Raising multiples is no easy task. Just ask this British mom.
Mom to four kids, nine-year-old Violet and two-year-old triplets Otis, Rocco and Prince, the house is nothing short of chaos.
Stressed and sick of the three boys hitting, scratching and pulling each other’s hair, the mom-of-four devised a genius solution.
However, she wasn’t expecting her parenting hack to commence a wave of backlash.
In a clip uploaded to Instagram, her three boys were seated in a wagon in matching blue sets.
At first glance, everything seems normal, but as you look closer, you’ll notice two of the babies had their sleeves tied together, whereas the third boy had his hands free.
“It’s a last resort, but it has to be done!” she captioned the clip. “I just can’t stand there and watch them yank each other’s hair out.”
In the short clip, the boys look unfazed as their sleeves remain tied together, their little arms moving underneath the fabric.
The British mom, who recently moved to India with her partner and four kids, reassured viewers the kids were in no danger.
“We only do this for a minute to help teach them, please don’t worry,” she said. “You can tell by their faces they really don’t care.”
The mom recently re-shared the clip online, stating she’d do it all over again if the situation called for it.
“I’d still do this a million times over to stop them hurting each other!” she said.
“They were so unfazed by having their sleeves tied, they just went to scratch, realised they couldn’t, and they then focused on why their arms weren’t moving instead.”
She added the kids weren’t completely immobile.
“All they needed to do was pull their arms down out of their top, and they would have been free!” she laughed.
The clip has amassed over four million views, and while many appreciated the mom’s parenting hack, it didn’t stop others from labelling the move unnecessary and “cruel.”
“Just tell them don’t touch each other!” said a perturbed person who has clearly never met a toddler in their life. “What’s wrong with you!” they added. “Be a parent. You wanted them!”
“How horrible, the children with their arms tied,” said another. “These are children, not toys,” read a heated comment. “Imagine if someone restricted your hands this way!”
“This is unacceptable. Learn to use appropriate parenting techniques,” someone angrily wrote.
“They are the results of their upbringing,” said another. “If you all think restraining them by force and putting fear on your kids [because they are] your kids is the best solution…. I am just wondering how were you all raised by your parents.”
But others quickly hit back, reiterating that the mom knows what she is doing.
“Your children, your rules,” someone argued. “You weren’t hurting them. You were stopping them [from] hurting each other.”
“What’s the alternative?” another pondered. “I’ve got twins and can relate, and it’s so frustrating when all they are doing is fighting and screaming!”
Others shared how they handled similar situations in their own household.
“I used to put my son’s sweater on backwards and zip it up with his arms inside, just in stores,’ a mother wrote. “He would pull everything off the shelves! It was a temporary measure that worked great.”
“I think this is genius,” said a mother to twins. “I have two boys close in age, and yeah… I totally get it,” another laughed.
“They clearly aren’t in any distress,” a supporter shared. “I think as a parent to triplets or multiples, then we have to adapt and come up with ways to make things easier and safer for everyone.”