I am a controversial mum - some say I’m a bad parent but I love shaking it up

“Mama is ready to stir the pot!” Leah shares the ‘controversial’ choices she makes for her son in the viral video.

Alexandra Feiam

2 min read

June 19, 2023 - 1:23PM

The TikTok video has caused a divide online. Source: TikTok/@leahvidaurre

Family Life

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There is no right way to parent. Every baby comes with their own unique likes and dislikes.

As parents, you do your best to raise them well and ensure they’re healthy. But this approach isn’t one-size-fits-all.

Enter helicopter parenting, gentle parenting, Nacho parenting, authoritative and everything in between.

Each has its own benefits, but they’re not free from controversy.

That’s what American mum, Leah, has discovered since giving birth to her son. But she isn’t going to shy away from her choices.

Are you following us on TikTok? Head to Kidspot Official to watch our latest videos.

Mum's 'controversial' parenting tips causes divide online

Mum wants to “stir the pot” with “controversial” parenting choices

In a TikTok video, the mum-of-one decided she wanted to cause a commotion by sharing her “controversial” parenting hacks.

“Mama’s ready to stir the pot! “ she captioned the video. “I’ve got a taste for controversy and a passion for shaking things up.”

The first is where her son sleeps - the floor.

“My son sleeps on a mattress on the floor,” she began, showing off the single mattress on the floor.

She clarified that she always watches over him while he is on the floor.

“It’s the perfect size for me to plop down next to him if he needs a night feed,” she added.

The American mum shared three "controversial" things she does as a parent. Source: TikTok/@leahvidaurre

Mum doesn’t enforce “strict” bedtime outline

Speaking of sleep, Leah decided that she had ditched her son’s sleeping routine.

“I don’t follow a strict sleep schedule,” she explained. “If he’s tired, he sleeps.”

The video showed her son asleep in random locations, including at the shops, against a table and in his pram.

She added that with this non-existent routine, Leah doesn’t enforce a “strict bedtime” either. “I follow his sleep cues, and they’re very very obvious,” she said.

“This kid will sleep anywhere!”

Leah has also been open about her struggle with pumping breastmilk. “I quit pumping at six months postpartum,” she explained. “I absolutely hated pumping.”

She has a freezer full of breastmilk, but she is “running low”, so she began supplementing the “stash” with formula.

The mum-of-one doesn't follow a "strict" sleep schedule for her son. Source: TikTok/@leahvidaurre

“Good luck when he starts going to school!”

The 29-second clip has garnered over 200,000 views, and the majority of the parent’s decisions were met with approval.

“Good job, mama!” wrote one supporter. “We don’t have a strict sleep schedule either!” said another.

“I’m so sick of this ‘breast is best’ policy; it’s stupid and toxic,” added a mum. “I’m like that, too. We don’t have a strict routine,” someone wrote.

But others were sceptical about the mum’s choices.

“Children thrive on routine,” said one concerned person. “What will happen with no bedtime routine when goes to school nursery?”

“Good luck when he starts going to school!” another chimed in.

“The part that surprised me is *seemingly* no slats under the bed for ventilation,” a curious person added. “Can’t that just grow mould now if it gets damp?”