The parenting police are mom-shaming Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Her “crime"? Holding her baby incorrectly.
After photos were published of the former Meghan Markle, 37, cradling her 2-month-old son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, during a family outing on Wednesday, critics took to social media to share their thoughts.
“The multiple nannies ‘forgot’ to teach her how to best hold a newborn,” one person wrote on Instagram, noting that the Duchess also neglected to protect Archie from the sun with a hat. On Twitter, a troll bashed her for not having “any maternal instincts at all” and claimed “Archie’s neck and whole body” were not supported.
Another troll commented that the royal looked “so awkwardly uncomfortable” caring for her infant.
But Dr. Jen Trachtenberg, a board-certified pediatrician, says the new mother was doing absolutely nothing wrong at the charity polo match.
“There is no one right way to hold a baby,” the author and creator of Pediatrician in your Pocket, told TODAY Parents. “You want to make sure the baby is secure and that’s exactly what Meghan was doing. She’s holding him tightly with two arms. He’s not crying and he’s not uncomfortable.”
Dr. David L. Hill agrees. “I imagine that people were concerned that she was not cradling the baby’s head adequately," the pediatrician and author of "Parenting Like a Pro" told TODAY Parents. “But in general, at two months of age, there is enough head control that you don't have to constantly cradle the head."
The Duchess experienced mom-shaming before she even gave birth. Back in December, she was criticized for rubbing her bump too much in pictures.