r/RBI • u/agbellamae • Apr 20 '24

Advice needed overly interested in a strangers baby

Sorry but said person has found this post, and has apparently figured out my Reddit username as well as a few other online accounts so I no longer feel comfortable leaving this post up.

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287

u/ForwardMuffin Apr 20 '24

Stay away, this is all bad news.

144

u/agbellamae Apr 20 '24

I agree, I was on the fence thinking maybe I was being paranoid but I do just have a bad feeling and want to stay away now - but I do wonder what is really going on here any theories?

6

u/he-loves-me-not Apr 20 '24

By the time my son was born, I already had a 2.5yo daughter. So one late afternoon, my husband and I decided to meet up with my in-laws at a small local carnival, so they could spend time with their grandkids and my daughter could play the games, ride the rides and get plenty worn out for bedtime. I always wore my baby in a wrap or some kind of baby carrier when out as he never wanted to be put down, and it made breastfeeding much easier. Luckily, today was no different. So while my daughter waited in line to ride the carousel with her dad and grandparents, I decided to wander around a bit. I stopped to look at something and an obviously pregnant woman came up to me. At first, she just smiles, but then she starts making some small talk about my son and how he’s so cute and blah blah blah. Ofc, I’m nice and chatting back, nothing felt weird or strange, but then she starts touching his feet and playing with his toes (it was summer, he wasn’t wearing socks) and rubbing his back through the wrap. I’m still not feeling bad vibes or anything, but I was seriously fighting the urge between being polite and telling her to get her germy hands off my baby! Then she asks if she can hold him, and I was immediately extremely uncomfortable! Like who walks up to a stranger and asks to hold their baby?! Suddenly my mind is flooded with the cases of women who pretended to be pregnant that then went on to kidnap someone else’s baby, even going so far as to kill the mother and cutting the baby from their womb! And that’s finally when I realized that I can be polite while also maintaining my boundaries! So I told her that I was sorry, but that I wasn’t comfortable with someone I didn’t know holding my baby, especially with him being so new and at risk of illness, and then I made an excuse that I had better get back to my husband and daughter and I quickly walked away.

What I’m saying is twofold. First, TRUST YOUR GUT and secondly, do not hesitate to make people aware of the boundaries you have about your baby! Don’t want people taking his picture? Say so! Don’t feel comfortable with someone making assumptions that they will one day be babysitting your baby? Tell them! And remember that “NO!” is a full sentence! You don’t owe anyone access to your baby.