Video of a doting grandmother being reprimanded for attempting to kiss her newborn grandchild on the head has gone viral amid lively debate.

In a short clip, a first-time mom, Haeli Christiansen, kissed her newborn son, who was being held by the grandmother. But when grandma went to follow suit, she was lightly “slapped” by the rookie mom, who then posted the scolding on TikTok.

“Gently reminding my mom not to kiss the newborn,” Christiansen wrote in text that appeared on the video.

First-time mom ‘slaps’ grandma who tried to kiss her newborn baby in viral TikTok: ‘gentle reminder’ https://t.co/SaLkCZI39I pic.twitter.com/SIrtsubywD

— New York Post (@nypost) January 22, 2026

The clip was also captioned, presumably by the young mom, “the word of the day is ‘boundaries,’” which added fuel to the fire for critics who felt Christiansen’s actions were rude and hyperbolic.

“This generation,” one TikTok sarcastically quipped about those who didn’t grow up drinking out of random hoses and didn’t have to rely on public water fountains.

“I would never do that to my mom! Stranger yes but never to my mom or family,” another wrote, while someone else said that they were “too European” for this.

Her kid will eat things off the floor in a few months and sucking on a germ infested pacifier. I would never enter her home again.

— We The People Georgia (@WeThePeopleSEGA) January 22, 2026

This could have been handled better.

— The Situation … (@TheSituationZA) January 22, 2026

Plenty of TikTok users, however, thought Christiansen handled the situation just fine.

“my husbands grandma looked me dead in the eye and said ‘i don’t care’ and proceeded to kiss him all over his face… i’ve never snatched my baby faster,” someone said relating to the situation.

“Say it with me ‘you don’t need to kiss other peoples babies!!!!!,'” another preached.

Even loving grandmothers??? Sad!

Yet, another TikTok user argued that the baby’s own mother shouldn’t have kissed him either: “Honestly, you shouldn’t give kisses either,” the account said with plenty in agreement.

The TikTok video that was posted on Jan. 1 has garnered more than 12 million views, according to the New York Post.

“We made the video and laughed about it, thinking it would maybe get a few hundred views and that it would be relatable to new moms…not spark the massive debate that it has!” Christiansen said in an interview with People Magazine on Jan. 13th.

The young mom said that she’s received plenty of backlash for the video, but insisted it’s been taken way too seriously.

“The video was obviously a joke,” she said.

“I don’t slap my mom, and she has a great relationship with me and my son.”

Christiansen said that she had her husband make the no-kissing rule (to be adhered to for the baby’s first few months) because their son was born in the middle of a heavy “sick season.”

“When I was a baby, I was hospitalized twice on two separate occasions from family kissing me without realizing they were sick,” she claimed.

“So my mom is actually one of the biggest advocates for not kissing my baby herself.”

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