How Do I Stop People from Touching My Baby?

hahaha...CBS, I'm going to totally steal that!

You know what I say to people - "You can look but you can't touch". I honestly don't care if they get offended, I don't want some stranger touching my baby.

I was going to submit this answer but it looks like some have already said it. I like the idea of a little sign that says something like, "I know I'm cute but please don't touch." I know how you feel, you don't know people or where they've been or what they've been doing, etc. it drives me nuts too when people do that. Good luck!

I detested when people were always trying to touch my babies. I didnt want to rude. I finally just said calmly and didnt repeat myself. I am not comfortable with everyone touching my baby. Thank you.

First, try to relax about it. Your daughter is going to come into contact with germs. Its life. If you protect her too much you can actually harm her. So try not to worry about it.

Second, try a baby sling. People are much less likely to touch a child so close to her mother's breast. :-)

Consider this practice... because you will have to tell strangers what to do and not do ALL the time now that you're a mom.

Just tell them... "Oh! Please don't touch!" ... you can soften it with "I know it's almost instinctive to want to snuggle with 'em, but we see an average of 50/100/200 people a day, and her immune system isn't strong enough yet to fight off something that wouldn't even make you know you're sick." But nothing beyond "Don't touch" is required.

Some will go for feet (like "don't touch" means only her face)... then you have to say "Her feet go right in her mouth", or "That means feet, too, sorry."

But because so many people were raised by wolves, and so many parents consider the playgrounds to be places where other people watch their kids, you will find yourself having to wade in time after time with the BASICS. And the "patient mom serious voice". It takes awhile for most people to learn how. Me, it took twice as long.

<laughing> I have a VERY "no holds barred friend", has 2 methods for other people's inappropriate boundaries with her kids.

1) She mimics what others do. When her kids are little, and someone reached out to touch, she'd pinch THEIR cheeks, stick her fingers in their mouth, get down and start messing with their socks. When the person jumped back, horrified, she'd say;

"OH! Should I have asked first?" and use sanitizer on her hands

Or ... when she wasn't fast enough to prevent someone touching her baby;

"UH-OH! You should really go see a doctor, he's SUPER contagious right now. But only from direct contact. Since people aren't supposed to touch other people's babies, no one should be at risk." and walk off, claiming to forget the name of it, some sort of creepy crawly.

I don't have the balls to do either of those things, but I love her for it.

One way to look at it is to recognize that you are her only line of defense and you can speak up and say, "Please don't touch her, her immune system is not very strong yet." You have the Mom Police's permission to not sacrifice her safety for the sake of being polite.

Yes, people should ask before touching a baby and they should control their children and not allow them to touch a baby's hands or feet, either. Doesn't happen much, though.

Another way of going about it is to relax and say, "Welcome to the world and all its microbes!" After living in the third world with my infant daughter and its epidemic cholera and dengue fever, unflushable toilet paper and stray dogs all over the place, no refrigeration for food and no clean tap water, after my baby got amoebic dyssentary and came out OK, after contracting malaria and making it through I say you really can just allow yourself to realx a little. Infant mortality caused by hand vector pathogens is not very common in the US.

Of course that depends on how tiny your baby is. Under four months, don't allow strangers to touch her hands, feet or face. Over six months, I'd seriously relax.

Babywearing. Works great!

You could wear her If she is all snuggled up against you in a sling, wrap, ergo, etc people will be less likely to try and touch her although I can't believe complete strangers would try to touch her. I have never tried to touch someone's baby that I didn't know and of course always asked first. I do peek in the carseats if someone has one in their shopping cart I miss my baby being a baby :(

I am assuming your daughter is still in an infant carrier. My son was premature and born in the middle of winter during flu season, RSV, and swine flu outbreak. I was paranoid, but could not prevent trips to the store and such. I had a very crafty friend make me a cute sign to hang from the carseat carrier handle. It was shaped like a stop sign and said something about not touching. I can't remember the exact wording. You could say something about "Help keep me cute and germ free! You can look, but please don't touch!" You probably want to use a bright color or red and get it laminated to make it last longer. Just clip it on with one of the toy clips and take it off when you are not in public places.

