Would you let a stranger hold your child?

[Princess Disney Mom]

Inspired by the "seats on a bus" thread, because I was surprised by the "I'd never hand my child to a stranger" response...

In the situation described - elderly woman offers to hold my small child/infant while she sits on a crowded bus - I would *absolutely* take her up on it. And I'd thank her profusely for taking the child off my hands. After all, she's hardly going to run away with my child, nor is she going to molest the child right in front of me. I'd be far more worried about dropping my child, or having the child fall when the bus lurches, than about a stranger on the bus.

After all, no one ever thinks twice about handing their child over to a mall Santa to let him hold on his lap, and he's just as much a stranger as that old lady.

Same here. My child was standing on the monorail and a lady put her on her lap. My child was about 13 at the time and has autism so this was better than her standing and this lady understood as she had an autistic child at her resort. Also the times I have been sitting on a crowded bus with my daughter I have scooted far over to let a child sit or put one on my lap. I cannot get up as I need to be next to my daughter.

Now once at the airport someone wanted to hold the baby . No never!

 

[boldlyreal]

My demons...err darlings are 19, 17, and 15 so it has been a long time since any one has held them on their lap for me. My DD especially was held all the time by everyone to the point she didn't want to walk ever. My mama is a baby magnet all babies coo and gaga at her and her them and moms always seem to let her hold their babies or fawn over them. I understand both sides of this discussion my children really never knew strangers but they never spent much time out of my sight so if someone had asked to hold them I would have been right there. I don't really worry about germs. I work in retail (a flu shot, never touching my face on the sales floor, and washing my hands with soap and water a lot) and I never get sick so, I don't worry about that. They weren't shy, timid, or afraid and they loved Santa.

 

[nannye]

Yes I would and I have. At our local "Animal Kingdom type park" I was on the bus with three little ones. a 3 year old, a 2 year old and a 6 month old. The baby needed a bottle and I couldn't manage to pour the formula into the bottle on a moving bus while holding a baby. Just wouldn't happen. Couldn't get the 3 year old to hold her, nor could I put the baby beside me in the seat, she'd fall over, so I asked a mom who had 2 kids with her around 7-10 yrs of age if she would mind holding my baby for a second. She was ever so happy to do it. I made the bottle and took her right back. Baby was starting to get fussy maybe 10-15 min later. and a woman across the aisle and in front offered to hold the baby and give me a breather for a min. It was great, her kids were older too and I could tell both women were just thrilled to hold a little one again for a few min.

In Aug on the bus back to POP after fireworks at MK Must have been around midnight. I woke V out of a dead sleep to get her onto the bus. (line was moving so slow and no chance of us getting on the next bus so I waited then poof, they were loading 3 busses at once.) I got V on the bus while toting the stroller, back pack, camera etc... and she walked on half asleep and wandering I tried to stow the stroller quick in the little alcove on the bus and a woman sitting stopped V from going up to the next section, V turned around and just climbed right onto her lap and fell back asleep. I left her for a few min until the bus filled and then i took her back. The woman was like are you sure? Sweet lady. someone else gave up their seat so I could sit with her and the man beside me lifted up her legs onto his lap so she could lay down.

Again i echo what others have said. they aren't going to run off with them lol.

Although that said if a stranger approached me randomly in the grocery store and not in a situation where I was needing help and asked to hold my baby, I'm not really sure what I would do. Part of me is a sure, as I do believe in exposing children to different types of people to help prevent them from never being comfortable around strangers.

 

[nannye]

Ok, this is kind of off topic but the post reminded me of something....

I was in the Houston airport eating. A woman and her two small children sat at the table next to me. We struck up a conversation and I mentioned I was on break from working as a live-in nanny.

She then asked me if I would watch her kids while she went to the restroom and did some shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was so shocked I said ok because I didn't want her to ask someone else and risk the children being kidnapped or something awful!

Who leaves their kids with a perfect stranger in an airport?!?!?!

I would let a person on a Disney bus hold my kid....I'm right there watching, and there won't be many stops.

But to leave them out of your sight with a stranger...in an airport?!?!?!

Wohoo Nanny! lol
Just have to say this because I am a Live-out

 

[SwirlyGirly]

I once flew on an 11 hour international flight with my newborn and my 3.5 year old. (Stands back and shields herself from the flames of choosing to procreate and choosing to irresponsibly fly in a plane w/ other human beings while being in the possession of two small kids). And my newborn who had never, ever cried for more than a minute or two, was so fussy. I couldn't get her comfortable. And of course my 3 year old had to go to the potty at a time when I just couldn't put my newborn down.
And lo and behold, someone offered to take my baby while I helped my 3yo. She didn't have to do it. She wanted to. And heck, I had no other choice and really, what was she going to do on a crowded plane? In fact when I got out of the bathroom w/ the 6yo, the baby was comfortably resting and NOT fussing on this woman's impressive expanse of "front porch." She even asked if she could hold her longer seeing that the baby was about to sleep.
To this day, 6 years later, I'm still grateful and I still think of this woman.

 

[SwirlyGirly]

We travel a lot to the arab world, and they do the same thing. Even in Europe, Arab men will ask to have their picture taken with our daughters, especially our blonde one. We travel a lot so we're used to it now, but it freaked me out at first.

