Why You Should Stop Kissing Your Children on the Lips

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Every parent wants their child to feel loved and appreciated. And although we all have our own ways of expressing our affection towards our child, kissing them is a universal one. You have probably spent a good amount of time dotting over your child since the day they were born and who could blame you? Your child’s rosy cheeks and little frame was made to be pampered and cuddled. Some parents find their children so stinking cute that they even kiss them on the lips. This is not a new trend. Your own parents might have done the same thing. In some cultures kissing someone on the lips isn’t reserved for romantic purposes and is just a general way of showing love. And although this may seem like a harmless idea, kissing your child on the lips may not be the best way to convey parental love. Here are a couple of reasons why you are better off not kissing your child on the mouth.

1. It Can Shift Your Child’s Understanding Of Personal Boundaries

If you’d like your child to understand the concept of boundaries, the sooner you start teaching them the better. The lips and the mouth are personal boundaries of your child’s body and they should learn their limits, even with you. Most parents think that it’s okay to kiss their kids on the mouth because after all, it’s their kids. But they forget that as important as it is to show the kids that they love them, it is equally important to teach them to respect their own boundaries as well as those of other people. When you kiss your child on the lips you show them that their body border is open and that someone can intrude into their territory without it being a problem.

This also includes tight swaddling, aggressive ticking and force-feeding. You need to respect your child in order to teach them how to respect others. Invasive parents often result in having children who don’t know how to say “no” and can’t manage their personal boundaries. Also have you considered that maybe your child doesn’t want to kiss you on the lips?

2. It’s Unsanitary

You may think that it’s perfectly safe to kiss your kids since you brush your teeth twice a day, floss and gargle. What could go wrong? But doctors, especially dentists, warn that there are a huge number of microbes in our mouths that may not infect adults, but can be transmitted to children and harm them greatly (1). Not to mention that your child has a weaker immune system, making them susceptible to any dangerous infections that can enter their body through your saliva. Keep in mind that kissing your kids with cosmetic products on your lips can also be detrimental to their skin. Many children have sensitive skin or are allergic to certain ingredients in cosmetics. So you should keep your lips far away from their mouth while wearing them.

3.你的孩子可能对Th开始亲吻别人e Lips As A Sign Of Sympathy

Your child takes their cues from you. This means that they will start behaving the same way you taught them to at home which isn’t always a good thing. Your child may sometimes be too young to differentiate between behaviors reserved for the family circle and those that must be modified for people outside of this circle. This may include close family friends, peers, friends and acquaintances. So chances are that if you kiss your child on the lips they may do the same to other people or children as a way to express sympathy or affection.

Keep in mind that even if it was an innocent gesture on the part of the parents, children learn things by mimicry. So they might try to repeat the same gesture on someone else without understanding the intimate implication of this gesture. This can be particularly harmful for your child as they will be easier to take advantage of by others. For example, if your child’s nanny leans in to kiss them on the mouth like you do, knowing that you are uncomfortable because they know that your child will reciprocate. This is why it is recommended to kiss your child only on the forehead or their cheeks. Your child does not need you to kiss them on the mouth in order to feel loved.

Kissing your little one on the lips may seem harmless and cute but it can have negative implications that you did not see coming. We hope that this article shed some light on the cons of this behavior. But of course, every family and child/ parent dynamic is unique and you must always do what’s best for your kids. Would you still continue to kiss your kids on the mouth? Let us know in the comments section below!