How To Draw A Kiss Lips

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Gabrielle Union faced backlash on Instagram yesterday after posting a video showing her kissing her newborn daughter on the lips.
Gabrielle, 46, welcomed her daughter Kaavia via surrogate in November.
While it can be dangerous to kiss your baby on the lips if you're ill, it's totally fine as long as you're healthy and vaccinated.

Gabrielle Union hasn't had the easiest journey to motherhood—so when she and husband Dwyane Wade welcomed their daughter Kaavia via surrogate in November, they didn't hold back their joy (because, duh, Kaavia is adorable).

But now, Gabrielle's facing a bit of backlash for a seemingly innocuous move: Gabrielle, 46, posted a video to Instagram Thursday night showing a "kissing game" between herself and her daughter. "She's got my [heart] on a string," Gabrielle wrote.

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And, because you can't be a celebrity without having some haters, people obviously freaked out: "Ahhhh didn't anyone tell you you shouldn't kiss a baby in the mouth. Even your own. She's beautiful though," one person wrote. "She's gorgeous, but no kissing babies on the mouth," another said. "Our mouths are filthy. Babies can't fight those germs every day," said yet another person—you get the picture.

Gabrielle responded to the criticism in pretty much the best way possible: "Hey guys I appreciate all the concern about kisses on the mouth…Kaav is healthy and I don't even touch her without washing and sanitizing myself and everything and everyone that comes into contact with her," she wrote.

She also pointed out that when she did a recent interview with Oprah, she made sure the entire crew was vaccinated for whooping cough and was current on all other vaccines before they were even allowed in her house. "If you think I waited this long and went thru all this to put my baby in harm's way… you got another thing coming," she added.

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So wait...who's right here? Is it okay to kiss your baby on the mouth or not?

Most of the time, it's totally fine to kiss your baby on the lips—unless you're dealing with a few very specific health issues, says the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The big concern, they say, is the herpes simplex virus (HSV). While HSV usually causes cold sores in older children and adults, it's "especially dangerous to babies under six months of age," the AAP says. "Parents or relatives with cold sores should be especially careful not to kiss babies—their immune systems are not well developed until after about six months old." Another thing: Cold sores are most contagious when you actually have a blister, but it's still possible to pass them on when you don't.

In general, Danelle Fisher, M.D., FAAP, chief of pediatrics at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, says parents should just follow "the obvious rules": Don't kiss your baby on the lips if you're actively sick or have a cold or fever, and don't kiss them on the lips if you have an active cold sore.

"I would never put anyone down for kissing their baby on the lips," she says.

Another thing: Immediately family members (mom, dad, siblings) should be totally fine to give a little peck on the lips, since you're all sharing the same environment and germs (tbh, your baby is likely exposed to anything you're exposed to anyway, kiss or no kiss), says Fisher.

So yeah, go ahead and give your baby all the kisses you want to, Gabrielle!

Korin Miller Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men's Health, Women's Health, Self, Glamour, and more.

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