Is your baby still in an infant carrier ? If so here is a link to a Toys R Us product I had seen that is really neat. It's a netting that fits over the infant carrier. That way no one can get to your baby without moving it aside but you can still see your child and they can see out. I saw someone with one in the store one time and thought it was really neat. Here's the link: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2970593
And then - there is always just telling people NO.

I'm in the same situation. I HATE when people walk up and touch my daughter, i actually had a lady kiss her on the cheek and i went insane! needless to say i wasnt very nice to the lady because i had no idea who she was and she just kissed my daughter (this was when she was about 2 weeks old, she left the hospital with a respitory infection) so i wasnt a happy camper. I simply tell them the truth, I'm a stay at home mommy to her, nevermind im pretty much a single parent (hubby is a trucker) so unless you plan to come take care of her if she gets sick, please do not touch her. It may not be the nicest way to say it but it works. The only people i let touch her are nurses at drs offices and even then they have to use sanitizer before hand. good luck!!

haha. I remember my sister actually had a bib that said "don't touch" on it that she put on her daughter during cold/flu season when she was a baby if they went shopping. I agree that there are way too many people grabbing at your baby.... and why do they always have to touch their faces or worse yet... their hands!

Carry her. Get a baby carrier and be done with it.

Yucko! Ppl should know not to touch a baby any where but their teeny toes!

I don't know how old your LO is, but this is the EXACT reason why I always had my lil' guy in the Moby when we went out. They can pop their head out to explore, and you can tuck it in when you see those prying eyes. An added bonus is there are very rarely any feet sticking out (and if they do they are very easily covered), hands are usually inside, there is no tummy to tickle, and I never had anyone reach across me to touch his face...but I always have him forward facing tho'. I did have one lady (Walmart worker actually) ask if she could take a peek, and that was about it. I really never had anyone approach him. Only 'ahh how cute look at that baby" remarks!!

Now that he's older I just make sure I don't linger long enough to have anyone approach me, but then again I'm always out with boy kids, so I'm pretty unapproachable these days anyway!!

Good Luck :)

I used to get so annoyed with people who touched our babies. (I'm a germaphobe esp with our kids!) The worst was when they put their fingers in our babies hands to see if they would grab on. Yuck! I always had sanitary wipes handy. I read somewhere after they were older that you should put little mittens on their hands to avoid this.

Well, you could maybe just tell them she has a fragile immune system, so hands off please. Not necessarily a lie, since babies immune sytems aren't quite as strong as ours. Or, you could just blanket her when a stranger approaches with "that look"...you know, the "awww, what a cutie" and you just KNOW they're about to put their grubby hands all over your little one.

I once saw a baby bib that said "STOP! Hands off please, I'm fragile"...loved the idea of it but I don't know how many people would really pay attention to it.

Politely say that she hasn't had her vaccines and please don't touch. Whooping cough and the flu are going around right now too. I had the same problem with both my kids. I was always being too nice. You don't know where those hands have been though. Seriously! So many people use public bathrooms and then don't wash their hands. When someone goes to touch her say no thank you and block their hand with your wrist. It gets easier every time. Good luck!

Carriers are definitely helpful in this case, as well as making it a lot easier to transport her around and gives you more time to snuggle! But, like Rachael also said, you could either make or buy a little sign that hangs from her car seat that says something like, "Your germs are too big for me. Please don't touch."

Get in, get out. You're on a do or die mission. Oh, and a scowl on your face may help!

I completely understand. I have a cute baby girl (11 weeks) and people actually ask if they can hold her! I just tell them no she is ready to eat and I have to go breastfeed her. One lady in Olive Garden said she would hold her while we ate and actually held out her arms. I was like...ummm NO! How can people think that its okay to touch a little baby and much less ask to hold them if you dont even know the ppl. Even before I was a mommy, I just never invaded ppls privacy like that. GRR! It makes my blood boil just to think of it. I use the moby wrap a lot and just smile and keep walking when people look like they might come in for a touch. Hope this helps you.

