Mum slammed online over detail in young daughter's bedroom
A mother was proud to showcase the wall art she had created for her one-year-old daughter, though she was met with criticism over an entirely unrelated detail in the photo.
April Campbell decorated her daughter’s wall with pink, grey and white with sprinkles and shared a photo of her handiwork on a private Facebook group.
However, the attention was not on Ms Campbell’s wall, but her daughter’s Montessori-style bed, or a floor bed.
Ms Campbell told Yahoo News Australia her daughter, Madison, has always co-slept with her and her husband.
“That's just the route we decided to take and obviously we have done so as safely as possible, but due to my husband working [shift work], we can’t put her in bed with him, in case he or she wakes up while he's having these short bits of sleep,” Ms Campbell explained.
So instead she naps in her bedroom on her Montessori-style bed on the floor, because she flat out refuses to sleep in a cot.
“She won't even consider a cot we tried it very briefly, but it was just, she didn't get the concept of being confined and not able to move around in the cot so we just went straight to Montessori,” Ms Campbell said.
Mum accused of ‘neglect’ over floor bed
After posting the photo to the private Facebook group, Ms Campbell was stunned to find the image had attracted hundreds of comments - some of which weren’t quite nice.
“I literally fell asleep and I woke up to hundreds of comments and people saying, ‘you're a bad parent’ and ‘why isn’t your child in a bed?’” she said.
Some accused the mother of ‘neglect’, while others blasted her for letting her daughter sleep ‘on the ground’.
Others suggested there would be mould growing under the mattress as it had no space to breathe.
Though, when Ms Campbell addressed the nasty comments, people did rush to her defence.
One woman said she should not have to justify her decisions.
“A bed on the floor like that is perfectly safe and smart for a young child,” another woman said.
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Others said they too would transition their children to a mattress on the floor when their child is ready.
While others just said they loved the feature wall, which Ms Campbell confirmed Madison also likes, which is what the post was all about.
Mother favours sustainable lifestyle, for her children’s future
The floor bed also fits in perfectly with Ms Campbell’s sustainable lifestyle, something she was very conscious about after having children.
Worried about what her children’s life, and their own children’s lives, would look like in the future, she has made a conscious effort as a mother to ensure she is not producing excess waste.
“We're very fortunate to be in a very comfortable financial position but we do buy from thrift shop clothes, because we don't want things to be thrown out. We take hand-me-downs for the simple fact that we don’t want it going to landfill,” she said.
In addition to sourcing more ethical clothing options, Ms Campbell said she uses cloth nappies and reusable feminine hygiene products and paper towel alternatives.
While the Campbells try to buy everything they can second-hand, Ms Campbell said the mattress her daughter sleeps on is brand-new.
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