Is tickling babies and little kids ok?

Question

We have an 8 month old and our relatives love to tickle him to make him giggle. Obviously I do not remember being 8 months old but I do remember hating it when I was about 3. The laughter was more of a reflex than an actual indication of fun. Do you let friends and family members tickle your babies /kids. 
I kinda don’t want to let people. What if his laughter is a reflex but he’s actually uncomfortable?

Answer

If the kid is staying stop, yeah, stop. But if they are enjoying it and saying more, it is fine. My kids all genuinely love to be tickled.

Answer

I have strong feelings on this because I HATE to be tickled. I hate it. I would say no but my parents would do it anyway and then I’d get in trouble for being mad. 
We also are really intentional about teaching consent. 
So here’s how we handle this. When he was that young, we would maybe tickle a tiny bit and stop. Never extended more than a giggle or two and never to the point of him gasping for air at the end. 
My son is 17 months old now and we just recently started this because he understands “no”, “stop”, “all done”. He also knows the word “tickle” and can ask for it. I’ll tell him “can I tickle you?” And wait. He will say “tickle” or “yeah”. I tickle him a bit and then check in. Stop and say “you want more or all done?” Hell also yell out “stop” or “no” and I immediately put my hands up and say “I heard you say no! Mama will stop. Thank you for telling me!”

Answer

My son is only 12 weeks so tickles are just now getting a reaction from him. For now, I don’t mind if family members tickle him, since it’s usually only for a quick few seconds anyway. They all know that when he’s older and he can say “no, stop” that it ends when he says so. Consent is a BIG thing for my husband and me. 
I remember being little and enjoying being tickled until it was too much. It only became distressing when I would say “stop” and the person (my dad, mom, brothers, whoever” wouldn’t stop. I’ve straight up kicked my husband in the face for tickling my feet and not stopping when I told him to. Now that I’m an adult, I cannot stand being tickled. It’s not fun for me.

Answer

My daughter is 14 months and people try to tickle her frequently they usually stop as soon as they notice she has no reaction but she also is not shy about pushing your hands off her if she doesn't want you to do it and I've made it clear to everyone that when she pushes them off that they need to respect that and stop touching her. She does it to me and her dad too, sometimes she likes hugs and kisses and other times she pushes us away and we just say ok and stop touching her.

Answer

With little babies before they can vocalize a yes/no, you can still tell whether they’re enjoying it, if you are interested to know.
You do a little tickle, and stop, and a little tickle, and stop. They clearly look either excited or scared in between, and you let that guide your choice to continue or stop.
Relatives who aren’t watching out for consent aren’t allowed to tickle. Relatives who do look for consent are.

Answer

It all comes down to consent.

Answer

An 8 month old baby can’t tell you if they’re in distress while being tickled so I’d say don’t allow it until your baby can vocalize whether or not he enjoys the tickling.

Answer

I was always taught not to tickle a baby cause they can’t tell you to stop. There is lots of better ways to make a baby smile.

Answer

My son will sometimes ask for more when we tickle him. But if I can tell that he’s distressed, I’ll stop

Answer

But you don’t know if he doesn’t like cause he might like it

Is tickling babies and little kids ok?

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