Overview

Comingupfern "Baby Jail Cells" Crib Controversy refers to the negative reaction to a video by TikToker Alice Bender, also known as @comingupfern on the platform, about her disapproval of baby cribs, which she refers to as "baby jail cells."

Background

On January 12th, 2020, TikToker @comingupfern published a video in which she explains her opposition to cribs. In the video, while holding her infant child, she says, "We literally buy these little baby jail cells so we can leave our baby in there and walk away. I don't have a crib because I will never enforce a bedtime for my child […] Imagine if your partner locked you in a container you couldn't get out of and forced you to sleep when you're not tired that would be abuse and you would probably leave them." The post received more than 7.7 million views, 791,000 likes and 56,000 comments in less than two weeks (shown below).

Developments

Online Reaction

Many reacted negatively to the video on the platform. For example, one TikToker wrote, "As a former baby, I don't remember being in cribs," which received more than 187,000 reactions (shown below, left). Another TikToker wrote, "Babies NEED sleep, even when they fight it (don't want it)." The post received more than 167,000 reactions (shown below, right).

On January 16th, 2021, New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz tweeted the video with the caption, "With all due respect." The post received more than 428,000 views, 5,900 likes and 1,200 retwets in less than one week (shown below).

Several media outlets covered the controversy, including Distractify,^[1] The Daily Dot^[2] and the Mirror.^[3]

With all due respect, wtf pic.twitter.com/YnyaIhZWkx

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) January 17, 2021

Several media outlets covered the controversy, including Distractify,^[1] The Daily Dot^[2] and the Mirror.^[3]

Search Interest

Not available.

External References