hello i’m a professional nanny and aside from rare necessary moments (picking a child up to carry them down the stairs, changing a diaper), i did not initiate touch with the kids until they first initiated touch with me (ie, i did not cuddle with them until they climbed into my lap or asked to be picked up- and even in those rare necessary moments, i told them what i was doing first so they knew), even now that we’re bonded, when i want to express affection with hugs or cuddles, i ask first.

they were 18mo and 3 when i started…. aka young. and it was still really really really fucking easy to be respectful of children’s space and there is no reason why we HAVE to think it’s normal to pat them on the head or make them sit in our laps… that’s fucked up guys, quit it