ANY parent knows how tricky it can be to get your kids to stay in bed as they seemingly find any excuse to leave their bedroom.
But one mum might’ve taken her mission to get some peace and quiet at night a step too far.
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Posting on Instagram, Lisa Flom, who is a mum-of-three, shared a clip showing how she keeps her daughter from wandering downstairs to get a drink at night.
Her so-called hack? A hamster water bottle, which she fixed to the bedframe with a cable tie.
The idea was that her daughter can drink from the so the tot can drink without making a mess or disturbing the rest of the household.
“Things I wish I knew as a first time mum,” Lisa wrote over the viral clip, which has amassed 65.5 million views and over 60K commented from baffled social media users.
“She always has water when she needs it,” the mum captioned the video.
But Lisa’s reasoning wasn’t enough to convince other parents her trick was all that great, and many slammed the mum for treating her daughter like a “pet”.
“She’s not a hamster,” one Instagram user commented.
And a second agreed: “Why are you treating her like a pet?”
“Ok I just can’t get behind this one! Weird! Just weird!” another mum wrote.
And another quipped: “What in the f**king Stuart Little?”
Others thought that hack was “disturbing” and “ridiculous”.
But the mum must stand by her little trick, as she went on to share another video of her doing the same with with one of her younger children.
This time, she attached a hamster bottle to her toddler’s cot and used the same caption from the previous video.
Once again, the mum was slammed in the comments for her “awful parenting” and lack of “health and safety.”
But there were some Instagram users who saw the funny side of the video, and some even mused the mum could be joking.
One said: “Are you going to put a running wheel in there too?”
“I usually just put a little water dish in the corner for mine,” another joked.
“When you wanted a hamster but get pregnant,” someone else chimed in.
Meanwhile, some parents thought the video was a bad idea, even if the mum was only joking.
One said: “Please don’t post silly things like this. It’s not good to push dangerous ideas forward.
“Our children are not pets. We can be responsible parents and provide water through appropriate means in appropriate environment.
“No need for this to ‘ensure she gets enough water whenever she needs.”
Cot safety standards
Babies spend a lot of time in their cots, so it’s vital to make sure they’re up to safety standards.
According to the NHS these standards include:
- The mattress must fit snugly, with no space for the baby’s head to get stuck.
- The bars must be smooth, securely fixed, and the distance between each bar should not be more than 6.5cm (2.5 inches), so your baby’s head cannot get trapped.
- The cot should be sturdy.
- The moving parts should work smoothly and not allow fingers or clothing to get trapped.
- Cot bumpers are not recommended as babies can overheat or get tangled in the fastenings.
- Never leave anything with ties, such as bibs or clothes, in the cot as they might get caught around your baby’s neck.
- The safest place for your baby to sleep is on their back in a cot in the same room as you for the first 6 months.
