The American actress and model Olivia Wilde, 33, is the mother of two children, Otis, 3, and Daisy, who will soon be her first year of life. As many celebrities do, the actress shares her day-to-day social networks, and as a mother she is, she also shares photos of moments with her children. This was done a few days ago by posting on your Instagram account the picture of a daily scene kissing his son's lips while bathing him.
As has happened to other celebrities such as Jessica Alba, Hilary Duff and Jennifer Lopez and David Beckham when she published a photo kissing her five-year-old daughter, the criticism of those who do not see fit for a mother to kiss her mouth began to rain your son.
Is there any risk?
Kissing is a show of love for the children, something we love to do to parents and, in fact, we should do more. But while giving them kisses on the cheeks, the neck or the forehead is well seen, giving them little bites in the mouth generates reactions of all kinds.
Many people find it disturbing that fathers and mothers kiss their children in the mouth, but beyond what they may think (which many do not care), one of the concerns that surrounds parents is whether it could be dangerous Kiss the children in the mouth.
If we talk about newborn babies, premature babies, or immunologically weakened children, kissing them in the mouth is not convenient, because of the risk of contagion of a virus or disease. But in healthy children, it is likely spread more germs by shaking hands or with a sneeze than kissing on the lips.
Finding hope in this.
Caries risk
On the other hand, yes could increase the risk of tooth decay. According to the Spanish Society of Pediatric Dentistry, we should not kiss our children on the lips because we have a higher risk of caries.
"It does not have to do that adults have cavities or not, simply the exchange of saliva can transfer these germs to the child's mouth. Therefore, the main recommendation is to dispense with kisses in the mouth, however endearing they may seem," recommend.
"Kiss your son like your partner"
From the psychological point of view, there are those who think that parents should think twice before kissing children in the mouth because it can confuse the child.
One of the criticisms that Olivia Wilde received was precisely that "kissing your son as your husband is not good for him", as if the child could not later distinguish a "romantic kiss from the one that is not." Nobody sees badly that the parents kiss their children in another part of the body, but in the lips yes, as if they were only property of the couple.
Do you really believe that a child can get confused? The sexualization of the act of kissing in the mouth It is an interpretation of the adult. Children do not see anything wrong with a kiss on their parents' mouths, they see it simply as it is: a show of affection. As the father who kisses sees it.
The child will not be confused if we do not convey confusion. Just explain that they are special kisses reserved for loved ones. They will not go to kiss a stranger in the mouth, or even to kiss him on the cheek, since kisses must be something that children give because they want, without forcing them. Nobody goes through life giving kisses left and right, and less in the mouth.
How long to do it? When children grow up parents stop doing it or do less than before. Even sometimes it is the children themselves who no longer want to receive a kiss on their parents' mouths, because "they are older".
There are also families in which it is a normalized act and even as adult children, they continue to do so. It is not strange in some cultures to kiss older children in the mouth.
