KASHMIR NEWS OBSERVER
Sometimes parents feel that they are overprotective when it comes to a newborn baby. Especially they want to protect the baby from feeling pain.
So we are often mad when our friend says “Oh just warning you — little Jimmy has a bit of a cold. Nothing major though so we can still come and visit you and bubs today.”
Or when you go to the park with your healthy child and newborn in the stroller and the mother of the play date says that her child is coughing and has a runny nose.
Or the guests that you have invited to dinner say that their children wouldn’t eat anything as they had stomach flu all week.
No, no and no.
So, parents if your children are ill, stay at home. Don’t take them to kindergarten; don’t take them to the park. Even more don’t let them kiss and cuddle other healthy children. In this way you will prevent the germs from spreading as no one wants to work from home all week while the children are sick, vomiting all over the house. And there is a great chance that the parents will get ill as well so they will need to spend their weekend lying in bed. You may find this exaggerated as well as the mums who take their children to the doctor often because the germs are everywhere especially in flu season.
But after hearing this horror story which happened to the UK mum Claire Henderson, you may change your mind. Her newborn daughter Brooke was kissed on the mouth and after that kiss she spent five days in hospital. Her daughter got the herpes virus on her lips, cheeks and chin.
She was really lucky because cold sore virus can be lethal in babies under 3 months. This was the case with Mackay baby Eloise Lampton from Queensland who died because of this virus, just a couple of days after she was born.
“The moral of the story is DO NOT let anyone kiss your newborn’s mouth, even if they don’t look like they have a cold sore,” wrote Claire Henderson on social media.
“And if someone had a cold sore, ask them to stay away until it is gone.”
There is no excuse for it.
You need to be aware that a newborn baby is not immune to most of the germs that are carried around by the adults. It may seem harmless if you have runny nose or minor sore on your top lip. But to that baby and the family, it could be very important.
We need to respect the child’s right to be healthy.
Don’t be angry if some friends ask you to wait until their baby is six weeks old before you go to visit them. They are honest as they don’t want to deal with consequences which can appear after you visit them.
So, don’t judge the parents who are overprotective and wrap their babies in cotton wool as sometimes that is the right way to protect their child.
Parents should give their babies the best chance at life, that is actually their responsibility and no one should criticize them for this overprotecting attitude.
That is why it is strictly forbidden to kiss a newborn baby, especially on lips. Do not allow sick children around your newborn and the last thing you need to worry is being polite when your children lives are at risk.