Don’t touch my baby (At least without asking!)

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Brining home a new baby is exciting. And, a little nerve-racking, too.

Two big girls are bringing home a lot of germs from school and their friends. Not only are those germs in the house, but they are on their hands, too. And, boy do they like to touch their sister. All the time. Including her face and her hands.

toddler's touch

So, we try really hard to remind the big girls how important it is to wash their hands before they touch their sister. We want them to understand that there are little tiny germs on them. And, even though the germs don’t make them sick, they can make their sister sick. They might overdo it sometimes, but that’s okay!

hand washing

While we are very lucky that our little girl wasn’t a preemie, it’s still important to continue with proper baby etiquette and RSV prevention techniques. You never know if a baby might have a compromised immune system.

The germs my girls bring home are sort of hard to prevent, but the ones that aren’t? The visitors to the house. And, everybody needs a reminder:

  • Call before you visit. New parents need time to set up a routine and bond. By giving them time to do so before you visit, you are respecting the new family.
  • Postpone a visit if you feel that you may be getting sick, have recently been ill or exposed to illness.
  • Remember that parents know best. If you feel they are being overprotective or overly cautious, just consider that only they know what’s best for the health of their new son or daughter.
  • Offer to do something to ease their responsibilities as they spend time as a family, such as laundry, cooking or dishes. Sleep-deprived moms and dads will appreciate your help!

Then, there are the people out in the community; church, the store, daycare, etc. We know they all mean well, but really, why do they want to touch my baby? I’ve actually seen people with signs on their strollers saying “please don’t touch, it’s RSV season.” And, it totally makes sense. I’ve seen way too many friends with preemies end up in the hospital because of RSV, or they are quarantined in their house because they can’t trust strangers to not touch their children.

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I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of MedImmune and received promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

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30 Comments

  1. I think people just naturally want to touch a sweet, cute baby, but yes! It’s much better to just look if you cannot wash your hands. Plus, well if you’re a stranger, you need to ask first anyway!!

    1. Yeah..it’s the strangers….they just walk up and touch…

  2. Iz and Nat just forget their little hands are cold sometimes, too! Gives E a surprising shiver!

  3. Can I relate this is, or WHAT?! I was visiting my parents and we went to a store, where a young (10 or so), unsupervised child was walking around. I have a stroller that allows Red to lay flat, which he was. The boy was on the far side of the stroller, trying to peek in. Then, as I watched him, raised one finger and went to touch Red’s 5 week oldhead. I swear I almos tackled him, mama bear style, but said under my breath “Don’t touch my baby!” as if it would prevent him. He heard me, but seconds too late as he retracked his hand.

    I’m sure I overreacted, but for good reason! 🙂

  4. Lexi Conklin says:

    gosh i wish everyone would read this! when i first brought my little one home there was 20 people at my house waiting, it had no time to bond with my baby by my self, and thats 20 possibly sick hands that all wanted to touch the baby!

    1. Seriously? That would have driven me crazy. I have a two week rule. It’s two weeks, just us, then we can have visitors.

  5. Great post. Everytime I would go to the grocery store with my new little one people always want to touch the baby’s face, why is that, you would think they would think twice because of maybe not having the cleanest hands. But no they go straight for the face. Even my two older boys knew to wash their hands before playing with the baby.

    1. I’m thinking maybe we should start touching their faces back?

      1. Lol…that would be interesting!

  6. Vanessa Coker says:

    I agree with this so much. My son is one (already) but I remember feeling so anxious over people wanting to touch him without even thinking twice about washing their hands. Of course, I always stepped in and had to be the meany new mom but if they can’t understand and agree to my conditions then I really don’t want them touching my baby anyway.

    1. So true…why are we the bad guy for enforcing something so logical?

  7. What drives me bonkers are the complete strangers that feel the need to touch your baby! I mean really!!! You just have to touch them, it’s not enough to look. Drives me crazy! I like the sign on the stroller idea though.

    1. Yep, it’s the strangers that really get me. It’s the same with the pregnant belly..why do they think it’s okay?

  8. It is so hard to resist touching a sweet little squishy baby, but people need to understand the risks!

  9. Lindsay Coffman says:

    This is exactly how I felt when strangers would approach my son in the store & try to make him hold their fingers (which he would try to suck on). Yet another reason why I started baby-wearing. 🙂

    1. Babywearing definitely helps. But, I seriously had somebody try to touch my little girl’s hand (she had it hanging onto the edge of my Moby wrap)…I bet they would have freaked if I told them they almost touched my boob!

  10. It’s hard with a small baby and kids! keep up the handwashing!

  11. This is a great post and I agree with you, my little ones are grown now and I may have been overprotective or overly cautious but I did not want every-one touching my baby, and I would tell them please don’t touch her, I am scared of germs. Some would understand, some would be hurt, a few even got mad, but hey it was my baby and I was protecting her.

    1. People forget so quickly how little and fresh and susceptible to germs they are!

  12. To me this is common sense, but I’ve learned the hard way that there are plenty of people who seem to forget about personal boundaries when it comes to babies or (shudder!) pregnant women. I’ve had to learn to be assertive and just tell people, “I’d rather you didn’t do that.” The usual response I get is, “Oh, right! Sorry!” From my perspective, it’s basic manners to ask first.

    1. Yep, totally manners first…and people totally forget.

  13. OMG Did you also know that the vaccine for RSV is required by the hospitals? It’s also $1200 a shot and they are given MONTHLY during RSV season! Let’s hope my insurance company covers it. because she’s already gotten one and if she stays into April I’m pretty sure thats the last month.

    1. Wow! $1200! That’s insane..and I’ve heard so many people have to fight to get their insurance company to cover it. I hope yours does.

  14. Tiffany K says:

    Babywearing is the solution! Love that idea. Clearly no one will want to inadvertently touch your chest when trying to get at the baby, so go ahead, grab those toes as much as you want 🙂

    1. Babywearing does help, but I still had somebody touch our little girl last weekend in the Moby wrap!

  15. Nikole H. says:

    These are some really good points to make. We are expecting Baby #2 in July and with my daughter recently starting preschool we are clearly going to have to rethink what kind of germs are present in our house! Thank you.

    1. Yep, she’ll be bringing home lots of germs….but as long as she washes her hands, I bet everything will be fine.

  16. NeonKitten says:

    Well, my MIL was driving me INSANE!.. i was having breakdowns because I felt i had no life. The woman invaded my personal space and meddled in Couple time too…she used to come unannounced, stay for hours, mess my kitchen and left everything there for me to clean, not mention I had to ask her like a 10 year old to please wash her hands before touching my baby!…I decided i have had enough and made boundaries and house norms:

    1. you will call or text before making a visit
    2. you cannot come at night because is highly inappropriate
    3. Limit your phone calls and texts to one (AKA do not call or text 200 times every single day)
    4. you will not come if you’re sick
    5. you will wash your hands and put on antibacterial
    6. If you smoke cigarettes you will change your clothes and wash your teeth or else don’t bother coming near my baby.
    7. No, I do not want you in my house every single day for hours.
    8. You will not push your opinions.
    9. MY CHILD, MY RULES. Period.

    You have no idea how happy I am now, finally I feel like I can breathe and bond with my baby and husband.

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