A stranger kissed my 20-month-old on the lips at the supermarket

"To have a random person put THEIR SALIVA on my child's mouth is incomprehensible to me."

Etiquette around kissing babies is always a contentious topic. 

Between potentially compromising their health and not knowing a parent's boundaries, it's usually safer to err on the side of caution and keep your lips away from those chubby cheeks. 

That's why a young mum was left absolutely gobsmacked when a stranger not only kissed her baby but kissed them on the lips. 

Taking to a popular advice forum, she shared her frustration after the incident. 

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Image: IStock

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"I asked her, 'Did you just kiss him on the mouth?'"

It all started when the stay-at-home mum was making a routine visit to her local supermarket.

She explained, "I was at the food store that I go to regularly. I am a SAHM and so we go regularly for a little outing in the day.

"The lady that sees us often that works at one of the counters asked my 20-month-old son for a 'kissy' and then kissed him on his mouth."

Taken aback, the mum immediately asked her, "Did you just kiss him on the mouth?"

"She said yes and I said, 'No no don't do that' and then she apologised," the mum recalled.

"I know I can be quite a friendly person and maybe she thought it was fine... but it's just so annoying. Like why?!" she concluded her post. 

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"This is the weirdest thing I have ever heard"

The mum's post received a flood of responses, with many expressing shock and disbelief at the stranger's actions.

The top comment summarises the overall sentiment in the comments — "This is the weirdest thing I have ever heard."

"What the actual f**k. I would have lost my mind," admitted someone else. "That's disgusting."

Then another person chimed in, saying, "Yeah I’ve worked with infants and families for 15 years and have never come across someone who kisses other people's infants on the mouth."

Other comments included, "This is completely unacceptable", "I audibly gasped" and "That's a big no-no."

"So much risk of germs and cold sores, etc. Hopefully, she will remember your reaction and think twice next time," a different reader said. 

And many other parents said they would have reacted totally differently to the mum. "I would have slapped the lady and ended up on the news," revealed one. Someone else said, "I would have been arrested for my reaction."

"To have a stranger put THEIR SALIVA on my child's mouth is incomprehensible to me," another concluded. 

"Kissing someone unwillingly is sexual assault," another claimed. 

People then shared their similar experiences

"I was at the store with my 18-month-old, and he was eating a banana. A random lady came by and asked him cutely if she could have a bite. I thought she was joking - and then she bit a piece off his banana and walked away," one person revealed.

Then this dad wrote, "My wife and I were walking through some shops at the beginning of COVID and a lady we got talking to leaned down and mouth-to-mouth kissed my baby. We went tag team WWE on this lady and both completely lost it. It was an absolute scene."

Another wrote, "My granddaughter ended up in ICU at the children's hospital for six months, with encephalitis caused by a kiss from a person with cold sores. She is developmentally delayed because of the brain injury it caused. It’s definitely a serious thing."

"Saw this happen to someone else's baby I know and they got Herpes badly," shared someone else. 

"I could see muscle memory kicking in if she kisses her own infants"

Some others tried to rationalise the woman's strange actions. 

"I could see muscle memory kicking in if she kisses her own infants on the mouth? I've never kissed my own kid like that so I wouldn't know, but for a long time, I instinctively reverted to my first language whenever talking to a toddler, because that's how I addressed my own child," one person suggested. 

Another person wrote, "Maybe it's a cultural thing? Idk. My husband's grandparents kiss all our kids on the mouth. And like, every kid in their care. I wouldn't be surprised if they kissed random's kids too."

Originally published as A stranger kissed my 20-month-old on the lips at the supermarket