My mum insulted me for refusing to let her kiss my newborn son – but I have a perfectly good reason why
- Mum asked grandmother not to kiss her newborn son
- The grandmother has oral herpes which can be dangerous to infants
A woman copped backlash from her own mother after telling her she can’t kiss her newborn baby.
The mum and her partner welcomed a baby boy into the world and couldn’t wait to introduce him to the family.
However, she set a few rules in place beforehand particularly aimed at her mother who often gets cold sores, which can be dangerous towards infants.
‘I recently told my mum who has oral herpes that I would like her not to be kissing my newborn sons face,’ the mum wrote on Reddit under the username Sabrina7223.
‘I have read that it can cause serious complications for newborns and read stories where newborns have died or had life threatening complications.’
The grandmother hit back by calling her daughter a ‘b***h’ and took a step further by comparing her choice to an ‘anti-vaxxer’.
A woman and her partner welcomed a baby boy into the world. However, she set a few rules in place before introducing him to the family – including telling her mum she can’t kiss him since she has oral herpes (stock image)
The grandmother claimed she ‘knows what she’s doing’ as she raised five children without passing on the infection and wouldn’t kiss the baby if she had an open lesion or felt one developing.
However, the mum remained concerned.
‘My issue however is that I don’t want her to be kissing him at all because I’ve also read it can be spread without any active symptoms at the time,’ she continued.
‘After telling her that she’s now ignoring me and telling me that I’m being a b***h.’
She claimed her mother tried to ‘guilt trip’ her and also compared her an ‘anti-vaxxer’.
Why you shouldn’t kiss a baby if you have a cold sore:
The herpes simplex virus can be passed to a baby through a cold sore if a person has a cold sore and kisses the baby.
Cold sores start as small blisters that form around the lips and mouth.
The herpes virus can also be spread to your baby if you have a blister caused by herpes on your breast and you feed your baby with the affected breast or expressed breast milk from the affected breast.
A baby is most at risk of getting a herpes infection in the first 4 weeks after birth.
You should not kiss a baby if you have a cold sore to reduce the risk of spreading infection.
Cold sores and other blisters caused by the herpes virus are at their most contagious when they burst. They remain contagious until completely healed.
HSV is especially dangerous to babies under 6 months of age. Parents or relatives with cold sores should be especially careful not to kiss babies – their immune systems are not well developed until after about 6 months old.
Signs that a baby may have been infected with HSV include low grade fever and one or more small skin blisters.
These symptoms can occur 2 to 12 days after HSV exposure. If these occur or if you have any concerns, call your pediatrician.
Sources: NHS and healthychildren.org
The grandmother is also a smoker and has been asked ‘not to smoke her cigarettes’ then touch the baby after.
The mum continued: ‘She said that she raised me and my siblings just fine and that I’m being stupid about that as well.’
‘I’m really upset because we spent a lot of money getting her over to the country for the birth of my newborn and her first grandchild.
‘Now I feel like she should have just stayed in her country and left me to figure this out on my own if she’s going to act this way.’
More than 1,200 ‘liked’ the Reddit post and hundreds commented on the situation, with many pointing out how detrimental cold sores can be for newborns.
‘As someone who also gets oral herpes, I would not be offended. Actually I get this because my grandma kissed me as a baby when she didn’t have an outbreak,’ one wrote.
‘Your job is to keep your baby safe. If she can’t follow your rules, then she doesn’t get to be around the child,’ another said.
‘It’s like the poison cupcake analogy: there’s 100 cupcakes and your child wants one. You know one of them is poisoned and could kill them. Would you still let your child eat one? No. You wouldn’t,’ a third added.
Another woman recounted an incident her step daughter ended up in hospital for four months from an innocent kiss from her grandmother.
‘We took her to the ER because she was also lethargic. Little did we know, that cute little kiss, would mean four months in Children’s hospital in intensive care fighting for her life with encephalitis. She did live. But she has brain injuries now,’ the woman said.
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