Kissing babies

[K725]

I am very freaked out by the dangers of kissing babies. Lots of adults who I know and trust with my son have kissed him and then I've had to ask them not to. Some have understood but a lot have told me I'm being unreasonable.
Today someone kissed him on the cheek and I used a wet wipe straight away to remove any germs but I'm now freaking out with all of the worries of what could happen.
Am I being unreasonable? I don't mean to be if I am, I'm just a new mum and desperately want to do the best I can to care for him.

If these are people you know and who love the baby, I think it’s fine, and you could try to relax about it. At first I thought you meant random people are trying to kiss the baby, which would be weird. If we weren’t supposed to kiss babies, they wouldn’t look so cute!

And congratulations on becoming a mum!

Babies are cute but they are also vulnerable. I didn’t let people kiss my DC and would not do it to anyone else’s.

I have no issues with people I know kissing my baby

Even a new born? He is 5 weeks old.

You're not being unreasonable generally, it's a rule plenty of people have.
But equally, if someone did kiss him I don't think you need to be worrying or freaking out about what potentially could happen. In all likelihood absolutely nothing bad will happen.

No you're not. RSV is common in babies which can be caused by kissing a baby. I know of someone who's newborn was hospitalised with it all because they had a cold and kissed the baby. It's not worth the risk.

It’s the herpes virus I was scared of. YANBU.

I don’t like people kissing my baby, I don’t know why. My Mum does it, I feel excessively. I try not to be horrible about it but it goes through me every time!

YANBU

Not worth the risk

Me neither. These posts always confuse me. I’d be upset if someone turned up clearly on death’s door and coughed in their face, but a healthy adult that you know, kissing my baby is a non-issue imo.

YANBU
It's not just kissing either. People should stay away if they have any symptoms of illness (or if anyone in their household is poorly), and do a covid test before visiting a new baby too. If it's not too cold, it's also worth cracking open a window/running an extractor fan if you have visitors too. A HEPA air purifier would be a good investment.

No one should be kissing a newborn baby under 12 weeks on the mouth or hands in case of passing on the cold sore virus which can be fatal. Annabel Karmels daughter was kissed by a relative and dies because of this, yanbu, stand your ground

Babies are born with very good immune systems - antibodies are passed through the placenta.
Breast feeding also passes antibodies to the baby.
It’s very important a baby’s immune system encounters germs - it strengthens it further. Avoiding germs causes problems in childhood and later life - things like allergies, asthma, eczema, hay fever etc.
Kissing babies is natural and brings far more benefits than problems.

my friend’s daughter died at one week old because she contracted neonatal herpes. You absolutely should not ever kiss young babies - it could kill them. My friend never recovered from her devastating loss.

I think it's fine to kiss baby on the forehead or cheek as long as your visitor is healthy (and hopefully they would stay well away from a newborn if they're ill!) I don't understand the wierd obsession with germs - I had 5 babies and they were kissed and cuddled by relatives and also by their toddler siblings! They were fine 🤷‍♀️

Those of you saying it’s fine, please please read this and learn more.
www.kittarkafoundation.org/thanks

No one should be kissing baby except parents.

But wet wipes will not kill germs.

I've never really thought about this but to be honest thinking about it not many of my relatives have ever kissed my kids as tiny babies. And when they did, it was always on the head. I've kissed all my kids from birth but only on the head, same for DH. I'd be fine with a relative or friend doing the same as long as they're healthy. But I wouldn't be letting anyone come close to my baby if they weren't well anyway, so they wouldn't get close enough to kiss them.

DH does get cold sores which he's always been anxious about and obviously would never kiss any child whilst he had one, in fact he's over cautious about limiting close facial exposure. Our elder children are 3 and 6 and neither have ever had a coldsore despite DH having bouts where he gets them frequently and quite severely. He's scrupulous about hygiene to protect them from it.

It wouldn’t even occur to me to kiss a baby if it wasn’t someone super close to me like family or best friend. Even if I do kiss babies I always go for the tops of their little fuzzy heads.

They don’t need my germs, they get enough exposure during the ‘I’m going to put everything in my mouth or my mouth on everything’ stage of babyhood.

Yanbu. I also ask that people don't kiss their hands

It’s a big risk if they have cold sores! I wouldn’t like anyone slobbering over my baby either.

I never minded my family kissing my babies.

They are very kissable.

I think wiping kisses away with wipes is weird and rude.

YANBU. Neonatal herpes can lead to life ling disability and even death. So just stand your ground and try not to worry what anybody else thinks. It's not worth it.

I think it depends on where they are kidding them!

On the lips - weird and unnecessary. YANBU

On the cheek/forehead/head - perfectly fine for someone you know to do this. YABU.

Obviously the exception to the bottom one is if they are unwell. But you'd want them to stay awake completely, not just not kiss them!