A doctor has warned parents against kissing their children on the lips, arguing it is “too sexual”.

Many parents will see it as a simple sign of parental affection, but Dr Charlotte Reznick has warned the mouth is an erogenous zone which “can be stimulating” and subsequently cause confusion for children.

The author of ‘The Power of Your Child’s Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety Into Joy and Success’, told The Sun that children might associate kissing with sexual or romantic activity between parents and then wonder why their parents were engaging in the same activity with them too.

She says it might cause a child to think: “If mommy kisses daddy on the mouth and vice versa, what does that mean, when I, a little girl or boy, kiss my parents on the mouth.”

The suggestion has been derided by other child psychologists who say there is no harm in such displays of affection. Clinical psychologist Sally-Anne McCormack told the newspaper: “There is absolutely no way that kissing a young child on the lips is confusing for them in any way.