Wash your hands before holding the baby

I have done that before. My last two children were born premature so I was concerned about people handling them. I would ask if they could wash their hands before handling them just to be on the safe side. I will wash my hands before I ever pick up someone elses baby. My kids are older now so they are in school which means they come into contact with everything. So I just make it apractice to wash my hands now.

I have heard of people who do this, and I think it's ridiculous. Obviously if the person has been smoking or handling raw chicken or something like that, sure, but, on a regular basis, I think is going overboard. It's things like this why anti-biotics are not working anymore, because we're not giving our bodies a change to deal with bacteria naturally. We all have millions of bacteria on our skin, and it's natural, and to try to kill them all is silly.

That is a good thing to do. Washing your hands is very important, and you do not always want your child catching something that could make them sick. I make sure that I have clean hands before handling a baby. Imagine if my hands are germy and that baby catches. I am going to feel real bad for having not washed my hands.

I don't know anyone that has done this nor have I been asked to wash my hands before holding newborns. Sounds like very overy protective parents LOL

I have had children go wash their hands if they wanted to hold the baby, but not adults. I guess I assume that an adult will know whether they have been doing something that they need to wash before they hold the baby. A first time parents is usually more concerned with bacteria and things being sterile than someone who has a couple of kids. I've always said that you can tell how many kids a parents has by how they handle it when the baby drops the pacifier - a first time parent will pick it up and take it to the kitchen to sterilize before putting back in the babies mouth, or will have a spare sterilized pacifier in a sterilized baggie in the diaper bag. If it's a second child, they will pick up the pacifier and wash it off under running tap water. If it's a third child, they will pick it up and brush off any loose particles that might have stuck to it and put it back in the babies mouth! The best one I have seen was at a Home Depot store - Mom and Dad were loading some building supplies into their vehicle under the loading canopy. The baby was in the stroller off to the side in a safe place and where it was dry as it was raining. The baby dropped his pacifier and started fussing. Dad picked up the pacifier and saw that it had some dirt on it, looked bewildered as to what to do, and then stuck the pacifier under the water coming out of the downspout on the side of the building to wash it off and then put it back in the child's mouth. I have never heard of people putting it into their own mouths when the baby isn't sucking on it!

i just recently had a baby and i would make sure anyone who held him washed their hands, because a baby, especially a newborn baby can get sick or break out into hives or a rash in the blink of an eye. thats why you have to make sure your hands are clean before you touch them.

I was one of those people with my first baby. I always made sure my family washed up when they came to visit. In my defense though, they worked at a dog kennel handling all sorts of gross stuff through out the day. I wasn't as neurotic with my second and third children. I think it's just that first baby that freaks out new parents.

Is it their first baby? Some first time moms get a little crazy about germs and stuff like that with their first child. by the second or third child they will be more relaxed about germs and dirt and stuff like that. I've never known anyone quite that worried about it but i've heard of people being like that before.

It sounds like the new parents are being very cautious with their baby. I usually do just wash my hands before holding a baby regardless. I run a daycare and there are so many germs around that it is best to wash before handling a new born.

When my son was a baby, I asked people who smoked to wash their hands, and I did not feel bad about it. Smoke is foul and disgusting and I did not want people with smelly smoke hands touching him. Other than that, I didn't. Most people were considerate enough to wash if they felt they needed to or to keep a distance if they were sick. I have been asked, and it doesn't bother me. In fact, I usually just go ahead and wash before picking up someone's baby.

My son just turned a year old and I still wash my hands before picking him up. The parents putting the pacifier in their mouths, then the babies doesn't have anything to do with you washing your hands. Look at it like this...they live together. I'm sure those parents are kissing that baby constantly, handling it constantly, and sharing germs every time. YOUR germs are different and, no offense, they don't know where you've been. How many people have heard the statistics on people NOT washing their hands after using the restroom? How do the parents know if you just finished picking your underwear out of your butt or not? Hand washing is no big deal and I don't see it as going overboard. Not with as disgusting as humans can be. It's common courtesy. Think about it, really. You're driving in your car, you sneeze before you can get to a tissue. Germs hit the steering wheel. Next day, you drive over to see the baby. Those steering wheel germs are now on your hands. Do you want to pass those along to a new baby? Be glad they didn't hold the baby up for you to see from behind glass, where you couldn't have any kind of contact what so ever. Or make you put on a smock to cover your clothes. I'm not fanatical about germs. My kid plays with dogs, goes outside with me to take care of the horses, has a cat that sleeps on his bed, and I'm not one to sanitize. I believe a kid should be exposed to germs so they can build a good immune system, but within reason. Handling a baby without washing your hands first is just bad manners. That's the only thing I'm strict about.

