I didn't know what we did to our son was bad until cops knocked at our door

"He was playfully wrapped in cling wrap, he looked like a little cucumber," mum Savannah tearfully explains in a video about the enormous backlash to her 'prank'. Please note: sensitive content. 

"He's been taken from us until CPS can evaluate our home, because I posted a video of my husband and son playing."

 

 

That's how influencer Savannah Glembin begins her most recent video, addressing backlash she's faced in the last 48 hours.

She continues, "[He] was laughing and smiling and it was just a funny thing."

But the disturbing footage the mum's talking about has attracted the concern of millions. 

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"This feels like abuse"

Savannah has now made her account private, but because so many accounts stitched commentary to the original video, we can piece together what's happened.

In a stitch by @Auntkaren0, we can watch some of the original video that Savannah posted. Aunt Karen gives her viewers a trigger warning at the beginning as says ,"This feels like abuse."

Savannah's video shows her husband pushing around their toddler on their bed. The boy, who looks to be around two (and whom she has subsequently revealed is called Gunner), is tightly wrapped from the neck down in cling film.

Completely immobile with his arms strapped to his sides, he falls to his knees as tears start welling in his eyes.

Gunner appears completely terrified as he topples over onto his back. 

Savannah's husband (who is in his army uniform), smiles as he maneuvers the boy around.

Savannah is heard saying in the background: "If you have a grumpy toddler all day, this is the only way."

The original video. Image: @savannahglembin

She then focuses on her dog for the next part of the video, laughing while zooming in on it jumping up and down on the bed. The text on screen reads: "Butter's making her cinematic entrance."

Meanwhile, Gunner is seen in the background being shoved face down onto the bed by her husband. 

"He's a worm," he jokes.

Then, as the boy lies still on the bed, he lets out a small groan as if he's in pain.

After the video ends, Aunt Karen says: "I don't see what's funny here. I don't understand how putting your toddler in an uncomfortable position is funny and then posting it for views. Not only did you not just do this for your own entertainment, you thought this was going to be everybody's entertainment. 

"This is why I don't like family channels like this, because they will go to any length for views."

Viewers also took to the comments to share their concerns. "My anxiety when he fell forward, I was like OMG he's going to suffocate," said one.

Another replied, "He's been crying, his nose is red."

And a third mentioned he's likely "terribly overheated. I can only imagine the struggle and how aggressive it must have been to wrap him up that tightly." 

The boy groans after he is shoved face down onto the bed. Image: @savannahglembin

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Savannah Glembin's apology video

In response to the criticism, Savannah released a statement.

She wrote: "I made the biggest mistake of my life posting this video. Genuinely and truly he was laughing and smiling and was out of the plastic in under five minutes."

But viewers didn't buy it.

"She said posting it was the biggest mistake of her life... not actually doing it. Wow," one observed.

Another said that a simple statement like this wasn't going to cut it. "I was on a jury where the parents did this to their child, they got five years in prison."

And a few felt sorry for the couple by saying, "They clearly need help."

The mum's apology. Image: @savannahglembin

"The kid was taken for that??"

After not receiving the response she hoped for, Savannah turned her account to private. 

But after the public backlash continued and child protection services allegedly intervened, she returned with a tear-filled follow-up video. 

She also shared the comment that prompted her to give an update to her followers. It read: "The kid was taken for that?!? That's terrible, I hope things turn out well for the family."

Savannah tearfully explains, "Right now, we're dealing with a situation where Gunner has been taken from us until CPS can evaluate our home because I posted a video of my husband and son playing."

She insists that her son was "at no point upset." 

"That video was skewed in a way [and resulted in] people thinking we were abusing our child. But he was laughing and smiling and it was just a funny thing Hank (her husband) did because Gunner was getting into the stove that day and tried putting a fork in a socket.

"Hank playfully wrapped him in cling wrap, he had room to move, he looked like a little cucumber. At no point was he in distress or crying.

"We would never hurt our son. He is the best thing that's ever happened to us.

"The response that got... like I didn't know that someone had thought it was bad until yesterday when cops showed up at our door and separated us, his family.

"We went down and made our statements, thinking Gunner was going to be returned to us that day.

"All I can say is that my son is so loved and cherished. He is my miracle baby, he was my fourth pregnancy after three miscarriages, he's the light of my life.

"We made a mistake and we don't deserve our child taken away because of it."

The responses to Savannah's video were mixed. Many continued to tell the mum, "The internet will never forget," while other supporters maintained, "I believe she really is sorry."

"She seems genuinely upset," one viewer noted, but added, "they both need parenting classes to understand the damage they've done."

According to this clip, Gunner is now "home where he belongs." 

This story was published in March 2023 and updated in June 2023

Originally published as I didn't know what we did to our son was bad until cops knocked at our door