Old lady keeps approaching my toddler, making me feel uncomfortable

No not really. They were relative strangers to my mum, ok not as much as someone you’d walk past every day in that she had spoken with them but still. My mum trusted them to actually look after me alone, vastly different to OP who just feels annoyed this woman wants to coo over her child briefly in the street.

The best interests for your child are for you to raise them to not be afraid of strangers- eg nurses, doctors etc. as you have already mentioned.
As they get older- to be wary , of course.
but he’s just 2, and you are an adult who is quite capable of controlling any encounters without freaking out and transmitting irrational fears of paedophiles lurking in the streets around your house

At a rough guess, around a quarter of European Prime Ministers are over 60. I don’t think they are usually dismissed as “old men”. The “man” might well be significant here, though!

OP - are you happy for people to ignore your child? Or are you someone that expects people to interact with them at a distance and gets offended if they don’t?

So you think every 40 year old on Mumsnet thinks that 60 year old women are old ladies and have dementia?

I've genuinely never come across this before and as a 38 year old cannot relate at all. How bizarre.

Based on the title of your thread, I could have predicted some of the responses you've had on here. Honestly? Ignore them. They're more focused on your description of a 60s/70s woman as "old" than what you've actually described.

As a parent your primary job isn't to avoid hurting a stranger's feelings; it's to protect your child's sense of safety and to show them that when they don't want physical contact, the adults who love them will back them up.

I also think people are confusing caution with paranoia. Feeling uncomfortable doesn't mean you're accusing this woman of having sinister intentions. It means her behaviour has crossed boundaries in a way that doesn't feel right to you, and that's a perfectly valid response.

I'll ask this again to PP who have berated OP. If a woman you didn't know very well was asking to touch and hug you, would you like it? If the answer to that is no, think about why you think it's acceptable to force that on a child. Children are not props.

This is quite the drip feed! You are absolutely ridiculous and most people agree, 70% of this poll! Get a grip.

Of course 40s is still very young. I should have made it clear I was referring to mumsnet posters who think labeling people in their 60s as old ladies & suffering from dementia as applicable when in the vast majority of cases it's not. If people in this age group do suffer from this dreadful condition it's known as early onset dementia which can happen at any age. It's basically a wind up & it should stop but they obviously get a kick out of it. I will feel blessed if I reach old age in 20 odd years time. I must admit I'd prefer to be a Joan Collins in her 80s in looks & fitness😂 although I'm sure she wouldn't want this patronising & condescending label either😂

Is this something you've picked up in real life or on Mumsnet?

I'm approaching 40 and can't relate to this at all. My mum and my mum's friends (as well as my friends mum's) are in their 60s and we don't consider them to be "old ladies" in the stereotypical sense, probably for a lot of the reasons you mentioned.

I can't follow the logic of why thinking of my mum's generation as old would make feel young either. For me, the fact my mum's generation doesn't resemble "old ladies" makes me feel positive that I hopefully still have decades to come of being socially and physically active, but maybe I'm missing something.

She sounds like she may have early stages of dementia.

I do however feel you are over reacting.

“Lonely old widow”
”The elderlies”
”Dementia caused by social isolation”

Bloody hell!

Like I said previously when I was 17 I regarded 30 plus as really old. To be fair it's a view we have probably all had at some stage towards those in a different generation. To give you & others something to look forward to. If you are like me & the vast majority these days if fortunate to be in the 60s age group, you will still be the gymn going, hard working, energetic, concert going, sex loving (yes) fashionable woman who has a lot to look forward to. We may not be very young but we are not past it & we certainly don't fit the condescending description of 'the old lady' 😁😘

Just look at all the new details raining down from the OP. Chinny reckon.

Amazing all these new details. Almost like you are trying to paint a slightly different picture of the event of a older lady touching a hat. She should obviously be tarred and feathered for her outrageous audacity.

Do you think the fact that over 90% of sexual offenders against children are men might have something to do with that?

That's unfair, James Bulger was taken from his mother while her back was turned.

I think OPs point is valid in some ways, yes she's an innocent old lady, but how is a child supposed to know the difference between an innocent old lady wanting to touch him and hug him to someone with more nefarious purposes, no stranger should be trying to hug a child that isn't theirs, and it's fine for OP to say no to her to advocate for her son.

It's the exact same reason I come down super hard on my MIL giving my daughter sweets and telling her it's 'their little secret' .. it makes my skin crawl. Or offering her something and getting her to give her a kiss in return for it, I've let it go a couple of times but that is on the hit list next if it carries on.

This old woman is probably just craving human interaction and finds children receptive to that, but I don't think it is right that she has completely ignored OP asking her politely not to touch him, and continues to try, she is ignoring the boundaries and pushing her own needs on to the child.. there is something not quite right there, and I would not be forcing my child to tolerate it so it didn't offend her.

Mega drip feed! You didn't think to include this in your numerous previous posts?

Women approaching 40 & over start to feel old compared to the youth of today. They like to believe women in their 6Os are past it in order to make them feel younger so they refer to them as old ladies 😂