About "adult babies" and "littles"

[HappyAsAGrownup]

I've recently found out someone I know well has been attending events for people who identify as "littles" - ie adults who roleplay being babies, toddlers, or children up to and including teenagers. Apparently activities include crafts and colouring, being read popular children's books at 'story time' amongst others.

This is not something I know much about although I'm familiar with adult kinks and fetishes, and while most of that stuff is just not for me, I tend to think that what people do in private is their business as long as it's consensual and doesn't hurt anyone.

But this adult baby and "littles" stuff is giving me the ick, especially as some of these events are part of much bigger bdsm/ fetish party events where the wider focus is on sexual and erotic themes. I'm thinking even if the 'regular' participants aren't actually having sex, their activities are somewhat sex-adjacent, and I'm really confused about people roleplaying as children being in this environment.

I thought I'd try and educate myself a bit (in case I'd got it horribly wrong, and so I could form a more informed opinion) but the blogs and websites i found (a lot of the resources appeared to be on closed forums which I didn't wish to join) have continued to make me feel uneasy about people roleplaying as children doing so in a sexually focussed environment.

YABU - stop clutching your pearls, adults in giant onesies and custom giant reusable nappies are fine in a bdsm/ fetish club

YANBU - this is weird AF

NB this person does not have any contact with any actual children in my life ever, nor indeed any children at all on a day-to-day basis AFAIK

What's next for the person who's smoking a cigarette? Heroin?

Societies draw lines. For me, any tolerance of viewing children as sexual objects is one of them.

Nick Broomfield did a documentary a good few years ago now about a club in New York where all sorts of shit went down. From memory, there was a man baby who had his hair brushed really hard and wore diapers. I think he also licked the toilet bowl and wanted to commit genocide, but this could have been one of the other truly weird fuckers who frequented the place. Can't remember what it was called, probably still available somewhere. Check it out. You'll laugh your head off, until you don't. Fetish is one thing, but some of the stuff emanating from this place should have had them locked up. 😮

Yanbu if someone I knew admitted to being into this I would definitely keep my distance and keep them well away from my kids

Bring back kink shaming.

Agree with this it’s grim, it’s quite clearly sexualising childhood/children and I don’t care if I’m judgy, pearl clutching, bigot for thinking so.

TBF, this is one of those things most people on the kink scene find kind of too much. AFAIK it's seldom linked to paedophilia - it's about wanting to be the child, not wanting to do things to a child, but I dare say there have been exceptions.

They also post pictures of themselves on restroom baby changing tables. No I'm not kidding, this has come up on Twitter in the past.

They do this in public. They wear nappies out and about and soil them. They involve the rest of us unwittingly and unconsenting in their fetish.

ABDL (and lolicon for that matter -- cartoons sexualising children in cartoon form) are both seriously borderline.

YANBU. I'd find it odd, very odd. I'm all for anyone having their little ways, as long as its consensual, but no, this would be a step too far for me.

It’s revolting. YANBU

I just googled ‘Littles Age Play’ and I got back lots of hits for sites/ videos called things like Daddy’s Little Girl and lots of images of grown women dressed as toddlers. It’s fucking gross.

I've seen a documentary ages ago about people who want to get into a nappy, be given a (giant) bottle of milk and lay in a (giant) cot for a couple of hours asleep. Perhaps have someone sing to them and stroke their hair. Then they go home. It gives them release of some kind. Peace. No sex. All fine.

Having sex with someone dressed as a baby or young child is a different kettle of fish all together. Like the life size rubber fetish dolls - old fashioned blow up sex dolls - that now come in kid size .... i mean ... who can honestly say there's no harm or risk of slippery slope there? 😔

I get what you are saying but lets say it was just about some innocent desire about wanting to be a child why would you be anywhere near the kink scene instead of I danno, sitting around in your nappy at home eating plain pasta and colouring in while watching Peppa Pig.

Can’t help but to think that anything a person themselves links to kink is sexually motivated,

Lots of people wear nappies or incontinence pads in public. They don't need our consent to wear them, even if they're being worn for sexual reasons and not medical reasons. My consent does not apply to what other people wear or think in public.

It's also not illegal to take pictures of yourself on a changing table. Although it's probably supremely inadvisable as they're not designed to take an adults weight most of the time... I foresee a nasty accident befalling someone. The only person they're possibly harming there is themselves!

I even think the Haribo advert with the police speaking like toddlers is gross

This is a side thought but... I was trying to explain the labels of the Spice Girls to my secondary-age DD last week. Scary, Posh, Sporty - fine. Baby ... "what , dressed like a baby?"
I said no, she had hair in bunches, like a little schoolgirl. Even as I was saying it, I was struggling a bit.
"That's weird"
Yes, in retrospect, it was bloody weird.

Yeah, fuck those mothers who actually need to change their kids nappies while these dregs of society take 'uwu I'm just a baby, mummy has to change my while we're out shopping because I just couldn't help but shit myself on purpose in public because it makes my pee pee hard' photoshoots.

I didn't say I thought it was a good thing.

I said it's not illegal - which it isn't.

And I never said it was illegal, so I'm not sure what your point was.

not my bag any of it but as long as no real children are involved I can't get too het up

Would you apply this logic to, for example, AI generated images of child sexual abuse?

This is how we end up with episodes of doctors promoting the furry cause.

I didn’t see that episode of Doctors 😳 Sounds a bit much for lunchtime on BBC1!

Of course you’re setting the bar at illegal.

Socially undesirable is also bad. And shame/judgement is actually a social mechanism for managing that.

Just because something is not illegal, it doesn’t mean that you should be ashamed to admit it in public.

I never mentioned anything about legality.

If someone is wearing a nappy in public because they get a sexual thrill from being around others wearing one - that is problematic. It’s exactly what shame is for - to encourage people to manage their own behaviour in socially acceptable ways.

People shouldn’t be embroiling others in their kink without consent. It’s not ok and we should stop pretending this stuff is.

I mean the particular poster you were quoting. Sorry. Should have tagged her.