I was never officially diagnosed, but Iâm sure that after my son was born, I was dealing with a bit of postpartum anxiety. I worried about everything. And I didnât want to leave the house. I thought about the potential for stray dogs when we took walks. Even routine trips to the pediatrician those first weeks had me wondering if we were going to get into a car accident.
It wasnât debilitating, and it eventually became a more normal level of parental worry. But truth be told, itâs not hard for me to catastrophize, thinking about all of the horrible things that could happen to my child. Judging by the reaction to one influencerâs picture with her infant son, Iâm not the only one.
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Camila Coehlo shared a picture of her son propped up on a balcony with views of the Eiffel Tower in the background.
Influencer Camila Coehlo, has nearly 10 million followers on Instagram. So to say sheâs popular is an understatement. But a recent image she shared of herself and her 7-month-old son Kai, have raised some concerns from her followers. In the photo in question, Camila stands with her arm around Kai, who is propped on the ledge of her balcony at the HĂŽtel Plaza AthĂ©nĂ©e in Paris overlooking the Eiffel Tower, reported Today.
Her commenters immediately expressed their concern.
The image is beautiful. And itâs received 1.3 million likes, but her followers arenât congratulating Camila on the composition of the shot or commenting on her outfit. Instead, theyâre taking issue with her childâs safety. Many of the comments are admonishments.
âOk, youâre amazing but donât put him in danger!â one user wrote. âYou got him, but just for the sake of his life itâs not necessary to lift Iâm up on the edge of the balcony!â
Others attributed her actions to the ills of influencing.
Others criticized Coehlo for prioritizing the shot over safety.
âWhen u care more about the eiffel tower being in the shot than ur childâs safety influencing at all costs,â a comment reads.
Someone else warned that while her child might have been secure in this image, people who follow her might attempt to duplicate this with tragic results.
â[I'm] sure you were in control, but there will be other wannabe bloggers who will try to recreate this [image] and potentially put their babies at risk," one person commented. "It takes a second for an accident to happen. Itâs not worth the risk or pic.â
If Camila saw the critiques, she didn't seem bothered by them.
If Camila saw the criticism, she didnât let it deter her. Later, she posted a reel with herself and Kai on the balcony once again. Heâs not standing on the ledge this time, but she is holding him close to it while she sips some tea. Again, the comments questioned Camilaâs choice, claiming that she was doing it all out of spite. Some even vowed to unfollow her as a result.
Experts agree with the commenters: This is not safe.
But more than just internet comments, Dr. Arun Chopra, chief of pediatrics at Hassenfeld Childrenâs Hospital at NYU Langone, warned against Camilaâs choice saying children that young are unpredictable.
âThey tend to throw themselves around and try to investigate the world,â he told Today. âWhen youâre holding an infant â whether itâs on a ledge or just walking down the street â they can generate a lot of force just by flipping their body backwards, and thatâs gonna be hard to hold onto.â
With this one, the old adage rings true: Better safe than sorry.
