just been rude to someone for trying to touch my baby....

[Romilly70]

Just come back from a gathering of expats we know mainly as acquaintances. Took along DS 5 months and one particularly lady wanted to hold him as soon as we walked through the door. Each time i have seen her she acts as it is her right to hold DS just cos he is a baby...

(I know I am not keen on her as she oversteps the boundary I feel comfortable with.)

later on i was changing DS in another room and I could see her out of the window having a fag, then when she came in started stroking some dogs. saw DS and made a beeline for him. said to me oh he's gorgeous, i said thank you very much. then she reached out to touch his hand. (DS constantly has his fingers in his mouth as is teething) I pushed her hand away before she could grab DS's and I said would you mind washing your hands as there is a real problem with toxoplasmosis here (there is in France).

That was partly an excuse, and I know i am going to be flamed for being all PFB about DS. I just really hate passing DS round like a parcel. Ironically he is a very friendly chap, cos on the whole i do let lots of people hold him, but the crux of it, i hate people completely ignoring me and practically trying to grab DS.

Now I feel bad for being rude to her, but why do people go so mental over new babies?

anyway, rant over.....

When I was younger people used to coo in public over toddlers as well. I wonder if that has stopped because so many parents are neurotic about strangers and their babies/children.

Agree with princess. It'll be his hands covered in shit and snot and god knows what. No one will want to touch them then. Trust me.

She wasn't making up a bottle for him, though. She went to touch his hand. That's all.

I think it should just be now that if you see an old woman you just punch her. Old women talk, say stuff about you baby crying or smiling, they touch babies and all sorts of unreasonable shit. Just fucking shoot them.
Then we can get to the point where we just be about our business and no one interacts with anyone else. It will be great. Ds2 will fit right in.
All that time trying to get him to interact with other people when actually people should just shut the fuck up and leave each other alone.

i saw a baby in a pushchair yesterday, with a blanket completely covering it apart from it's legs and feet, was just a little bit sunny and surely sun is good for children

people are nuts theses days

What pagwatch said.

[strokes pagwatch's hand... and then employs disinfectant hand gel]

yabu

I was at a childrens party this afternoon and held loads of babies ..no one minded and I'm oldish

what a fucking sad world some people choose to live in

Am also (as ever) in agreement with pag.

OP you are OTT and BU

i actually ignore babies now, even supercute ones.

i could start sneering at them

SEA ..imagine the posts on MN

A woman sneered at my baby today ,the old bag

why do people go so mental over new babies? Exactly what I wanted to ask you, OP

YABVU

I dont let strangers touch me, so the same goes for my kids.
I wouldnt want someone with smokey hands putting their hands in my mouth, and as babies put their hands in their mouth, they can keep off their hands too.

And all this babies crawling put all sorts in their mouths.....how dirty are your houses?? tidy up and mop your floors you dirty slatterns

YABU

If I had been that woman I'd have been hurt and mortified.

She wasn't going to harm your baby.

Your reaction was unkind and neurotic.

YANBU, I can see where the OP is coming from - I simply didn't feel comfortable with other people feeling they had the unquestioned right to take my baby off me, as thought he was public property. but I think that the OP shouldn't be judged for feeling uncomfortable and protective - my god this whole parenting thing is hard enough. Just trust your instincts & don't dwell on negative incidents like this for too long.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.engadget.com/media/2006/06/baby_gas_hood.jpg&imgrefurl=www.engadget.com/2006/06/05/babys-first-chemical-warfare-suit/&usg=__hPqv1UF5T5TgPubyPRgr6RAAeh4=&h=380&w=297&sz=38&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=ZwZyuwd7MgshzM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=116&ei=jpqPTakE0_fiBrCW_bcL&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbaby%2Bchemical%2Bsuit%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D981%26bih%3D661%26tbm%3Disch0%2C186&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=135&vpy=85&dur=1607&hovh=254&hovw=198&tx=94&ty=223&oei=YJqPTfzjGcPOtAa6_NCACg&page=1&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:=981&bih=661" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">get one of these. And some mittens. Baby will be safe then

I can't believe the amount of nasty, snidey replies here... What happened to disagreeing without being so snidey about it?
These sort of posts just show how horrible mumsnet can sometimes be.

Can't agree more, hairfullofsnakes. It has taken a very unpleasant turn. OP asked for opinions and not nasty comments like 'go and live on a mountain.'

There is an interesting debate to be had about our modern obsession with hygiene and it has been completely subverted. What a shame.

These posts show that thankfully MN is full of people who recognise twattishness when they see it.

The OPs baby is a human being surrounded by other human brings. If he spends the rest of his time surrounded by people who wish him well and want to interact with him in a positive way, dogs and germs notwithstanding, he will be very lucky.

I can never understand why people think that it's babies who are endangered by adults with regard to hygiene and germs. After all, babies are the ones who are always slobbering over their own hands and who shit themselves on a daily basis, not us grown-ups.
Ducks for cover