A Mom's Defense After Getting Backlash For Leaving Her Baby To Sleep On The Floor Shows The Impossible Standards Parents Are Held To
In a world where strangers are quick to judge, parents can do no right.
Instagram Mom and Instagram personality Amanda Reardon clapped back at followers who criticized her parenting after she posted a video of her 9-month-old daughter asleep on the floor.
Reardon’s post of her daughter Sierra Winter Reardon while she was asleep on the floor amassed over 6 million views, yet a majority of the comments blamed the mom for not properly parenting her baby.
Reardon filmed her baby asleep on the floor, next to an empty bottle. The text overlaid on the video read “Where I found my baby sleeping.” She captioned the post, “If you’ve been a long-time follower, you know Sierra sleeps anywhere.” She included multiple hashtags, including #sleeptraining and #sleeptips.
Photo: Instagram
Amanda Reardon has defended herself after joking about her baby sleeping on the floor.
Anyone who's spent time caregiving will understand that sometimes, babies fall asleep in the middle of an activity. Reardon's daughter was inside, she was safe, and she was physically accounted for. Her basic needs were being met. Sometimes, that's the best parents can do.
Reardon had humorously sharp answers for followers who criticized her parenting.
The top comment on the post read, “How long was she alone at that age to just ‘find her?’” Reardon replied, “12 hours. She’s super independent, lol.”
Another comment asked Reardon where she was while her daughter was sleeping on the floor, to which Reardon answered, “ “Sunbathing on my super yacht.”
The impulse to judge parents, especially moms, runs deep, as evidenced by the sheer number of followers ready to criticize Reardon’s parenting decisions, without knowing any of the actual context of her life.
Posting a child’s life online does open parents up to more avid and open criticism, but even those who don’t parent publicly are bound to have their parenting skills dragged, at one point or another. Any parent who’s had to navigate a child’s tantrum while out could attest to the number of dirty looks they received from strangers. Yet instead of giving Reardon the benefit of the doubt that she actually knows what's best for her daughter, people with zero insight into her daily life felt the intense impulse to rip her parenting apart.
Reardon’s decision to respond with humor highlights just how outlandish a majority of the criticism around parenting is—no one knows the inner workings of anyone else’s family; what makes them so quick to place judgment on strangers?
So much of parenting is a balancing act, especially for moms, who overwhelmingly shoulder the weight of being the primary parent. Parents everywhere deserve the space to give care to their children as they see fit. That’s not to say mistakes won’t happen– in fact, making missteps is just part of the role. Having compassion for people as they do the difficult work of caregiving creates space for a wide range of nuanced family situations and more acceptance all around.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers parenting issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.