Saw this on a pram today! 😀

What a childish comment.

Old people (or adults of any age) can be nice without wanting to touch or kiss a random stranger’s baby.

You can admire a baby by telling/asking the parent:
“He/she is beautiful”
“What’s their name?”
“How many weeks/old are they”
“I love their little outfit/blanket/teddy”

You know, normal questions. You can have a respectful interaction with a new parent to admire a baby without touching or kissing it.

If I wasn't sure and had never seen a sign like this before. I'd google it. Tell a friend or partner, someone i was basically seeing that day. Discuss it for maybe a few minutes. I wouldn't start a post about it. What are you hoping to achieve?

I find your callousness breathtaking.

Fine for you to roll your eyes, but it might have kept her vulnerable baby safe. And probably gave her frazzled nerves a break.

Having your child nearly die can be a little stressful, no wonder she needed to talk about it 🙄

Oo good for her. Poor thing.

Probably quite traumatized by it. Talking helps.

Many older people have fingers that look like raw sausages and in some cases, they actually are raw sausages, installed as economical replacement fingers due to NHS cutbacks.

It's not at all hygienic for a baby to be squeezed and poked by raw sausages that have been all over the place, and which are doubtless past their "best before" date.

I can't imagine complete strangers kissing someone's baby anyway.

But you don't know why people don't want the interaction with their baby . Probably for the reasons listed.

The parent could still interact with people around them, if they wanted to.

Not wanting random strangers touching your baby doesn't = wanting no interaction yourself.

I feel like you're putting 2 and 2 together and getting 22. And judging people who are probably in a situation you've never experienced.

You have no idea as to why this notice was on the park. The baby could be very poorly. It is unusual, but so is your response. Why are you making assumptions?

Exactly this. The entitlement of some people is just breathtaking. Get your fecking mitts off my child - you weird entitled pushy stranger!

And don't tell me I have no right to want to protect my OWN baby! And not have weirdos coming along pushing their hands into the pram!

My daughter as a young child had spectacular red gold curls. People were forever touching them or running their fingers through her hair. She HATED it. 'Mummy don't let them' she used to yell.
A child is entitled to walk about without being manhandled.

Nothing wrong with not wanting random strangers to paw your baby. Why do people have to poke at them?

Don't be THAT person who thinks they have a right to prod at someone else's vulnerable and fragile baby!

My friend has one of these signs. Her little boy was born premature (12 weeks early). She got one as her neighbours kept touching her babys face before she told them to stop .. one even kissed her baby and even the aldi checkout person toughed baby face too. A Babys immune system is still developing and its worst for a premature baby. Its sad such a sigh has to be displayed.

You forget that a good half of MN users have boundarified themselves out of many of what were until recently, perfectly normal human interactions. This site is a gold mine for psychologists.

So sorry. How awful. Doubt you can ever get over that properly.

Good on the dad.

People shouldn’t touch or kiss stranger’s babies unsolicited. It’s fucking weird. Leave babies alone. They’re tiny humans, not toys or dolls for people’s admiration.

I was out with my friend and her newborn a couple of years ago in our local town, shopping. A woman (who was an obvious drug addict) she was filthy, asking random people for change, was picking cigarette butts off the floor -saw us and approached. She immediately put her hand in my friend’s pram and started stroking her sons face. Then got aggressive when my friend said “please don’t touch him”.

Obviously this isn’t a normal or common interaction but just don’t do it.

There is literally zero harm in such a sign.

My mum had to have a sign on my brother's pram/bag WAY past the newborn stage as he was coeliac, and apparently shoving gluten into kids you didn't know was a common pastime in the seventies.

And the sign only encouraged moany, know it all cunts who thought they knew better to try and give him treats because mummy was mean.

Imagine proudly announcing that you're on the side of moany, know it all cunts.

Embarrassed for you OP.

I probably looked deranged and not to be trifled with. I did have to ask a lady not to.touch DD as she didn't like it.

You don't know what experiences people have had. This person may have had a run of people thinking they can touch his baby. I still remember having to tell off an old woman who was about to kiss my baby when we were out walking during Covid. And as PPs have already said, his baby may have some sort of condition that makes them more susceptible to getting sick.

A mum at the school gate had one of these. I didn't know her and had no desire to touch or kiss her baby or, indeed, any baby. I did roll my eyes every day at the twee 'your germs are too big for me' nonsense though. She also used to stand around telling anyone who would listen all about her baby's premature arrival which seemed to be at odds with the sign, as there was no one's ear she wouldn't bend at length about it.

I think I find it sad that people wouldn’t want interaction. I just feel that as a society we have become more and more insular. I really don’t think this is a great for anyone.

I get premature / ill babies can’t have that type of interaction.

As one of "they parents" i'd like to make you think about things before you judge..

our baby has heart disease, spent the first 3 months in hospital having open heart surgeries etc and i'd rather offend random stranger with my pram sign that have my baby back in hospital because people overstep boundries.

I saw these quite often back in 2020, made me a little sad because I remember when my first daughter was a newborn in 2005 a few times older people would ask if they could look at her when she was in her pushchair and a little chat of a minute or two was lovely, they’d ask her name and how old she was. She was born quite early and only 5lb 2 so was tiny. I just feel like these little interactions are lost now and it’s a shame.

They're not being nice. They are being selfish and fulfilling their own wants. They're not thinking about the welfare of the baby at all.