It’s official: People will choose to be offended by literally anything on social media.
A mum who shared a photo of her two-year-old daughter on Facebook has been attacked by another woman, who claims the image was ‘nasty’ and ‘unnatural.’
The anonymous mum was grocery shopping with her daughter Charlotte when the child started to pretend to breastfeed her doll. Thinking it was adorable, the mum took a photo and shared it with her friends and family.
Watch: Funniest fails of sleep-deprived mums. Post continues after video.
“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 to eat…'” she captioned the image, followed by the hashtags #normalizebreastfeeding and #nursinginpublic.
But to her surprise, she woke the next day to vicious comments from another woman who wrote, “I just saw some of the nastiest s*** 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 to be punched in the damn face!!!
“It’s just simply not okay!!!”
The mum, who was understandably upset, posted a 'small rant' to Facebook, sharing that she was "blown away" by the criticism.
"I posted this picture of my daughter and woke up to messages asking if this was about me. I'm not bashing for how anyone else parents and maybe it is the wording that gets to me, the parts saying "it's the nastiest shit of their life" and "I need punched in the damn face" but I am shocked.
"What I first thought to myself was did she breastfeed?! I still am breastfeeding Charlotte (2) and I formula fed my son, Bentley (5) and I am open to both, both are equally wonderful. I would LOVE to know how it is "the nastiest shit of her life" ..."
"Breastfeeding is something that is natural and IS normal," she continued.
"I do not feel the need to correct Charlotte because breastfeeding is wrong? She said her baby wanted to eat, so she fed her.
"Charlotte has never had a bottle, I was/am lucky enough to be able to have breastfed these last two years strictly from breast. I was just so taken back. I then questioned am I wrong? How can I or why should I tell her this is wrong when it is what she knows?"
The post was shared to the Breastfeeding Mama Talk Facebook page, alongside the caption 'The breastfeeding shaming starts before they even start really breastfeeding!
Several mums stood in solidarity with Charlotte's mum, sharing images of their children breastfeeding their dolls.
Kristen Baker wrote, "Like you said, her baby was hungry, she fed her baby. Absolutely nothing wrong with that!!
"This is my son feeding his giraffe! And I don't stop him even tho he's a boy and technically can never breastfeed. It's just the only way he knows a baby is fed!"
Kira Leach shared a photo of her daughter, commenting: "My 3 year old who was breastfed until a little after her second birthday.
"She was feeding her babies while I fed her baby sister. She also has bottles for her babies. And uses my scarves to wear her babies. My boys 7 yrs and 5 yrs old play dolls with her and do the same. It's normal in this house and I dare anyone to try and tell them otherwise!"
Several photos and comments have been posted, assuring Charlotte's mum that her daughter's behaviour is perfectly normal and nothing to be ashamed of.
We hope that with the vocal support of so many other women, the original negative comment has become less and less meaningful. Thankfully, the majority of mums are prepared to fiercely defend the broad spectrum of kids' behaviour, and the absurd standards placed upon mothers in general.
Have a look at other photos mums shared of their kids breastfeeding.
Toddlers breastfeeding their dolls.
Top Comments
My 4 yr old son breastfeeds his teddy bear......just like his mummy breastfeeds his sister......I think it's adorable.
god people give me the shits sometimes.