Julia Stiles hit back at the mum-shamers after she was criticised for the way she carried her newborn baby.
The actress, who gave birth to her first child, Strummer, on 22 November, posted a photo of herself carrying her son on her front.
“Please pull baby’s legs out for proper placement,” one person wrote. Another commented: “This is worn improperly. Needs to be adjusted to the tightest fitting on the legs.”
As a new mum, this was Stiles’ first taste of mum-shaming on the internet, and she wasn’t having any of it.
Posting a photo on Instagram of ‘The Clash’, Stiles said it had be brought to her attention that she wasn’t holding her baby correctly in the previous picture.
“Wow, I didn’t expect that,” she wrote. “What was supposed to be a shoutout of products I like, suddenly becomes an invitation to comment on my baby, and my ability as a mother.
“I was trying to keep much of my son’s image private, including, I guess, his little feet. And it was just a photo taken at home, not how I normally carry him around. Thanks for the concern, anyway.
“Yes, mothers, always read the safety instructions. But also, Instagrammers: instead of writing snarky comments about a five-week-old, try dancing around your living room to a Clash record. It’s way more fun.”
“You and Strummer are beautiful,” one person wrote. “You keep carrying your babe exactly how you choose. I’m glad you don’t let the haters get you down.”
Another commented: “Why women have to hate on each other so much and be such judgey assholes is beyond me. Stay awesome.”
Stiles isn’t the first celeb to come under fire for how she was carrying her baby. Ryan Reynolds was told in 2015 he was doing it wrong, too.
Speaking to Matt Lauer on American news programme Today Tuesday, Reynolds said: “The baby’s not properly secured in the vessel that I’m wearing there.
“I’m a first-time dad, and that is not the first mistake I’ve made. I can guarantee you it won’t be last. I’d never used that particular carrier before. Every other time has been perfect.”
At the time, Rosemary Dodd, senior policy adviser at The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) told HuffPost UK: “It’s recommended, particularly by those concerned with hip dysplasia which is the dislocation of hips, that babies are carried with their legs in the ‘M’ position.
“Carrying a baby close to you is a good idea when they are small because they settle more easily, so we would praise him for that.
“But the concern is that it is just more comfortable and better for the baby to use the ‘M’ position.”