Kissing baby

[ellsbellsxx]

I'm just wondering, at what age is it acceptable for family members to start kissing baby ? Obviously not on the mouth but on the cheek/head etc ?

From birth.

From birth

Parents, from birth, obviously. I kissed my son seconds after he came out, which might seem gross but felt natural.

anyone else - well, my son was born in South Asia and is very very fair skinned. People kissed his feet and hands from when he was weeks old, as it is good luck. I never really stopped to think about whether it was right or wrong as it is literally impossible to stop this behaviour…

Meant to add - doesn’t seem to have done him any harm!

Sorry I don't mean parents I mean other members of family x

From the minute they saw them.

I've seen loads of posts about RSV and saying don't kiss babies, so I'm just wondering what other people say about it, thanks for your answers

I didn’t ask people not to kiss my baby but asked them to stay away if they had a cold etc.

Its only really the grandparents who wanted to kiss her anyway. Even then it’s usually on the head.

You do have to be careful also if people have cold sores etc even if not visible
But I would ask Hv when its ok and if just on head etc

At about 12 weeks in my opinion, once they’ve had the majority of their immunisations and developed a bit of an immune system. And then only on the head, not the cheeks. And staying away if they are unwell or have a cold sore.

Kissing about 12 weeks i'd say.

I was never fussy about people holding my baby, but she was recently admitted into hospital and treated for suspected sepsis and meningitis. Luckily it was nothing, but since then I've become really stringent on who comes into contact with my baby.

No one outside mine or DH's immediate family can hold baby even if they have no symptoms of being ill until she's 3 months old.

Your perspective changes so much when you're put in a potential life threatening situation.

Also I wouldn't let anyone kiss my baby anyway unless it's immediate family or people that regularly see her.

I wouldn't kiss my friend's baby, for example.

This.

Apart from my partner and I, I would prefer no one to kiss my baby until he's at least 12 weeks old. Even then I wouldn't say I'm completely comfortable with it tbh.

Why would you want ANYBODY else kissing your baby at all?! A tiny newborn who is so vulnerable and grandparents/family etc think it’s okay to kiss them anywhere on their face and hands is horrific imo. It has never occurred to me to kiss anybody else’s child.

im a nurse and whilst I don’t work with children I know and have seen the effects that a cold and cold sores etc can have on babies and children.

If I'm honest I did say I'd rather no one kissed her, her dad and I kiss her on head and cheek etc but no one else, I'm far too paranoid incase she ends up ill and I would feel so guilty if so but I'm also worried incase people think I'm being dramatic by asking them not to kiss her, they of course can hold her no problem for cuddles but the kissing worries me

Yes

Still birth

From birth. I don’t remember noticing if they kissed them or not! It’s only family who do this, and I don’t think their germs are any different to mine. It was only last year mine was born and I don’t remember even thinking about it! It’s not like they’re going to give them a big snog!

From birth. This is something we were never told to be careful of (even for the one born during covid) and it's not something I've come across except on here.

Obviously I wouldn't have welcomed anyone visiting while ill or kissing them with a cold sore, but the grannies were certainly welcome to give as many kisses as they wanted.

I asked family members (who got cold sores) not to kiss my two kids as babies as I was worried about it. They ignored me most of the time though so good luck!

RSV is really horrible and there are high levels of it around this year, so I can see why you’re worried OP. But unless you have reason to think your little one has a weaker immune system or would struggle with a respiratory disease (through genetics or otherwise), they need to develop their immunity somehow.

if you’re worried, views from others to be cautious for a month or too seem reasonable - me beyond that, you may need to relax a bit.

Never occurred to me to worry about this tbh. (Obviously coldsores aside, and if they'd had a stinking cold I'd probably have asked them to keep their distance.) It was so important to me that they had a lovely relationship and bond with my kids and it's never done anyone any harm. The joy on my parents' faces when they first cuddled and kissed their grandchildren will stay with me forever.

From birth, unless they're ill or have cold sores.

BTW when my second was born my first- then 3- had an enormous coldsore. I did freak out about that a bit. We had to ask her- v gently - to not kiss him. But they still had a lot of contact- we had to balance our desire to protect him from the coldsore with her desire to be affectionate with him. All worked out in the end!

I’ve honestly never thought about this before. I’ve never heard anyone talk about it before either! I would find it odd if a stranger kissed my baby but I don’t think I’d even notice if people I was close to did.