Raylin Breider

Why I Don’t Post Photos of my Child on Social Media

Social media can be such a wonderful tool in our busy lives. Connecting with family and friends, building networks and getting up to date on current events has never been easier. It’s our norm to document almost everything about our lives. We ate at a restaurant and have to share with our friends if it was great or awful. The recent events of rioting and protesting have got you all fired up. We took an amazing trip and have photos to show just how much fun we had. Our kiddo does something so incredibly cute we have to share. Where do we turn to share with our friends? Most of us don’t make a phone call or send a text out. We go right to our social media accounts; Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. That was me, until I had a child. Let me put this out in the open before I offend someone; I am all for you sharing your children with your peeps on social media. I think it’s wonderful you post about them because I know it definitely blesses others on your feeds. I’m sharing why I personally don’t, without hating on others for posting their children on social media. I know that can be confusing to you as to why I choose not to share my child with the social media world. The bottom line is; safety. I know what you’re thinking, your profile isn’t public, you don’t post bath time photos, all of your posts are harmless, etc. I get it, I really do. I had to think really hard about what I wanted my child’s life to look like in my home. And this is what I didn’t want; me getting an endorphin rush from others liking my photos and posts. So much that I am focused on the next thing I’m going to post instead of being present with my child. I can’t even imagine all of the things I might miss if I didn’t choose to put my phone down. I’ll catch my son watching me in my every day movements and I just think to myself, “What is he learning by watching me?” “What mannerisms is he picking up?” I turn to look back at him and he smiles! It warms my heart and feeds my soul to know he feels loved and secure. I wanted a typical day in my home to be my child and I, learning and growing with minimal technological help. I am so thankful for advanced technology, but babies learn from watching us. A live, human being; being present. They don’t learn as well from a screen as they do from watching us smile, laugh, and interact with them. I want to teach my baby to empathize and respond to other humans with warmth and authenticity. I want to teach him to be genuine. To be a listener, not just a responder. That is so hard to teach with a screen at a young age. What would he learn from watching me be on my phone? I’m sure there are some positives there, but I couldn’t think of any that outweighed the negative. So the bottom line is safety; keeping my child safe from me becoming a distracted mama. My child needs me to get my endorphin rush from watching him smile and play, not from getting likes on my post.