Sydney psychologist Dr Fiona Martin slams doctor’s advice not to kiss children – Daily Mail

• Dr Charlotte Reznick warns parents against kissing children on the lips
• American psychologist says it can be confusing for a child as it is sexual 
• Sydney psychologist Dr Fiona Martin believes it is normal and healthy
• She says there are no psychological effects to kissing your child

By Emily Crane for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 23:55 EST, 27 August 2015 | Updated: 00:05 EST, 28 August 2015

Leading Sydney psychologists have labelled an American doctor’s advice as ‘outrageous’ after she suggested parents shouldn’t kiss their children on the lips because it is too sexual.

Dr Charlotte Reznick, a child psychologist from Californian university UCLA, warns parents that an innocent peck on the lips could be confusing for their child.

Her comments, which were published back in 2010 when Hollywood star Harry Connick Jr was pictured pecking his eight-year-old daughter on the lips, have sparked a heated debate online this week after they went viral.

‘If you start kissing your kids on the lips, when do you stop? It gets very confusing,’ Dr Reznick said.

‘As a child gets to 4 or 5 or 6 and their sexual awareness comes about (and some kids have an awareness earlier – as when we notice they start masturbating at 2 or 3 sometimes – they just discover their private parts and it feels good), the kiss on the lips can be stimulating to them.

‘Even if that never occurs to a child, it´s just too confusing! If mummy kisses daddy on the mouth and vice versa, what does that mean when I, a little girl or boy, kiss my parent on the mouth?’

But Dr Fiona Martin from the Sydney Child Psychology Centre disagrees.

‘It’s absurd really to think a parent kissing their child could be referred to as too sexual,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘It’s normal and healthy to be affectionate to your children. It’s communicating to your child that you love them.’

Dr Martin said there was no psychological effects for a child who has been kissed on the lips by their parents.

‘It’s beautiful. Anything that promotes emotional connectivity is good. It’s certainly not inappropriate to kiss your child,’ she said.

‘(Advice like this) makes them confused as parents about what level of affection they should give their child.’

R.E.A.D clinical psychologist Heather Irvine-Rundle labelled the advice as outrageous.

‘It doesn’t take into account relationships that are safe and trusting. There is nothing sexual about kissing a baby on the mouth,’ Dr Irvine-Rundle said.

‘Usually the kids will find they want to grow up, they no longer want to have that intimacy with parents any more in public. It’s up to us as sensible parents to work out when is the right time.’

She said Dr Reznick’s suggestion that children may become confused about who they were allowed to kiss on the mouth was laughable. 

‘You look at toddlers who breastfeed, they don’t walk up to strangers and ask to be breastfed by them,’ Dr Irvine-Rundle said.

‘It’s about being close to a person and wanting to connect with them.’