in Roseville
Keep strangers away from infant
While at the doctors with my two month old to get his shots, a young child (5 years old) approached us and stood very close to my son who was in his infant carrier. His mother was nearby and called to him but he didn’t listen and continued standing near my son. Eventually we moved to the waiting area and my mom took my son out of his carrier and was holding him. The kid proceeded to come over again to sit close by my mother and tried to touch him again but my mom caught him and told him that he should not touch babies faces to keep them protected as they can get sick very easily. He kept trying to touch him and touched his shirt and at that moment they called us back and we left. I am a new mom and I didn’t really know how to approach the situation. I didn’t want to be unnecessarily harsh but my reflexes were to block the kid by putting my hand in front of him and keeping him from my son and I restrained myself because I felt this was too much and I might be overreacting, was this right? I want to keep my child safe and don’t feel comfortable having kids I don’t know around my child (to keep him safe from getting sick since he’s so little). My question to the experienced mothers out there: How would you have handled the situation?
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Unfortunately, my experience is that many parents just don't pay enough attention to their child, and asyou are your child's advocate, you'll need to speak up. From stranger kids trying to touch my daughter as a newborn to bigger kids trying to push my toddler down on the playground, I've seen my fair share of inattentive parents. I just put my body between my child and theirs and say kindly, but loudly, no hands on the baby.
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I think you did alright! Little kids will continue to do this, it's natural and normal. Being protective of your baby is also natural! I try to use kind words while establishing a boundary with them. You'll do this with people too, so be prepared! I will block if anyone tries to touch. When my baby was much older, I'd let little kids pat his arm or back. But I'll catch their hands if they reach for his face. And I tell them "we don't touch faces :)" or in your case "he's too little to touch, but you can look". I've been wearing my baby and had random adults reach to touch him, and I just swing my body away so he's out of their reach. Not worth explaining it to adults for me lol.