Several parents have felt angry and hurt after sharing what they thought would be adorable snaps of their child on social media, only to receive mean criticism.
Among the parents who faced an influx of cruel comments is Rebecca Taylor, whose youngest child Kody, was greeted with hurtful comments online. She shared: “Kody was a little puffy-eyed, he had splotchy skin, and at 8 pounds 5 ounces, he was bigger than my two precious babies. But he was healthy, and, in my eyes, he was perfect.”
Taylor admits that she was excited to share photos of her child with the world and didn’t think she needed to use filters or edits to impress others. However, within a few hours, she was heartbroken to read mean comments.
“Some people commented that he was bug-eyed and insect-like. People I didn’t even know were leaving comments online, which shocked me,” she shared. “One person labeled him fat and ugly. Another said he was fat because I’m a fat mom.”
Amarah Bryan-Brown is another mother who felt the same anger. When she shared a short clip of her seven-month-old daughter, Mia-Rae, the mom expected nothing other than a few likes.
However, the video of her doing Mia-Rae’s hair went viral with over 2.3 million views. What started as a few positive comments turned negative, and soon, her baby became the subject of criticism. She shared: “She was quite a chubby baby, but she was healthy. People were saying things like, ‘That baby is a sumo wrestler,’ and calling her overweight.”
The Nottingham, England mom was initially hurt but eventually realized that her daughter was healthy and happy. At present, she stands unbothered with what others say.
Like Bryan-Brown, “X-Factor” singer Jake Quickenden also experienced the anger and pain of watching his newborn being bullied online.
While having harsh words thrown at him was nothing new, reading mean comments about his son hit differently. According to Quickenden, trolls’ actions are but a mere reflection of themselves.
However, posting photos of “ugly babies” online previously became a trend. While young mom Courtney Tait did not like that her son was labeled as such, Lucy Baehr embraced her child’s unpleasing features.
Baehr joined the “ugly baby” TikTok challenge and explained that babies look different as they age, and it would only be something to laugh about with her child one day.