Saw this on a pram today! 😀

[Netcurtainnelly]

A man pushing obviously a young baby along in its pram in the town today.

You couldn't see the baby but there was a sign on the pushchair saying please don't touch or kiss the baby, then words I couldn't read. Then it said Thanks .

Reminded me of MN. I know its been discussed.
Never seen a sign on the pram though, telling people, has anyone else?
Did even know they made them.

This sounds like a good reason for existence of the signs - if someone lives in such an area, but doesn't want their child to be included in this habit, a simple sign tells people around to keep their hands to themselves.

Some people just don’t know about boundaries. I’ve seen, probably more women than men, sort of pounce when they see a little one. In a different vein, when our daughter was pregnant strangers would come up to her, for example in the supermarket and put their hands on her bump. Incredibly invasive and unpleasant.

I’m not sure a sign is needed, but I haven’t encountered what these particular parents have.

What a strange opening post.

Is it? Why?

My first thought was that the parent would be protecting their vulnerable child - and no other reason.

I have one of these 'don't touch me' for my dog, it absolutely amazes me the amount of people who think its okay to bound up to dogs, get super close the them and aggressively stroke them even when the dog, like mine, is visibly terrified, they still stand there fussing over her saying 'awww she's scared if she always like this...'.

Some parent even let their children do it.

So now she wears something saying 'I am not friendly', and people leave her the f alone.

I don't have children, but I can 100% imagine strangers thinking it was okay to touch / kiss / breathe all over tiny babies.

Yep I’ve had it. One old lady got soooo insulted when I told her not to touch. She told me off. And another lady yanked the hood of the pram down so she could see when my preemie was just a few weeks old. Just not ok.
use the sign or don’t, it’s your kid so it’s just too bad if someone doesn’t like the sign. (Nope I wouldn’t use it)

Brilliant, I am going to get one of these and wear myself!

I was once out for coffee with a friend and her baby so we both had our prams and an older lady pulled her car over, got out and came over to us saying she just needed a bit of cuteness in her life and wanted to see our babies. She didn't touch them but I was waiting for it. I also had a shop assistant literally try to lift my newborn out of his pram on our first outing.

People can loose all sense of themselves around babies. And if a baby is vulnerable it makes sense to me. If it gives parents peace of mind then have at it.

I work in a PICU, I see quite a few of those signs around some of the kids who need to be admitted fairly regularly due to immune deficiency or cancer.

imagine being so entitled as to touch/kiss a random baby or so unpleasant as to see that sign and roll your eyes.

My last baby was born at home at the height of Covid. No strangers being anywhere near her was one advantage of an otherwise crap time.

What's the point of a sign ? There will always be somebody pushing the pram . Let them tell anyone who gets too near .

I had one of these on my PFBs pram. Didn’t seem to make any difference, people still stroked her face and hands. To be honest, each time she was touched by a stranger I felt like I’d let her down, hence getting the sign.

With my next baby I was a lot more ruthless at pulling him out of strangers reach. I don’t care if it offends, I don’t want other peoples grubby hands touching my children.

My friend has twins and had to put this on the pram. Apparently twins are still seen as circus monkeys in this day and age. You wouldn’t believe the amount of people they attract.

Guess it’s more for situations where you’re not pushing it. You’re browsing in the shops, parked it by your table as you’re having a coffee. People be crazy. They just walk up and touch before you even have the chance to say no.

I didn't have one of these signs but understand why people might. When my premature twins first came home from hospital I was terrified about them catching RSV etc. They were tiny and people were very drawn to them - it made me nervous. It may seem ridiculous and OTT but the baby could have any number of serious medical conditions.

I've just posted having not read your post. Going round a shop with newborn twins is similar to being a X list celeb. You are stopped every five steps. Everyone wants a chat and to look at them.

You know, it's considered totally normal to go over and coo over someone else's baby in much of Southern Europe. Maybe even touch...! Someone snapping DON'T TOUCH MY BABY would be regarded with sorrow and perhaps a concern of mental fragility. I think, honestly, we've lost the plot in the UK (and USA) with regards to being precious about our babies. Babies are a reason for celebration and rightly so. They mean a lot to their entire community. An entire generation now seems to think this is suspect at best and attempted murder at worst. It makes me so sad.

I’m sorry, no. Celebrate them from afar. There is no need to touch a strangers baby. Imagine I went around rubbing people’s cheeks or pulling on their ‘chunky legs’. I’d get sectioned. You wouldn’t do it to an adult so don’t do it to a child.

Definitely.

When my son was a baby, he was sat in his highchair at a restaurant and a lady in her late 40's/early 50's I'd say came up to us, said he was cute etc which is absolutely fine but then kissed him on the cheek because she ''just couldn't resist''.

This!

I had preemie weenie twins who were prone to croup and respiratory infections. Honestly I didn’t have these but I’d of considered it. It was so brutal trying to deal with vomity little people who are struggling to breathe and the midnight run to A&E for steroids. Lots of slightly unnecessary rain / Sun guards to block the baby fondlers.

My DD carried my GC in slings, so this issue didn't arise. It wasn't until around 18 months that the touching etc started. Which was fine, it was summer and she was past the danger stage. It was lovely to see the very old ladies interact with her, they were probably more at risk.
My friend's little boy was born with Edwards syndrome, she lived in fear, he was going to die before 2, anyway (he died at 19 months). She'd rather not have spent the time in hospital etc because of common illnesses, that were dangerous to him.

There are people who approach little babies. I had my dd last year and I had to awkwardly smile and try to leave a few times from random strangers on the street.

It mostly seemed to beolder women with learning difficulties who came to me and said they loved babies and got close in her face, broke social boundaries and personal space.

The whole time I’m trying to be polite and patient but also thinking about that woman that gave a baby bleach in a bottle. You never know how people are going to be

OMG

That's really shitty behaviour of them. Thank God for the sister.