you need help. All children get coughs, colds and sick - that’s their immune system developing.

Im sure the groundwork for this sort of thing starts with pregnancy and the huge lists of dos and don’t - within reason this is sensible but for some who are already vulnerable it re enforces the idea that every little thing is to be fretted over or avoided altogether or something terrible will happen.

It won’t. It’s sensible to not do things where there is a genuine risk but if someone eats some blue cheese by accident for example the actual risks are incredibly low.

Same for germs and kissing babies. Yes there are things that can happen but the reality of them actually happening is tiny.

I find it weirdly annoying when people refer to their own baby as 'baby' instead of using the baby's actual name or any pronouns.

This must be a joke.

🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ she has though if you read the full thread she just hasn’t their face!!

Spontaneous affection is lovely and you get it back in spades when your children get older. If they pick up on a fear of holding back then they will too.

Totally over reacting and this is your second child? Is there a back story like the child is seriously immunocompromised?

Please get help for your health anxiety.

Gordon Bennett woman, what is the matter with you? Unless your friend has a infectious condition, why worry? It seems most odd that even you haven't kissed your baby in sixteen weeks. Unbelievable.

Methinks you are having us on.

What, in the longer term, do you think is more damaging to a person's mental/physical health?

A) Never being kissed by your loved ones as a child

B) Being kissed by your loved ones as a child

The fact that OP thinks B) is the correct answer is devastatingly sad for everyone involved with her, but especially the poor baby.