AIBU to be upset after a dog jumped at our baby?

OP, I mean this with all due respect, I have read through this entire thread and I feel that your responses are very combative and argumentative which is a real shame. You came here asking if you're being unreasonable and you can quite clearly see that the general consensus is that you are not, but equally, you asked for opinions and you are getting them. If you're going to disagree or have an answer for every single reply then you perhaps should remove your post, IMO.
I think we, as rational adults, can absolutely all agree that a dog with poor recall skills should have been on the lead. This incident should not have happened to you and you are absolutely entitled to feel however you wish to feel about that, but kicking a dog is wrong and just not proportionate to the event 😕

in real life little spaniel dog comes running up, ears flopping trying to get to food. Parent stands up, holds baby out the way, says shoo, laughs, pets dog.

Obviously this (imaginary) scenario isn't frightening to anyone other than those with fears, but it's still a poorly-controlled dog with a poorly-behaved owner.

The correct situation is any dog stays under control (using a lead or not depending on dog/owner) and strangers never get approached by it.

Dogs are far too over-indulged. They need the owner to be pack leader. They were originally working animals not babies.

What did you want from this thread OP? You are convinced your reactions were right and reasonable so what do you want people to say?

Better morals??? wtaf are you talking about?

I'm also convinced her reactions were correct. As are many people on here. I'm assuming the people who disagree with OP also have untrained dogs they allow off-lead at all times.

If this had actually been an aggressive dog your husband and baby could have been in serious trouble if he just sat there and kicked them.

Aggressive dogs don’t respond well to being hurt.

You aren’t taking the advice people are giving you that could save your baby if something like that did happen which leads me to believe this is just a windup to talk about animal cruelty. You know someone who deliberately kicked a dog to death?

That’s fucked up.

Or, we don’t have dogs but know that reacting like that if the dog actually was aggressive could have been catastrophic.

I wasn't judging how she reacted. I just wondered what the purpose of the thread was as all it seems to be achieving is winding her up more.

You know, not kicking a friendly animal when there are better options..those kind of morals.

My uncle lost an eye as a child because a dog leapt up and caught his face (and eyeball) with a claw. A dog that isn’t under control is a threat, full stop. Hope that helps your arrogance.

As for morals, beyond reporting an obviously abused or neglected pet to appropriate authorities I don't have any duty of care towards a strangers dog. If you have a dog and firm ideas about how it should be treated then you keep it from bothering strangers. That stranger could be afraid and lash out or be friendly and want to offer it unsuitable food, you have no idea really.

You can spot the shit owners (and the many good ones) on the thread. The decent ones understand why you reacted to protect your baby.

That dog should not have run over and jumped up at the baby. That’s it.

If owners trained their dogs better there would be no need for threads like this.

I controlled my toddlers when they were little rather than suggesting that others should sign up for parenting classes!

The OP does not need to shell out for dog education classes because some idiots on Mumsnet have untrained dogs off-lead.

The dickhead owner letting the dog run up at randoms is the cruel one abusing the animal she probably claims to love.

*Dogs are not humans and always come second. Always.
I have dogs and would have used my foot to push away the dog in that circumstance too. The safety of my child always comes before a dog. *

Thank goodness for owners like you.

I really think all dogs should be licensed, attend a compulsory training programme with their owners, and be on a lead in all public places. It should just be a matter of course. Off lead only in specific dog-only areas or private land. The number of appalling dog owners in this thread is shocking. Any dog that runs up to strangers like this and can’t be immediately called back is out of control. A third instance should lead to it being removed from the owner’s care and the owner banned from owning dogs.

There is not one single poster on this thread who's argued that the dog should have been allowed to bother strangers, so your comment is pointless.

The question is about whether the OP responded appropriately to an event that can happen sometimes.
no dog or dog owner is perfect; animals are unpredictable and even well trained , well- behaved animals sometimes display unanticipated undesirable behaviour - particularly if they are hungry and around food. It happens. Doesn't mean the dog is out of control or aggressive or the owner is irresponsible. Just a mistake.

The question is- did OP overreact.

really sounds like he didn’t need to kick the dog. he could’ve just got between the dog and baby. does he normally hurt animals?

I disagree, a lot of people seem to think it's normal for dogs to go bounding off towards other people's food and that this is somehow an exemption from being out of control. I've also seen comments saying that the sauntering over was acceptable because the owner knew that the dog was friendly. I think that there are very different definitions of dogs being allowed to bother strangers on here.