What Happened When 1 Mom Posted a Photo of Her Toddler "Breastfeeding" in Public
After one mom posted what she thought was an innocent photo of her daughter, the internet's reaction left her wondering, "Am I wrong?"
When her 2-year-old daughter, Charlotte, decided to "feed" her doll, her mom captured the sweet moment and shared the snapshot on Facebook along with the caption, "You know you're a breastfeeding mother when you look over in the middle of the store to your toddler saying, 'Baby cry, baby just wants eat…'" However, when she woke up the next morning, this anonymous mother of two was flooded with comments about her parenting, and one stranger shared her daughter's photo with this statement:
I just saw some of the nastiest sh*t of my life!! If you're okay with your daughter lifting up her shirt and putting her baby doll's mouth to her little 'dots' pretending to breastfeed then I personally think you need punched in the d*mn face!
The understandably frustrated mother posted her thoughts on Breastfeeding Mama Talk explaining that she supports both formula-feeding and breastfeeding — and didn't think she deserved to be shamed for what her daughter did. "Breastfeeding is something that is natural and IS normal. A baby putting a bottle to its dolls mouth, they are feeding their baby doll, correct?" she asked. "She said her baby wanted to eat, so she fed her. Charlotte says she wants to eat, in public or not, I nurse."
To Charlotte's mom, her daughter's innocent action was no different than when she pretends to do her makeup or when her son pretends to fix cars with his dad. Charlotte has never had a bottle, so to her, the only way you feed a baby is from the breast. Her mom originally saw this as Charlotte simply mimicking "normal" daily behavior — but everyone's reaction has her questioning if she's the one who is completely wrong.
"How can I or why should I tell her this is wrong when it is what she knows?" she wrote.