TikTok couple slammed for leaving toddlers unattended in cruise cabin
<p>TikTok Influencers Matt and Abby Howard have been slammed online for their controversial parenting choice while on a family vacation. </p>
<p>In a now deleted video, the couple explained that they had brought their sons Griffin, 2, and August, 1 on a family cruise, and they went to dinner without the boys, but monitored the room through FaceTime. </p>
<p>"So we ended up taking them for 5 nights and it became apparent that they weren't enjoying it and therefore we weren't either," they said in the caption. </p>
<p>"So THEN we switched our dinner time to AFTER their bedtime and FaceTimed the monitors while we ate."</p>
<p>Abby noted that baby monitors "don't work on board unless you're only like 10 feet away", adding that their dinnertime solution worked out "much better for everyone" </p>
<p>Social media users were quick to respond to their decision, with many highlighting the safety concerns. </p>
<p>"They literally could not have gotten to them fast enough if anything had happened and I cannot stop thinking about that. It’s sickening," one wrote on Reddit. </p>
<p>"It's literally common sense that you do not leave a baby alone unsupervised," another added. </p>
<p>"The fact that they would so willingly leave their children in an unfamiliar environment completely alone is shocking," another added. </p>
<p>"Are they seriously that f****** dumb? Do they not watch the news, have they not seen what happened to Madeline McCann?" a fourth wrote. </p>
<p>Following the controversy, the couple released a video claiming that a family member was always with the children while they were at dinner, although they didn't clarify who. </p>
<p>"We take our roles as parents extremely seriously and we love our children more than anything in the entire world, and we're very protective of our kids," Matt said in the video. </p>
<p>"We had someone with our children at all times on this boat," he continued adding that the speculation surrounding them is "completely untrue". </p>
<p>"I do want to clarify that we have not, would not, will not ever leave our children unattended. We would would never, ever want to put them in harms way in anyway," Abby added. </p>
<p>She explained that her family would "tag team" to help the couple out with watching their children. </p>
<p>Viewers were quick to speculate whether they were telling the truth, while others were glad they clarified. </p>
<p>"Thanks for the clarification because it did come off like the boys were alone- context is everything," one wrote. </p>
<p>"I hope this is the truth," another added. </p>
<p>"For them to post about it like it's some genius parenting hack is just wild," a third wrote. </p>
<p><em>Image: Instagram</em></p>
