Matt and Abby Howard, the social media parenting duo who boast a combined 13 million followers, have made a parenting decision that has set social media on fire.
With their young sons in tow—2-year-old Griffin and 1-year-old August—the Howards embarked on a family cruise with Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas. What should have been a peaceful family getaway, not to mention a chance for them to get some solid Instagram content, took a viral turn, and not in a way that’ll win them any brand deals.
The Howards have perfected the art of looking like they’re acing parenthood—but the couple found themselves in a whirlpool of backlash after deciding to leave their toddlers alone in a stateroom while they hit the main dining room for dinner.
For multiple nights.
Monitoring them through a FaceTime feed—a workaround for the Motorola baby monitors they brought, and which, surprise, didn’t function correctly on a cruise ship.
To paraphrase Abby Howard’s since-deleted Instagram story: “We switched our dinner time to after their bedtime and FaceTimed the monitors while we ate.”
Leaving toddlers unattended in a cruise cabin is a risky move at the best of times—you’re on a moving vessel, surrounded by strangers, with a million things that can go wrong. The Howards then had the poor judgement to prop their phones up, hit “FaceTime,” and TikTok it as a parenting hack.
Cruise lines have a history with baby monitors, some of them outright banned the devices, for a simple reason: leaving kids unattended is a safety hazard. Many parents and social media users were quick to pile on, labelling the Howards’ decision as reckless, selfish, and quite frankly, dangerous.
Mrs Howard tried to get ahead of the criticism in her post, claiming they were unable to reserve spots for their children in the ship’s nursery. “You need to book ahead if your child is under three, and pretty much all of the dinner slots were already booked before I could get to the nursery.”
Yet this preemptive excuse fell flat for most.
For the Howard family, who make a living by showcasing their seemingly perfect family life, the backlash has been instant and brutal.
The couple posted a follow-up video on Instagram on September 16, addressing the backlash to the idea they left their kids alone in the cabin, which they have called “completely untrue.”
“We had someone with our children at all times on this boat, period,” Matt Howard said in the follow-up video but the couple did not expand on who that may have been.
Abby Howard added, “I can see where my (Instagram) story did lead to misunderstanding, which is why I ended up deleting it several hours after posting it, as I could see that it was causing concern and misunderstanding.” She went on to say that the couple uses baby monitors when their children sleep, regardless of whether they are home or in the same room.
“We have not, would not, will not ever leave our children unattended.”
However many social media followers questioned their story. One said, “Why do you need to watch the monitors if they are with a trusted adult? Genuinely curious.”
A teachable moment for cruising families
For those invested in cruising—and not just for a fleeting moment of social media fame—this saga serves as a valuable reminder. Nearly all cruise ships offer family-friendly amenities, including excellent and extensive childcare services and activities designed for young kids.
However, if you’re planning a family cruise, particularly with toddlers, preparation is absolutely essential. Book early. The minute you’re thinking about dining reservations, you should be thinking about how and where your kids will be entertained and cared for.
Royal Caribbean’s ships, like many cruise lines, offer award-winning childcare services and nursery programs for babies and toddlers. But it’s first come, first served, and seasoned cruisers know how fast those slots disappear.
Did the Howards do something catastrophic? No. But did they make a series of questionable choices that they now have to face the consequences for? Absolutely.
