Overprotective or a good idea? Mum bans all photos of her baby on social media

Posted in Safety.

Posted on June 22, 2018March 31, 2019 by Pip Lincolne

A frustrated mum has taken to social site Reddit, looking for support as she navigates a tricky situation with her family.

“Crazy?”

“Does anyone else not post pictures of their kids on social media?” Reddit user bigbadmamabear queried. “I posted a birth announcement on Facebook with a picture or two, and that’s it. We have also told the family to please ask permission before posting.”

So far, so good. Except for when it’s not good, and family members get a little bit overwhelmed with the cute and ignore this mama’s wishes. They want to post photos of her daughter and think this mum is being “overprotective and crazy”.

“My MIL posted a picture of our daughter recently, and we asked her to take it down. My mum has even gone so far as to say that my daughter will think we don’t love her because we didn’t post about her on social media when she was younger.”

Safety first

A mum seeking to keep her child away from prying eyes is not unreasonable. She and her partner have put a lot of thought into how they will tackle their daughter’s digital footprint, and they decided their approach would be less is more. Potty pics, bath snaps and bare bottoms are out of bounds, as are all other moments.

“Her privacy and safety are of the utmost importance,” she explains. “I don’t know what my family members’ privacy settings are or who they are friends with on social media. There’s a lot of creeps out there, and the internet makes it easier for them to be creepy.”

It’s not just the creepers this mum’s thinking about: she’s acutely aware that her daughter has the right to make her own choice about how she’s portrayed online. Embarrassing her child with candid family snaps – or teaching her that ‘likes’ are a measure of worth – are not on the agenda.

“This is the first generation that has no say in their online presence, and we want to respect her future choice to be online or not.”

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Supportive, mixed response

The response from commenters on Reddit was that they mostly did share images of their kids, but they thought they had their privacy locked-down well enough to stop strangers seeing them. Still, they supported this mum’s right to choose.

Some Reddit-ers explained that having an easy to use record of their kids growing up like this meant a lot to them.

“Yeah, this is photo evidence that can’t be un-posted… but damnit I wish I had this kind of evidence of my grandparents and their relationship with my parents. And mine with me. How nice to be able to look back and see how things have changed and how they’re the same.”

“You are the boss”

Others totally agreed with the no-kids approach and thought kids should make their own decisions when the time was right.

“We don’t post any pictures of our kids on social media either. I mostly agree with your reasons, but the biggest one for me is the one about choice. I keep imagining that when my kids are older, they’ll be angry that all these pictures are out there, and they never had any say in the matter.”

Others still noted that parents should rule the roost, and family and friends should toe the line.

“We personally post lots of photos of our children online. That being said, you don’t have to justify yourself to ANYONE. This is your baby and you are the boss. Haters to the left. Seriously, I’m so sick of people judging others parenting decisions. You guys do you!!”