Internet Slams 2-Year-Old’s Pacifier Because Even Celebrities Aren’t Immune From Mom-Shaming

Is a two-year-old child too old for a pacifier? I don’t know, but some jerks on the Internet sure have strong opinions about it, and they’re all ready to jump down Melissa Joan Hart’s throat over an Instagram photo of her son.

She posted this insanely cute photo, writing:

“Sometimes I have flashes where I can see my boys 20 years in the future. Especially when they do these grown man things like hands down the pants.”

melissa-joan-hart-son-pacifier

But some people took the opportunity to flip out over the fact that Hart’s son was sleeping with a pacifier in his mouth.

melissa-joan-hart-pacifier

Oh come on, guys. It’s a pacifier. Butt out. I don’t care if he’s using it at 30. That might be a little weird, but it’s his business. When Britney Spears drives in a convertible with her baby in her lap, some surprise is warranted. But a two-year-old with a pacifier does not seem like a big deal.

For her part, Hart seemed annoyed.

”It’s my page ”” if you don’t like it, go away!” Hart told HuffPost Live. ”Everybody thinks they can tell you what to do.”

Parenting in public is tough. Everyone has an opinion about what you’re doing, and a ridiculous number of people seem to think those opinions are worth sharing.

I just got mom-shamed for the first time yesterday! It’s such a universal experience I was actually excited when I realized it was happening to me. I was standing at a crosswalk wearing my baby in an Ergo Baby carrier, and I noticed an older woman with a bicycle giving me some side-eye. I thought she was just trying to get a look at the cute baby, but when I smiled she started talking. I told her I didn’t really speak German (I live in Germany), and then in English she started mom-splaining to me that it was not OK to use a baby carrier with a baby that can’t hold its head up.

“She can hold her head up,” I said, bewildered. “She’s seven months old.”

“Oh!” the lady said. “Well that’s OK then. It would be bad if she couldn’t hold her head up at seven months old.”

I was so surprised by the exchange that I actually thanked her as I left. I think the “thank you” was left over from when I thought she was just trying to tell me that the baby was cute.

We’re all going to get it at some point, so it’s good to remember that feeling when we feel compelled to mom-shame someone else. If you see a child in actual danger, you should intervene. But a pacifier is not danger, and neither is a Go-Gurt or a Happy Meal. If you see that happening and feel compelled to speak out, stuff a pacifier in it.

Photos: Instagram/MelissaJoanHart 

Similar Posts