This Mom Is Getting Slammed For Letting Her Kid Eat PB&J at Target — but Do the Haters Have a Point?

Dealing with a hungry kiddo can be a nightmare, so it's no surprise that busy mamas usually have snacks on-hand at any given moment. But the type of food you give your child matters a lot to moms on the New York-based parenting blog UrbanBaby — and with good reason.

The trouble started when one woman asked whether or not giving her 4-year-old daughter a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in public was frowned upon. She confessed that earlier that day, another shopper had stopped to lecture her about the dangers of peanut allergies.

Moms in the group did not waste a second before weighing in on the matter.

"That's really inconsiderate," said one user, who believed eating peanut butter in public can be dangerous for others. "So many kids have life-threatening allergies to peanut butter. Eating it in a shopping cart GUARANTEES it will be smeared on the handle. Its really awful you would do this. Sorry, but imagine if it were your child with the allergy."

Others hit the point home, one saying: "That's actually kind of lousy of you. You are aware that kids with peanut allergies exist in the world, so it's kind of a [bad] move to let your kid smear peanut butter all over the child seat of a public cart."

Allergies aside, people were quick to point out how messy peanut butter and jelly can be — especially for a 4-year-old.

"Depending on the age, squeeze fruit or yogurt maybe acceptable but to feed a sandwich is just too much. Don't they have tables at Target?" asked one user.

There were also plenty of people who jumped to the mom in question's defense.

"Peanuts are part of life. If your kid is that allergic to something than the onus is on you to do your due diligence to either A: Not take your kid in public or B: Super clean anything they touch. Way too much time devoted to trying to control others actions and not enough time spent telling our children the importance of how you deal with others actions," wrote the person, adding that, "10 percent of life is what happens to you, 90 percent of life is how you react to it."

Fair enough. One user also brought up whether or not the parents of the child with allergies is responsible for dealing with peanuts in public: "If your kid's allergy to peanuts is so severe, wouldn't you wipe down any surfaces in public places before your s/he made any contact?"

Although we never promote mom-shaming of any kind, we do tend to agree with what some of the group members are saying. Nut allergies are serious, even deadly, and they shouldn't be ignored by those who aren't personally affected by them. Plus, those shopping carts do not get sanitized after every use so are covered in germs as is. Word to the wise: skip the PB&J and stick with a good old-fashioned granola bar or applesauce pouch.