Talking to other people's babies - wrong?

[Gabes_mommy]

Today while my son was at his grandparents house I was taking advantage of some free time and running errands.

I was in line at the toy store behind another mother with a baby in a stroller. The baby was staring at me and smiling so after about a minute of him grinning at me I said "hi" to him and waved. I also said to the mother that I also had a boy but he was 2.

The mom got so upset with me! She informed me that her son hates strangers and sure enough as she was fussing at me the baby started crying. I apologized. Then she moves and repositions herself so I couldn't see the baby at all. Um, ok....

When she was paying I noticed that the baby was smiling at me again.

When I left I was just so surprised. It was so awkward - I never meant to upset this woman or her baby - I was just trying to be friendly. When my son was a little guy people would ohh and ahh over him all the time and I never minded. People still talk to him all the time and I don't mind.

Maybe it's normal to be upset at someone talking to your baby? It has just never happened to me before. I don't usually go out of my way to talk to babies though - I only spoke to this one since he was smiling at me.

 

[brittsmum1998]

As far as I'm concerned you could talk to my baby anytime. I can see that child having problems as he gets older thanks to his mom.

I taught my dd not to talk to strangers either but with me it was ok. I certainly wouldn't start yelling at someone while waiting in line.

 

[tasha99]

It's not normal the way she got upset. I could see if you were touching the baby, but smiling and saying hi is what everyone does.

 

[JessicaR]

Oh brother! Some people are plain NUTS.
I ohh and ahh at babies.

 

[AKL_Megs]

I've had experiences like that before, and I don't understand it! I chalk it up to insecure mothers who want their child to smile, laugh, respond to HER and HER only.

 

[ozarkmom]

Good grief! What is wrong with people these days? I do this all the time. I'll be standing in line and if a baby smiles I smile and wave back. I'm not going to snatch your kid out of your arms in line at Wal-Mart!!!!

 

[Tasha+Scott]

That was definitely a strange reaction. The only time I have gotten upset with strangers is when they have actually started touching my kids or, as in one instance, tried to take my child's pacifier out of her mouth. To me, there are boundaries but simply talking to a baby is not one of them. I talk to strangers' babies too if I see them looking/smiling at me. It doesn't upset me when strangers talk to my kids either.

It sounds like the mom shouldn't take her baby out of the house at all if she can't deal with it because I can promise her that you won't be the last one to say hi to her precious little one.

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought his was strange.

Like I said, I was just so shocked. What did she think I was going to do? I was there buying toys and clothes for my own child.

I felt really bad about the whole thing. I hate upsetting people, but I am struggling to see how I did anything wrong.

 

[Orangeandwild]

I always say hi to babies who are smiling at me or waving at me and normally the mother just smiles. I had no issue with people sayng hi to my kids I am right there and they are just responding to a cute baby is all. Some people need lives that lady is too over the top for me

 

[Stitchfans]

Yes I agree that was strange. I also ooohh and aaahhh at babies. Can't help myself, especially if they smile at me.

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

I always smile and coo at every baby I see, without touching them of course. What Mom doesn't want everyone to fuss over their baby and say how cute they are?

 

[binny]

She was way off base.

I wave and smile at babies and if a mum looked at me a little weird I would probably say " Oh I miss that age! Mine all seem so big now!" or something like that.
I saw a little toddler the other night that had these gorgeous huge brown eyes. He was just one of those "lady killers" you know? He was smiling and playing peek a boo with me in line. It was so cute, the mum just laughed and said "oh you found ANOTHER friend Blake? You're such a flirt" LOL

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, once the child is old enough to talk (and so, presumed to have been advised not to talk to strangers), I will ASK the parent if it's okay to talk to their child - because we're going to have some type of conversation. But a baby? The mom overreacted.

 

[mjkacmom]

She sounds like a wacko, but dd6 would cry if anyone even looked at her when she was a baby, and since she was a twin, people would always approach them. However, I just politely told people that she was over-sensitive, and to just talk to her twin brother.

 

[horseshowmom]

You didn't do anything wrong. The child didn't get upset until the mother did. It wasn't that he was afraid of you (the stranger), he was upset by his mother's over reaction.

Many years ago, my cousin's little girl (she's long since grown and has children of her own now) got her fingers caught in an old mousetrap at my grandmother's house. She walked over to her mother (my cousin) and showed her (she wasn't in the least bit upset). My cousin went nuts and started screaming. Of course, the child immediately became hysterical (I'm sure she thought she must be close to death based on how her mother was reacting...).

 

[disneyhand]

Sounds like the baby's dislike of stranger's is due to the mom's reaction!!! Since the baby was comfortable enough to smile at you and didn't flip out when you smiled back and said hi, I think mom is the problem. After all it's not the same as going to or being touched by a stranger, jeez louise! That mom needs to chill out before she makes the baby kookie too!

 

[Mufasa&Simba]

That mother was crazy and out of line! There's nothing wrong with just smiling and simply saying Hi to a baby. The babies love that!

Just last week I was at Target with my mom. When we were walking in right by the dollar section we saw a sweet little baby boy, probably about a year old, sitting in the cart, with his dad. My mom just looked at the baby and smiled and said "Hi!" and just some random baby talk. The boy just sweetly looked at her, but the dad, although never said anything- you could tell he was embarrassed or didn't like it! My mom then just walked away and I said to her "I don't think that guy liked you talking to his baby!"

 

[DebIreland]

That woman completely over-reacted. I always loved when people would smile or chat to my children. My 5yo still gets a lot of smiles and comments when we're out and about and I think it's lovely.

You did nothing wrong.

When I was around 17 I went to the beach with my mother and aunt and we happened to be sitting behind a woman with twins - around 1 or 2 years old - I smiled and waved at the twins and they were giggling and waving back. When the mother saw me, she looked visibly shook and moved away. Now I swear I did not look like a freak. Well I had short spikey-ish hair (lol!) but, other than that, I was a regular teenager. I was mortified and also very offended and did wonder for a while afterwards if maybe I had a serial killer look about me.

 

[ICF]

the mom was nutty.....

she'll be a blast when her kid starts school.

 

[disykat]

I wonder if that mom's still going to be using the "my baby hates strangers" line when her baby starts saying "hi! hi! hi!' to everyone she sees.