TikToker couple Matt and Abby Howard have found themselves under fire after their recent family cruise. Known for getting candid about their parenting style on the Unplanned Podcast, they’ve sparked a massive backlash after revealing they left their toddler sons alone in their cabin while they enjoyed a dinner date.
The pair have finally responded to the internet hate and they are not holding back!
What happened on Matt and Abby’s controversial cruise?
So here’s the full story: while on a seven-night cruise with their little ones, Griffin (2) and August (1), Matt and Abby decided to leave their kids snoozing in their cabin while they went out for dinner.
In a now-deleted Instagram Story, Abby explained that they adjusted their dining schedule to fit the kids’ bedtime. She even mentioned using FaceTime to check in on them. “Baby monitors don’t work on board unless you’re within about 10 feet,” she said, adding that this setup worked better for everyone.
But the internet did not agree.
The internet turns on Matt and Abby
Social media users wasted no time flooding platforms like TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) with their opinions. “Obviously not enough people take true crime seriously,” TikToker @yourfinestpardon said in a video.
“It’s terrifying. Like, what happens if you come back from eating dinner and you have no idea how your kids are doing? How long — if there was an emergency — would it take you to get back to the room?”
The backlash focused heavily on safety concerns, with many folks arguing that leaving young kids unattended, even for a few hours, was reckless.
Matty and Abby respond to the cruise hate
In a recent TikTok, Matt explained that there was a misunderstanding about their parenting choices. “We take our role as parents extremely seriously and we love our children more than anything in the entire world,” he said.
He explained that they were “at dinner, FaceTiming the baby monitors while our children were asleep in their staterooms.”
“And people started to speculate, and believe, that we had left our children alone in their staterooms — and that is just completely untrue. We had someone with our children at all times on this boat. Period,” he continued.
Abby added her thoughts saying, “I can see where my story did lead to misunderstanding, which is why I ended up deleting it several hours after posting it.”
She expressed gratitude for those who were concerned about their children’s safety but clarified that they would never leave them unattended.
In fact, Abby explained that they use baby monitors at home and while traveling due to their boys’ sleeping arrangements. “August and Griffin sleep in blackout tents that have a slot for a white noise machine and a baby monitor,” she detailed.
“Even if we are sleeping in the exact same room as the boys, we always turn their monitor on.”
Matt reassured that if it weren’t for having Abby’s family on board with them during the cruise, they likely wouldn’t have left the room at all. “We spent a lot of time on this boat in our staterooms manning baby monitors,” he said.
Fans have now changed their tune and can see where Matt and Abby are coming from. “A babysitter here! So I find it’s VERY common that parents have cameras/baby monitors on and they watch them even while I’m there. It’s just another safety measure so it makes sense why they’d do that,” said one TikTok comment.
“Simple misunderstanding everyone is so quick to judge. I can tell Abby’s very upset in this video,” acknowledged another.
Matt and Abby have gone back to regularly posting on their Instagram stories and seem to want to move on from this scandal.
Lead image: Matt Howard via Instagram/ Canva
The post TikTokers Matt & Abby Finally Respond To Backlash For Leaving Their Toddlers Alone On A Cruise appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
