A Brisbane mum has defended herself after facing backlash online for a video that appeared to show her leaving her baby unattended on a beach while she went for a swim with her partner.
The woman, influencer Renee, who has more than 8,200 followers on TikTok, shared a video of herself swimming while her 10-month-old baby could be seen in the foreground of the frame sleeping on the sand.
The video was captioned, “Can you guys watch my baby while I go for a swim? Thanksss”.
The post appears to follow a popular social media trend in which creators leave their phone recording while stepping out of frame and ask viewers to “keep an eye” on something, such as a pet, a drink or an object.
Since being posted last week, the video has been viewed more than four million times, with many commenters slamming the 28-year-old mum.
“Why would you do that,” one commenter wrote.
“In Italy, this is illegal,” another said.
“I would never do this … that’s horrible,” another added.
“I hope this is fake … do not ever do that again.”
Others defended Renee, with some saying the “mumma deserves a swim” and that a mum “needs breaks too”.
Renee later clarified that her baby was not left unattended, saying there was another adult nearby and that the situation had been misunderstood.
Following the reaction, she edited the original post to add the caption, “He is being watched … no one is out here stealing babies – please just take it as a joke.”
In the comments, Renee explained that another mother was sitting close by and had offered to help.
“Not pictured is the beautiful mum sitting next to us who offered to watch him while I spent time with my partner and toddler in the water … you all can chill,” she wrote.
“As a mum, I am constantly risk assessing and taking in our surroundings, especially now with two kids,” she added.
“I felt very comfortable leaving him there with not only (the other mum) watching him, but also me and my partner watching from the water.
“In the video, we may look far away, however, it was only about 10 metres.
“He only stayed asleep for four minutes before waking up.”
Renee said the video was intended as “a bit of lighthearted fun” and that she “did not intend to upset anyone”.
“Some people lack critical thinking; they watch a 20-second video and comment quite horrible things with no context, which is very strange to me.”
Images: TikTok
