Popular TikTok influencers under fire for leaving their children alone on a cruise ship

TikTok influencers Matt and Abby Howard have become embroiled in yet another controversy after publicly admitting to leaving their two young children alone in their cruise ship suite while they went out to dinner.

The pair, who go by Matt & Abby on TikTok, boast over 5.3 million followers. They gained popularity by sharing their relationship and lives as young parents with viewers. However, they have gained scrutiny for promoting toxic relationships in the name of tradition.

A while back, Matt posted a video “surprising” Abby by cleaning the house. He opened the video by saying, “Don’t be fooled by me picking up my house because I’m not typically the one that does it. And don’t be fooled by me taking care of my son because most of the time, my wife does that, too.” Abby defended him for not helping out around the house or in raising their child by stating they adhere to “traditional gender roles.”

Meanwhile, they’ve gained scrutiny on numerous other occasions, such as when Matt threw a tantrum because his then-pregnant wife combined Father’s Day and his birthday celebration one year or when he wrote a song about how his wife and children are “still not enough” for him. Now, they are under fire again after publicly admitting to child endangerment while framing it as a parenting hack.

Matt & Abby left their kids alone on a cruise ship

Recently, the Howards went on a vacation cruise with their two sons, ages 1 and 2. Unsurprisingly, they say their young children were acting out during the cruise. However, the pair then shocked users by sharing their solutions to the problem. In a now-deleted Instagram story, Abby explained she and Matt were struggling to enjoy the cruise due to their kids. As a result, they decided to move their dinner plans each night to after the children’s bedtime. Then, as the children slept, they would leave them alone in the room and go out to dinner.

Abby noted that the baby monitors wouldn’t work because they were more than “10 feet away.” So her parenting hack was to set up a Motorola monitor with one of their phones facing it so they could watch the monitor over FaceTime. She wrote, “And that worked out muchhhh better for everyone! :)” Of course, viewers quickly slammed the couple for leaving their two children alone and admitting to it nonchalantly. Given that they brought the monitors and spoke about it so casually, it raises the question of whether they’ve done this before.

It’s difficult to understand how they didn’t see anything wrong or dangerous about leaving their children alone in the room. After all, due to low security and the fact that jurisdictions can be unclear out on the seas, crime and disappearances aren’t uncommon on cruise ships. Plus, a baby monitor on FaceTime hardly sounds trustworthy, given that monitors are prone to freezing and wi-fi could be spotty. While it’s unclear how far away they were, it’s not difficult to imagine they were probably on a different deck or area of the boat for dinner. Even if they happened to be watching the monitor and saw one of the children have a medical emergency, head for the door, or someone enter the room, what are the chances they’d get back to the room in time to do anything?

Regardless of how close they were or how closely they were watching the monitor, children that young should never be left alone for extended periods, especially in a random cruise ship room with an outdoor balcony.

Users quickly began resharing Abby’s story on TikTok and expressing shock and horror at the decision. Many brought up Madeleine McCann, a young girl who disappeared from her hotel room on vacation while her parents were just yards away eating dinner and checking periodically on the children. What’s especially infuriating is that users discovered the cruise they were on reportedly had babysitters and a kid’s club. Moreover, the pair appear to have been traveling with their parents and other relatives, so even more adults were present to watch the children.

There are so many ways Matt and Abby could’ve enjoyed some child-free moments on vacation without endangering their children, but they seemingly just didn’t see the value in prioritizing their young children’s safety.

So far, the Howards have not responded publicly to the backlash and have been limiting comments on their posts about the trip, even though viewers want confirmation that they won’t do this again.

As usual, they’re promoting dangerous ideas to their enormous, impressionable fanbase. It’s evident that the Howards are struggling with some of the sacrifices and difficulties that come with being a parent. Now, instead of being honest and open about these struggles, they’re promoting the idea that if you’re having a hard time, you can just shirk your parental duties and endanger your children to keep enjoying life as if they don’t even exist.