Emily Ratajkowski Mom-Shamed for How She’s Holding Her New Baby

Supermodel Emily Ratajkowski shared another new photo with her 3-month-old baby on Instagram Sunday, showing the two wearing matching bathing suits. Although Ratajkowski shut off the comments section for the post, social media users took to Twitter to bash the way the 30-year-old star held her baby. Ratajkowski and her husband, Sebastian Bear McClard, welcomed son Sylvester Apollo Bear on March 8.

The new photo shows Ratajkowski and Sylvester wearing matching blue and orange swimsuits. “Bday eve with the dream vacation partner,” she wrote, referring to how Monday is her 30th birthday. The post included four other photos, all showing Sylvester in her arms. The first photo showed Sylvester’s head leaning one way in a worrying direction. In the last picture, though, she clutched Sylvester close to her body, with his head resting on her shoulder.

Although Instagram users could not directly comment on the post, many took to Twitter to mom-shame Ratajkowski. Even Piers Morgan jumped into the fray. “That’s not how you hold a baby [Ratajkowski] – and your millions of followers shouldn’t be encouraged to do the same. Happy to give you some tips if you need them,” the father of four wrote. He only shared the first photo in Ratajkowski’s Instagram post, not the one showing Sylvester’s head on her shoulder. Another Twitter user compared the photo to an older picture of Ratajkowski holding her dog in a similar way. “Why does she hold small helpless beings like a textbook?” they wrote.

Dr. Danelle Fisher, chair of pediatrics at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, told Yahoo Life that babies’ head and neck muscles are “still strengthening” during their first four months, so it is important to “support the head.” However, once a baby gets older and they can sit up on their own, “you don’t have to support the head as much,” she explained. Holding a baby around the torso or midsection could lead to them spitting up, Fisher said. Babies should be supported under the arms, torso, and head, Fisher added.

“There are lots of different ways to hold a baby, and you don’t have to hold them the same way,” she told Yahoo Life. “You just want to make sure that the baby has good support.” Fisher did add that the amount of support a baby needs is dependent on the baby’s needs. “We want to assess how well that baby can sit and position themselves, and respond to the needs of the baby,” she explained.