A bit of a daft one but I really don't know if it's just me.

[BalaRua]

This has happened a couple of times now and so I'm not sure if it's just me or if it's a bit abnormal

Once mil licked ds's hands when he was about 10 weeks old. She was holding him on her lap and was doing it to try and make him laugh I think. I thought it was gross but said nothing and sneakily wiped his hands with a baby wipe.

Then today mil's sister, so baby's great auntie, started licking his hands and sucking his fingers (he's now 6 months). So I said 'that is grim' to my dh and then once again sneakily wiped his hands.

To me there are lots of germs in a person's mouth and he's putting his hands in his mouth all the time these days so I don't fancy him swapping germs

Am I being pfb here? Maybe a bit. Is hand licking quite normal and I'm a prude? Genuinely don't know. Thanks.

Yanbu that's weird!

Well, I'd be a lot more worried about what MIL and sister are likely to pick up from his hands, rather than the other way around

Weird!

There are worse germs on his hands than in their mouths. It's weird but I wouldn't worry. They'll stop as he gets increasingly disgusting with age. Nose picking, bum scratching, random stickiness, toddlers are so lovely.

It's gross for them to be sucking down baby snot and just generally a really weird thing to do but beyond that I wouldn't worry.

Like others, I'd be more concerned about what was going in their mouths than the other way round.

grim and v v odd.

Grim

It's a bit weird but presumably was a nice/cute thing to do in their family. It's not unhygienic for your baby - for them, possibly! I wouldn't worry about it, although I'd be unable to resist going "Haha, that's weird, is it a thing in your family?"

Could be a lot worse. In my family it was sticking your fingers in the baby's mouth. Didn't even realise it was revolting until well after I'd left the family behind

odd. Most odd.

Well there was a similar 'activity' in my family - not licking, but you'd put your mouth on the palm of the baby and blow a raspberry into it . Palm ended up a bit, err, damp. But pretty much guaranteed to make the baby laugh.

To me there are lots of germs in a person's mouth

I agree that what your in-laws are doing is odd, but if the above is true, are people not dicing with death or ill-health every time they snog someone?

Garlick, in my family it was sticking fingers in mouth.

Blowing raspberries I could understand. It's cute and funny. But just licking or sucking a finger to me is gross.

And yes, snogging is dicing with death .

Phew, not just us, then, Siwi!

Garlick, gran had an obsession with slamming car doors to check hearing.
Baby jumps out of skin, obv.
Cont'd ad nauseam.