Sure. We traveled to Japan when my DD was 12 months old and people kept on asking to hold her and get pictures taken with her. We had no problem allowing them to hold her.

 

[Babbletrish]

IMO, a bus is a bus is a bus, and I wouldn't hand my kid to a stranger on the T so...

Though this does remind me of a thread we had a few months ago where we told stories of the strangest encounters we'd had with other people in WDW and there was a deeply unsettling trend of small children being handed off to completely random people. I'll see if I can dig up the link.

EDIT: That took surprisingly little time.

 

[cbg1027]

They did? Why?

People in Japan are intrigued by Caucasians. Same way we go to Disney and want a photo with Mickey Mouse, some Japanese people want a photo with an American. It's exotic and different. The Japanese are also a culture that LOVES to have foreign visitors.

 

[Magpie]

I once flew on an 11 hour international flight with my newborn and my 3.5 year old. (Stands back and shields herself from the flames of choosing to procreate and choosing to irresponsibly fly in a plane w/ other human beings while being in the possession of two small kids). And my newborn who had never, ever cried for more than a minute or two, was so fussy. I couldn't get her comfortable. And of course my 3 year old had to go to the potty at a time when I just couldn't put my newborn down.
And lo and behold, someone offered to take my baby while I helped my 3yo. She didn't have to do it. She wanted to. And heck, I had no other choice and really, what was she going to do on a crowded plane? In fact when I got out of the bathroom w/ the 6yo, the baby was comfortably resting and NOT fussing on this woman's impressive expanse of "front porch." She even asked if she could hold her longer seeing that the baby was about to sleep.
To this day, 6 years later, I'm still grateful and I still think of this woman.

Your comment about her "front porch" made me laugh. My mother-in-law is awesome with babies, and I swear they just love the fact that she's well-cushioned. I remember handing her my newborn son for the first time. She laid him on her chest and he got this look of utter bliss on his face and went right to sleep!

 

[luvmy2babies]

I voted yes if an old lady offered only because that is what happened to us. It wasn't at Disney World, but we went to a sporting event at my alma mater when my daugher was just under 4 years old. I specifically asked before boarding if there were seats because there were a lot of turns and I wasn't sure I could hold on to her. This wasn't like the Disney buses where I'd have something to hold to keep me still and could hold her with the other hand. I guess he interpreted my question as me asking if there was room not seats because we ended up standing and so did several people who got on before us. A lady sitting right next to where I was standing offered to hold her and I happily gave her to her. The one time we stood on our Disney trip, dd was 7 so no need for anyone to hold her and ds was in my Ergo and attached to me. I think he'll be strapped to me on the bus until he gets to the weight limit of the thing.

 

[dhcoffey]

I've done it on a Disney bus. When my now 18yo DD was about 2, we were on a packed bus and my husband and I were standing trying to keep the 2yo from falling. A very nice younger woman with a teen daughter was seated next to us and she offered to hold my DD. I said sure and they all had a good time listening to my southern DD talking about her day in Disney. They were from Brazil. It was a good ride back to the hotel.

Heather

 

[santadog]

no, but only because my daughter has trust issues (particularly when it comes to women). Her mom walked out on us when dd was one and kind of drifted in and out until the kid was 4.
When she was taking swimming classes, she wouldn't let go of the side if she was with the female teacher, so but if the male teacher was there she would.

I can only imagine the melt down I would have faced if, after a long day at Disney the only parent she had pawned her off on a stranger. It wouldn't have been relaxing for any of us.

 

[Tramp68]

I was standing at the end of Main St. watching wishes one evening and heard a small girl (about 6) crying quietly about not being able to see anything. Mom picked up the girl and was visibly struggling to hold her at her head height. She was able to hold her for a minute or 2 and then had to put her down. There were tears in mom's eyes as she said "I just can't hold you up any more, I am sorry"

I offered to hold her daughter so she could see. She was reluctant, but asked her daughter and she said please. I held her at my head height (not on my shoulds as to obstruct others view) until my right arm was numb, but I managed the whole fireworks show for her. The girl gave me a hug after and said thank you with a tear in her eye. Mom and Granma both thanked my and told me what a wonderful person I was.

It was the best I have ever felt in Disney.

 

[boldlyreal]

It was the best I have ever felt in Disney.

I love when I have those moments!

 

[nessz79]

I said only in a serious situation, but that's because my children were super attached to me and probably wouldn't have liked it one bit. If I had more outgoing children, I would have had no problem if there was a "good vibe" from that person.

 

[SwirlyGirly]

That's awesome! Thank you so much for caring for your fellow human beings and doing something straight from the heart to make someone's day better for no reason other than you being a good person. We need more like you in the world!

I was standing at the end of Main St. watching wishes one evening and heard a small girl (about 6) crying quietly about not being able to see anything. Mom picked up the girl and was visibly struggling to hold her at her head height. She was able to hold her for a minute or 2 and then had to put her down. There were tears in mom's eyes as she said "I just can't hold you up any more, I am sorry"

I offered to hold her daughter so she could see. She was reluctant, but asked her daughter and she said please. I held her at my head height (not on my shoulds as to obstruct others view) until my right arm was numb, but I managed the whole fireworks show for her. The girl gave me a hug after and said thank you with a tear in her eye. Mom and Granma both thanked my and told me what a wonderful person I was.

It was the best I have ever felt in Disney.