to get annoyed when total strangers touch/stroke my baby without asking?

[GreebosWhiskers]

ds is nearly 6 months & fair enough he is gorgeous (not that I'm biased or anything) but why do total strangers feel the need to have a grab at him when he's in his buggy? Doesn't matter where we are, on the bus, in a shop, whatever, there's someone stroking his cheek or grabbing his hand. I see their manky fingernails or nicotine-yellow fingers & shudder!
I know babies are cute & soft & cuddly but I'd never dream of touching someone else's baby without at least asking first.
So, AIBU?

Noddy.

As long as the baby doesn't have melted ice cream and snot eh?

Hmm... I remember a similar thread on this a while back.
I think it is lovely that people want to spend time cooing over babies.
I think that society is so different now - 40 years ago babies used to be left outside the house in the sunshine, and people would walk past and chat to them, and talk to them.

I think it is sad that nowadays there is a tendency to isolate children from the world - whether it is not allowing them to play outside, or wanting to wrap our babies up in a hermetically sealed bubble.

I loved it when people used to make a fuss of my babies - and I didn't mind when they touched their hands or stroked their cheeks.
It made me feel like our family was part of a community.

well said Humphrey.

Kerry thats a bit extreme!

do your children wear masks a la Michael Jackson?

Flu is airborne! So are rhino (cold) viruses.

So what are you going to do, wrap them up in a bubble all the time?

And guess what?

The baby grows up and then does stuff like gets into a car with a load of teens and doesn't wear a seatbelt.

Has sex with a stranger.

Experiment with drugs.

The world's a very dangerous place!

Stop being so uptight! Surely NOT everyone has nicotine stained fingers.... you should be a very proud mother that people are taken by your baby and want to show some friendliness in this world!

It never ceases to amaze me how bloody uptight some (not all) english girls can be!

kerrymum, at what age do you think it is safe?

no its certainly not

Well, KerryMum, you must do as you deem fit. Its a sad reflection, thats all I'm saying.

PS - suffered myself from chronic ezcema until the age of 25 with regular use of steroids and laser trmnt. Not sure my mum stopped pple touching me tho!

Jeezus Kerry. Lighten up. I think your risk perception monitor needs re-adjusting as it's stuck in the red.

And we're off (Kerry you are a bit extreme though she couldn't have killed him Hilarious}

'People handle money all day without washing their hands and moeny is full of germs. Many people go to the toilet without washing their hands. '

Yes, and often time, little children go to the toilet and don't wash their hands.

They come back into the classroom and touch all over your child! .

Your child may even allow them/encourage them.

He may share food and drinks with them.

One day he may stick his tongue down someone else's throat and pick up glandular fever or an illness from them .

Dont mind the soft stroke on their chubby legs as they can be irresistable. However, get this! My FIL always had the reputation of being able to calm down any crying baby "Oh just give baby to Fred, he'll get it to sleep" kind of thing. Well i found out the reason when i saw him with dd2 - he used to stick his grubby little tobacco stained filthy finger in their mouths to suck on . There's me boiling/sterilising everything and he does that! Yuck yuck yuck

oh I coo over babies all day long, they are gorgeous and anyone that can resist poking a podgy hand or stroking downy hair is quite clearly not alive

get a grip fgs

I think you need counselling, Kerry. I really do.

Yes a little. I love my kids and I love it when other people appreciate them. And most people aren't dirty, germ-ridden or dangerous so what's the problem?

Doesn't bother me at all and we get a lot of people stopping us to have a poke, as DS is gorgeous

I think sooner or later we all have to accept that our babies aren't really 'ours' to have 100% control over. I don't think it is unreasonable for people to coo over babies etc - isn't that what we're genetically programmed to do?

I never used to do it myself but now I am a mum I am always stroking the feet of newborns. I can see what kind of an old lady I am going to be..

But it's not unreasonable to feel a bit grossed out by manky fingers, etc - though I shouldn't think they will do any harm to the baby and will in fact boost their imune systems. Or something.

what do you do about airborne infection?

or your children using cutlery in a cafe?

or dropping a toy on the ground and then putting it in their mouth?

don;t worry girls ... when your tiny ones go to nursery you won' t be able to see what they do... and wiill pick up EVERYTHING!!!!

dd1 had horrendous ecema on her face, what has that got to do with anything? am I missing something, sorry