When Strangers Try to Touch Your Babies

I recently got a question from a dad who writes, “How do you handle the constant issue of people coming up to you and your wife and the twins in public and trying to touch your babies?”

When I saw this question, I smiled, because we experienced the same exact thing. As a parent of twins, your twins are celebrities. They’re an anomaly. As you travel around in public, people are going to come up and want to talk to you, and they’re going to want to touch your babies. There’s something about twins that attracts complete strangers like a moth to the flame.

Health Concerns

It is natural to not want to have strangers touching your babies. Of course, you may be concerned about health issues. You don’t know if the person has washed their hands or if they’re sick. You want to keep your twins healthy.

Schedule Disruptor

Plus, if you’re out with infant twins, you’ve got stuff you need to do because you’re going to need to get back home quickly for nap time or for feeding time. So you’ve got to be on your way. Having people talk to you and try to touch your babies isn’t just a health issue, but it also knocks you off of your schedule and it can delay the task that you’re trying to complete.

Blocking

One thing I would try to do is position myself between my twins and the inquisitive person when our girls were still in their twin stroller. Now, naturally, you’re going to be pushing the stroller from behind, so when somebody comes up, it may take some maneuvering for you to slowly position yourself between the twins and the person. If you’re out with your wife, this is a particular advantage, because one of you can start to push the stroller, while the other one of you blocks the stranger.

Keep Moving

It also helped us to keep moving while out in public. Answering a stranger’s question as you walk away is definitely a quick way to end the conversation that perhaps you didn’t want to have in the first place. Now remember, you should be nice. This stranger might have only asked this question of you once, even though you have probably heard it dozens of times as you’ve been out with your twins.

If you are tired of answering questions about, “Can I touch your babies?” or asking crazy questions like, “Are they natural?” or, “Do twins run in your family?” I’ve started to put together a set of T-shirts that you can wear and answer these questions for you. You’ll find them over at twintshirtcompany.com.

So remember, you’re a celebrity with twins. Enjoy it. The novelty does eventually wear off, as your twins get out of the strollers and are not always side by side or not wearing the same outfits.

Check out Chapter 10 of my book, the Dad’s Guide to Raising Twins: How to Thrive as a Father of Twins for more realities of raising your twins.

This topic was originally addressed on the Dad’s Guide to Twins Podcast Episode 79: Your Twins in Public, Terrified of Having Twins, Birthday Invites.