Personally unless im ill i dont wash my hands before holding a baby!! A few germs wont hurt if youre generally clean anyway!

i have heard of this, though no-one has ever asked me to wash my hand, and i've never asked friends or family to wash their hands either. That said, strangers around my kids always freaked me out. For instance, i'd go to the grocery and well meaning people would come up to oooohh and aaaahhh at my babies. Then they would stroke the baby's face or arm and i'd literally get nauseous. i don't know where these people have been... as soon as they would get out of sight i'd scrub my baby down with a wipe. Ewww. Where do strangers get the idea it is ok to touch someone else's kid? i'd never tell someone that i knew well enough to invite into my home to scrub up, though...that's rude.

I have heard of it but not encountered it nor requested people to wash their hands before touching my kids, lol. I assume this is their first. Some people go overboard with the protection of their little ones. My husband was very protective, too, of our first, but never to this extend, lol. Then you learn that they will pick up the germs no matter what, somewhere. And that protecting them from all the germs is actually not so good as little exposure here and there boosts their immune system which will have it easier once the cold and flu season rolls around. Just chalk it up as parents being paranoid. Once that little one can walk, they'll losen up...hopefully;)

When my children were born, my husband was certain to carry the Germ-X everywhere. We washed our own hands before touching our own children. Babies are very prone to disease and sickness. Germs are something we did not take lightly and still do not. When we go for a visit with newborns, I always wash my hands before being asked and also put a sheet or blanket over and part of me that the baby may be exposed. I am afraid that my lotion, perfume, or laundry detergent may irritate them. Also, when we were shopping for a new puppy recently, the owners all had hand sanitizer ready for anyone that wanted to hold the puppies.

I never done this with my two sons but I did it with my daughter.She was born 8 weeks premature and had to remain in the hospital for 1 month.She only weighed 3 pounds when she was born and so we had to be very careful with her.I made everyone wash their hands before holding her until she was at lease 5 months.I wasnt taking any chances with her having to go back in the hospital.Was this baby small when he was born?Was he a full term baby?Maybe they are just being cautious like I was.

Maybe if the baby was a newborn then I would wash my hands,but often when you are just about to hold a baby for the first time,its an impromtu job,and lol the baby is sort of thrust into your arms for a cuddle,this can be a little alarming for some ,the tiny baby being like a little china dolly in their arms!but on the whole I would not see it as totally essential,unless id been in the garden !

Speaking from a mother's point of view, I had a bit of OCD where cleanliness was concerned since my baby got home and I would clean and clean and wash my hands all the time merely because I wanted to avoid the avoidable germs. This has only stopped recently when my baby is a toddler and going to school. I still clean but not as much.. I never asked people to wash their hands but I wasn't entirely comfortable with people handling my baby without washing their hands especially if they were from out of the house and didn't know where they'd been.. I would ask my partner to wash his hands though if he'd come home from work and hadn't done so I can understand the other mother's point of view and if you want to hold her baby, it's her baby so what she says goes

When my niece was born, and we went to see her in the hospital, we were told to wash our hands before holding her, which made sense. I seem to remember we were asked to do that even for the first few months. I think it is just to be on the safe side as the baby has had no immunizations and is still too little to fight off infections easily. Since she's been in daycare the last few months, chewing on toys that other kids have drooled on, those rules seem to have gone out the window. lol

I myself practically wash my hands when it's dirty and I want to hold a baby especially newborn because they are vulnerable.And I make sure when I want to hold someones baby when they are close to me.I don't hold strangers baby because I don't want to hear comments like that.