Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think OP is so crazy. My son has been getting horrible cold sores since he was about 2 years old. Huge, painful ones. Obviously, someone kissed him near his mouth when he was a fat-cheeked, irresistible, little toddler. A significant portion of the public carries the virus, even if they've never gotten a sore.

Why does grandma have to kiss the face? Feet, top of the head, fine.

So sorry PP, how old is your son now? Have you tried antivirals? If you don't want to go the med route, a daily supplement of L-Lysine can significantly help.

I know a family whose newborn baby got infected by HSV1 (cold sores) by being kissed by a relative. The baby died from it. Newborn babies usually don't have an immune system strong enough to fight HSV1 infections and it can lead to organ failure.

OP, make sure MIL doesn't kiss baby if she has a visible cold sore! It can still spread when a cold sore isn't present, but it does reduce the chances if there isn't one present at the time.

Shouldn't the rule be that no one who has a cold sore should kiss the baby? OP has given no indication that her MIL had a cold sore. One would think this would have been included in the original post, as it would clearly change the reactions.

First poster above, checking back in for the first time since I posted about DS. He's 10 now, and the outbreaks have been very, very infrequent for the last 4 or 5 years, thankfully, and the severity is much less as well. (Thanks, PP, we do use l-lysine.) We have no idea from whom he contracted the virus. Neither DH nor I have ever had cold sores and were always cautious about face kissing. Based on this thread, many people seem to have the mistaken idea that people that look perfectly healthy aren't capable of transmitting germs. I find that pretty surprising, actually.

To the single PP upthread who feels kissing restrictions would inhibit her ability to be close to her nieces and nephews: Really? What a stalwart attitude toward family!

Anonymous wrote:Feet. Back. Safe places to kiss.

Dear OP, we all FTMs have been in your shoes, and felt the way you did. And when we are saying that it is ok for grandparents to kiss the babies, as often as they want...we are saying it with all compassion towards your position.

We have been this irrational too!

No. No we haven't.

honestly, what would bother me more is if she kissed the baby on the mouth (I read that dental problems can arise b/c of bacteria passed on from one mouth to the next when kissing a baby). If kissing is on the cheeks? No big deal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I"m so glad I wasn't such a psycho FTM. Yikes.

+1

I'm glad none of my brothers or sisters were psycho FTPs. I'm a loving and involved auntie who has kissed many a face as well as wiped many a tush and nose, walked with sick kids, I adore my nieces and nephews, have no babies of my own (single) so they mean the world to me: if my siblings had been so exacting and relentless in "protecting" their kids from genuine affection, I would probably not be as close to them as I am now nor would I be as willing to jump in and help out as I am.

OP it's only "common sense" to not kiss a baby's face to that special class of people who waste mental energy thinking about things like why it's common sense people shouldn't kiss a baby on the face. People have been kissing babies on the face since time began - heaven knows how we've survived as a species!

Anonymous wrote:I remember when my DD was being discharged from the NICU, the nurse instructed DH and I not to kiss her on the face. I was pretty offended by that comment and I still kissed her (so long as I wasn't sick) but the truth is, that is how babies get sick.

Babies get sick by any type of contact by an infected person - and it does not have to be on the face. They also can get sick by air-borne viruses that entail no contact.

I'm not concerned... I think OP's exaggerating. I don't believe her protests that she can't possibly be overreacting because she's getting plenty of sleep, baby's sleeping through the night, no hormonal moodiness... riiiiight.