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I was reading Kimini's Live Journal, and she was talking about how she doesn't like it when people all want to hold her baby, and especially when the hand that baby back and say "I'm sick, I really shouldn't have held your baby."

I was laughing because she reminded me so much of me. When my daughter was first born her doctor told me not to take her out for the first six weeks. Not the grocery store, not to church... So I didn't. The pediatrician also told me to make sure that people washed their hands before holding the baby. So I asked that as well. Most people respected the wishes of a brand new first time mommy, but I have an aunt who took offense at my request. She didn't hold the baby, and never asked again after that. On the other hand I had a woman at church ask to hold the baby during one of the meetings, and she got up and washed her hands. She was happy to do that small thing to be able to hold the baby.
I had someone tell me that you do what you have to do to raise your child to the best of your abilities and as you see fit. Your first responsibility is to your baby (child) and not to those whom you might offend by asking to do a simple thing like wash hands before holding the baby.

I also had a friend who said that with her children at the arrival of the new baby they would put a sign up on the door. I don't remember it exactly, but it would say something along the lines of:

We know you're excited about the arrival of our new baby, but if you're sick please come to visit the baby at a later time.

If you do come in pay attention to the older children as well.

If you're going to hold the baby you'll need to wash your hands first.

She said that something as simple as a sign up on her door helped a lot.

About the time that my daughter started crawling around on the floor I loosed up about people holing her, I still asked for washed hands, but I wasn't quite as protective. I figured no matter how clean my floors were, they were still floors *laughs*

I couldnt believe people actually hand the baby back and say that!! I would be so pissed!!!! I havent ever demanded people wash their hands but people havent been real needy about wanting to hold her, except family and I trust them. ^^
And my floors arent always s**c and span so I figure she's getting more germs from there than anything! xd

I'm here to be the yang in the yin of your cleanliness. While I don't want my daughter to get sick, I have also heard that raising children in an overly sterile environment actually contributes to a weaker immune system and an increased chance of allergies. Babies' bodies are learnign to recognize all the bad stuff out there and develop defenses to them. While I am not advocating exposing children to horrible diseases, I just thought I'd pass this on (and spoil everybody else's fun in the process - just kidding)

Thanks Gwyn, I was going to mention that while I too have heard the theory SK posted, I certainly don't hold to it. ESPECIALLY with new borns! Children will pick up enough things on their own. No need to expose them to "extras."

im in the middle kids do need t eat a little dirt now and again. but you cant steralize evrything so do the best you can and youll be doing fine. I carry antibacterial wet wipes all the time if theres anything that might go in his mouth it gets wiped down first. And we try to avoid sick peopl..what i get irritated is t the play area next door ill go with sean and parents will have thier kids with snot running down thier nose wiping them selves on evrything and the always want to come touch and play with sean. ANd im like hello parents your kids are sick , you have them here why? It really annoys me and i end up leaving becaue im trying to keep sean healthy.

I didn't have many people kissing her... I seemed to just LOOK like an over protective mother or something... not to mention that with strangers especially I had no qualms about saying no you can't hold or touch my baby! *growls*

For those times when people did manage to kiss her all over, especially when they were wearing lipstick, I just resigned myself to the fact that I was giving her a bath that night. *sigh*

We're working on getting our daughter to do kisses on the cheek, right now Mommy and Daddy still get kisses on the mouth, but I think for the most part when she does kisses for other people she's going for the cheek. I've been really glad that my father-in-law's been doing that with her--he won't let her give him a kiss unless it's on the cheek.
She likes to "kiss be'er" (kiss better) owies, and right now she's going through a faze where she kisses pretty much anywhere she can reach. I've had to tell her a couple of times that she doesn't kiss Mommy on the boobs... redface
She also really likes to do "meow kisses." Her stuffed cats (and boy does she have a collection!) give and get kisses. It's kinda cute.

that's just gross... her mouth has more germs than the floor does! Did you know that people mouths are dirtier than dogs?! (thanx to mythbusters for the little tid bit of info) I'm in the middle too i guess... I don't want to over sterelize everything and I'm going to try not to be so uptight about it, but I do plan on protecting my baby from what I can.

@ krimsonnox - I hope you don't mean those chlorox wet wipes... they say if the surface they're used on is going to come in contact with food that you should rinse the area with water afterwards. I've been using them for a pretty long time in my kitchen and I just stopped to read the back of the container the other day and I was a little surprised by that. So I won't be using them to wipe down our future baby's toys or anything like that. I did however see a commercial today for a new chlorox disinfecting product that is a spray... Anywhere Hard Surfaces is what it's called I think... but they say its safe to use on surfaces that come in contact with food and safe to use around kids... they showed the woman spraying it on the high chair tray while the baby was in the chair and his older brother and dog were standing there. That was the first time I'd heard of it though.

Like I said, i don't have kids yet, but i pulled down all my old baby toys out of my parents' attic and took out the ones I thought were in salvagable condition (mostly well made fisher price toys of course!) and I gave them all a good boil and wipe down before putting them away in my bed room (out of the TX attic heat) Now they're all ready to go! xd

My issue with touching currently is with other children. Whenever little kids see my baby they rush over to see and get right up in her face (or so it feels). My doctor has recommended keeping infants out of daycare through the cold and flu season. But I'm not sure if that means that it's okay or not to have her around her 9 little cousins (ages 4 and up) around her, since that situation sounds similar to the exposure she would have at a daycare.

What's a good way to keep older kids a bit further back from my baby while not offending them or their parents? And how do I deal with her little cousins when it comes to what they can and can't do?