Mum defends putting baby to sleep in 'strange' holiday location

"Everyone has their own parenting style." But is it strange, or actually quite common?

"When we travel, our baby sleeps in the shower," lifestyle influencer Chloe Molina begins a now-viral TikTok clip. 

The 25-year-old mum-of-one quickly followed that up with, "Let me explain," for all the commenters like me who were like, "HUH?"

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Image: TikTok

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Mum defends "number one travel hack"

"Yes our baby sleeps in a shower but he sleeps in a crib in the shower and the reason why we do this is because for us, when our baby sleeps in our room, he smells as he sees us, he just knows we're there and he's gonna wake up all the time," she explains.

So, she and her husband David "give him his own room", a.k.a. the bathroom. 

The five-month-old's mum continues, "Usually the bathroom isn't big enough, so we put the crib in the shower and then we crack the bathroom door open, so it can feel like he has his own room, his own space. He doesn't smell us, he doesn't see us, he has his own room.

"It's honestly just way better to put him in the shower because you can slightly close the curtain and you can still pee without them seeing you there."

She concludes the clip by saying it's her "number one travel hack" because "your baby gets their own room without paying for another room."

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"This is sad"

The mum was immediately inundated with comments from concerned followers, with one person saying: "Not my baby, most showers have mould."

"I’d be too worried about the water pipe bursting in the middle of the night," said someone else. "Or the hot water turning on."

"Personally, with the strong cleaning agents that hotel room bathrooms are cleaned with, that is the LAST place I would be putting my baby all night," a third added, while others had issues with air quality, fecal matter, the bathroom's temperature and the potential for the baby to crawl out of his crib and onto the tiles.

A fourth person wrote: "Nope, I'd never."

Then others called it "wild", "sad", and even "terrifying."

However, not everyone was so judgy

A few commenters defended the parents' decision, with one saying, "They do what works for their family. You don't have to agree, but you don’t have to judge either!"

"Brilliant (30+ parent here)," another viewer claimed.

Others even admitted to doing the same with their kids.

"Haha, I did this on holidays! We had a suite paid for by my husband's company, and there were two bathrooms. One turned into baby's room," one mum shared.

And someone else replied, "We literally do this every time we go away."

Image: TikTok/Instagram

The mum responds to backlash

Speaking to PEOPLE, the first-time mum opened up about the unconventional sleeping arrangement.

"I don't really live in that parenting fear mindset in the first place. We don't sit and live in fear," Chloe said.

"My takeaway is you have to do whatever you feel is best. You were chosen to be this baby's parent, so if you feel that the best decision is to put them in the shower in the bathroom, it's great.

"Everyone has their own parenting style and you're able to choose what is right based on what you believe is right for your child."

To find out more about safe sleeping for babies, visit the Raising Children Network.

Originally published as Mum defends putting baby to sleep in 'strange' holiday location