Any parent will tell you that being out and about with a baby is difficult - especially when you’re on your own. So, the chances are, if someone offers to help you in whatever way they can, the chances are you’re going to want to accept it - but would you ever go as far as letting a stranger hold your baby?
A confused mum has sparked an interesting debate on Mumsnet after she was scalded by her friend for letting a kind stranger hold her six-month-old in a local cafe. “I went to a very small countryside cafe this morning with my six-month-old. There were a few people in the queue who were all together in a group - all women over 60 and obviously part of some sort of social/hobby group,” she wrote on the forum.
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“I got talking to one of the ladies in the group and my daughter was smiling away at her. She asked if she could hold my daughter while I ordered and got my purse out of my bag. I accepted and carried on talking to her while I paid etc and then took her back and said goodbye.”
However, when the mum went and sat down at the table with her other mum friend, her pal said there was “no way” she would’ve “allowed” that.
“I was standing right next to the woman the whole time and my judgement of her was that she was just a friendly older lady who wanted to help,” the mum added, asking whether others thought she was unreasonable to allow it.
One Mumsnet user replied: “Sounds perfectly normal! I’ve had people offer to help me by holding a baby many times, and have also offered to help
“For example, I had a stranger’s baby sat on my lap for a chunk of a recent flight so the mum could eat her meal in peace, and someone kindly held my seven-month-old last week while I folded my buggy on a bus.”
“You get to be the boss of your own life. I think it's fine, it's not like you left your baby with her,” another agreed.
A third wrote: “Of course not, surely that’s just a standard, friendly interaction? I would always offer if I saw someone struggling with a baby and juggling other things. Most people in the world are kind, decent people just trying to do the right thing.”
“Your friend sounds paranoid,” a fourth commented. “It's fine, and it was lovely to hear of someone being kind and not a story that they all started moaning about noise or breastfeeding or something.”
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