Whack them on the nose with a newspaper and say very sternly, "No! No!".

My children suffer from the same malady. Those squeezable cheeks are just too much for some people. I found that keeping the baby in a front carrier helped because they were entering my space to get to the baby.

It doesn't always help. We went to the zoo at 9 days and my husband and son were waiting in line for tickets when I walked up. There was a lady talking to my husband, so I thought he knew her. She asked how old the baby was, and then walked up and started pawing at the blanket I had thrown over her!! My turning away didn't stop her coming at me, so I said, "Please don't!". She seemed really offended and said, "I just wanted to take a peak." Seriously?!? Turns out my husband didn't even know her!

She is the exception though. I usually just put my arms around her and hug her too me. I also keep a light blanket handy to throw over her when needed. It seems to work much better than a stroller, but even in the stroller, I have her turned to me and put the shades up when needed. I also step up to the baby when people show interest so that I can create a barrier if needed.

I don't know how much you can really fend them off, especially if they move in quickly and don't ask if it's okay (which would be nice!) but I can tell you that my daughter as a baby got lot of the same treatment and she was fine - I've been lucky but she's hardly ever been sick and she's now 3. But then, some kids just have a stronger immune system than others and maybe mine is one of them. Maybe say something along the lines of "Just the feet!" or "Feet only!" Because at least if they want to give her feet and toes a squeeze, she's not being exposed to germs as much. And you gotta love those little baby piggies!

Ick, I hate that too! I have a 4 month old, and have found that people, from relatives to strangers, sometimes feel that they have the right to touch and hold your baby. Not so. You have every right to be as straight forward as you need. You are her protector, and you shouldn't feel ashamed to tell people no. I have found that the sling method works the best. People are more hesitant about invading your space to get to the baby, though some actually will! We had to tell our family members at Thanksgiving that our pediatrician advised us not to pass our 9 week old around. I know some thought we are being weird, but oh well! I kept her in a sling, facing me the whole night. People were forced to go through me to get to her, and couldn't just grab her hands or face. My cousin's baby developed RSV after one of our cousins held him without saying she had been ill. All it takes is ONE time.

I have the same problem and ever since I started using baby carriers to tie my son on me people stop. They are much less likely to put a hand on him when his head is near my boobs :) I recommend the ergo baby carrier it's durable and will carry poundage. It's all comfortable.

Usually, if you say something before the person touches, it helps diffuse the awkwardness. Just, a nice and quick little remark as the person is looking, say something like, "she's very sensitive/has a weak immune system, you can say hi, but please no touching. Isn't she cute?"

I have become WAY more sensitive since becoming a mom. I may have been one of those that like to touch baby's soft skin, and I deeply apologize. I did not know until I had a baby and MAMA BEAR was born! I was seething when people would try to get too close. Now I am MUCH more respectful of a baby's space. I only get close enough to look, if easily seen (like in a car seat in the grocery cart). I coo and aww and complliment. That's IT.

But I digress. If you feel that strongly, just be strong and don't worry about being polite. They aren't. Maybe fend them off by gently knocking their hand away (raise your arm in a block - Karate style) before it gets too close and say, "Please don't touch." No explanation necessary. You don't want it. You aren't comfortable. It's your baby. They need to get over it. You may be doing other moms a favor if you startle them good enough! :)

I do like the "No Touching" bib or shirt idea if you aren't confrontational. Or baby wearing. Or maybe tell people your BABY is contageous! LOL! That will keep their hands to themselves!

I know people can be rude and inconsiderate, but it is a compliment. There are a few other options. Since you are with another person, you or the other person could carry the baby and improve your reaction time to intercept. The other is experiment when the stores are less crowded with people and thus less likely to touch...or maybe go the opposite...if that works. If you go when people are in a rush to get home themselves, they might not take as much notice. Hope this helps and good luck.