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Grandparenting

Kissing grandchildren?

(187 Posts)
Philippa60 Fri 12-Aug-22 07:50:49

I am seeking other opinions on this - we are currently in the UK visiting our son and DiL and their nearly 5 month old baby, their first child.
We also have 4 grandkids from our daughter who lives very close to us.
The couple here are VERY anxious and super protective of the baby, and have told us that we are not allowed to kiss her. I am not talking about big sloppy kisses! Not even a peck on her arm....
We are 4 times vaccinated, and also just recovered from Covid so that isn't the issue.
They say "only Mum and Dad (them) may kiss the baby". They also don't allow anyone except the grandparents to touch or hold the baby.
I know it's "their baby, their rules" but at nearly 5 months old I am wondering if this sounds "normal".
Thanks
Philippa60

VioletSky Sun 14-Aug-22 21:53:17

No kissing the babies, no sleeping them on theor tummies, no cot bumpers, no forward facing car seats and definitely no baby yoga

Please don't Google baby yoga, there are some seriously bonkers people out there and we will all just get angry again

PoppyBlue Sun 14-Aug-22 21:53:40

grin if anyone needs to kiss anything on a baby.
And I know deep breath there's a need, kiss their feet. Honestly, nothing better than baby feet and toes.
And the safest!

MissAdventure Sun 14-Aug-22 22:02:23

I used to love puzzling my girls fluffy little head, when she was fresh out the bath. smile

Philippa60 Sun 14-Aug-22 22:02:59

Yes, agreed, kissing baby's precious feet or the top of her head is more than enough, but if the parents prefer us not to, that's fine too.
With our other GCs (our daughter's children) there is no issue other than the common sense washing hands and keeping away if we are sick. Thank goodness for that!
And they are all thriving!!

PoppyBlue Sun 14-Aug-22 22:30:09

Just give a deep breath for overly anxious first time parents. The advice is terrifying now, along with covid!

You just don't image loving anything as much as your child and the thought of anything happening to them is just. Horrible.

At the end of the day, when they are older, they all eat a McDonalds and survive.

Norah Sun 14-Aug-22 22:40:03

Philippa60, You are wise taking on gransnet guidance, not asking your son for anything he doesn't approve.

A friend cajoled, whinged, asked questions, gave advice.

That way leads to no contact. Well done you avoiding issues.

maddyone Sun 14-Aug-22 23:43:24

How anyone survives father eating the muck that is sold as food by McDonalds is beyond me. Now that’s something I would put a ban on if I was the parent of a young child again.

Rosie51 Mon 15-Aug-22 00:12:42

Give it a few years and there'll be a whole new raft of rules. I remember the health visitor giving me hell because my first baby preferred to sleep on his back 'he'll vomit and choke to death'!!! OMG the relief when second son preferred to sleep on his tummy, 'but stop that thumb sucking, give him a dummy instead' (he was born with a callous on his thumb from in utero thumb sucking!)....... babies 3 and 4 also bucked the rules current at their births. All have survived into adulthood, and for some into parenthood.
Now I'm not knocking best practice being advocated in line with current thinking, but it's the absolutism that I object to. As can clearly be seen the advice does sometimes do a 180 degree turnaround. Do 'the authorities' ever apologise for their misguided previous 'advice'? Not in my experience.

NotSpaghetti Mon 15-Aug-22 01:36:04

PoppyBlue

Just give a deep breath for overly anxious first time parents. The advice is terrifying now, along with covid!

You just don't image loving anything as much as your child and the thought of anything happening to them is just. Horrible.

At the end of the day, when they are older, they all eat a McDonalds and survive.

Only 2 of my 5 have ever eaten a McDonald's, apparently.
I've never had one - and nor has my husband.
Nothing is absolute Poppy!

MercuryQueen Mon 15-Aug-22 03:46:01

For me, it's a pretty simple equation.

Baby gets little to no benefit from being kissed by anyone but parents.

However, the negatives from being kissed are well documented, in terms of spreading viruses and bacteria.

Ergo, no kissing seems completely reasonable to me.

None of the grandparents have had newborns during a pandemic (or, very few are having grandchildren while still having babies themselves.) Rules have changed, and will continue to do so as variants spread and delightful things like Monkey Pox are added into the mix.

No kiss from anyone is worth an infant's health being at risk.

Blondiescot Mon 15-Aug-22 08:04:22

I'm not into kissing babies - or even holding them, to be honest, unless they were one of my own (or my grandchild). Puppies on the other hand...
But on a serious note, if that's what the parents have stipulated, then you've got to abide by their rules. However, you can't wrap a child up in cotton wool, and has been very reasonably stated elsewhere on here, children need to be exposed to germs etc in order to develop their immune systems. As I commented earlier, science and common sense go a long way...