Kissing my granddaughter on the hand

[Trish1573]

I have been told by my son that I am not allowed to kiss my 6 month old granddaughter on the hands when I am holding her as she could then put her hands in her mouth and get germs. This has really upset me and I wonder if anyone else thinks this is a reasonable request or is he just being ridiculous?

Ridiculous. My 17 week old eats his hands, any toy/teddy we give him, my mums jumper when she holds him, the baby carrier edge… ie things that will be far dirtier than a kiss from your lips and if their child is 6 months I’m 100% sure it puts far worse in its mouth already too.

Let it go. Maybe mention it again in a few months time when she’s crawling and busy stuffing dirt, leaves and carpet fluff in her mouth (just my DCs??).
Definitely PFB syndrome - just smile understandingly and laugh it off inwardly.

How will he react when she starts to crawl? Disinfect the floor in front of her as she goes?

Like that little robot in WallE

Babies do tend to put their hands in their mouths so I can understand the point (although once they are mobile of course lots go in their mouths!)
agree with another poster that I think a kiss on the top of the head is less perceived risk to anxious parents, plus I think it’s a lovely affectionate thing to do

I don't see why you would be upset it's not a big deal... just don't kiss her on the hands. Would you still want to kiss her hands when she's 7 or 8? What's wrong with kissing her on the head? So many people saying PFB. Parents should be entitled to say what they do and don't want people doing with their babies. Grandparents don't have an automatic right to do what they want

And neither do parents FFS! It's not like owning a house! It's not a case of 'my house (baby) my rules' It's a living being and the parents have the responsibility ( not the right) to make decisions in the child's best interest. Cut him some slack if it's PFB syndrome maybe, and he hopefully he will grow out of it, if not being so hypercautious is about meeting his needs rather than babies.

Maybe they're worried about Covid. X

Just humour him. Dd barely let me hold dgs for the first 9 months in case i didn't support his head, move too quickly with him etc etc despite her being one of five. It all changed once she went back to work and I was enlisted for childcare and now he's three and a handful I'm very welcome to have him as often and for as long as I want. You and he will laugh at how ridiculous he was in a year or so.

Try not to take it personally, humour him and don't make any passive aggressive comments when she starts eating things she shouldn't. By the time they have their 3rd child they might have chilled out a bit.

I genuinely cannot imagine any of my adult children who are intelligent human beings to be worrying about me kissing their children.Sorry this only happens on MN …🤣

Batshit!
Seriously he needs to lighten up.