Louise Thompson and her husband Ryan Libbey have sparked backlash after appearing to ‘mock’ children who are still wearing nappies by the time they start school.
Speaking on the latest episode of their podcast He Said, She Said, the couple, who are parents to son Leo, four, discussed the statistic that one in four children are sent to school before they are potty trained.
Louise admitted she was ‘shocked’ by the statistic before laughing when Ryan said ‘that’s a raw deal’ for teachers.
‘I think a basic human right is to teach your child before the age of four how to use the loo and how to wipe their bum,’ insisted Louise.
The couple laughed again as Louise added that ‘28% of kids are going to reception unable to eat and drink on their own. That’s like almost a third of children. So, you’ve got a large number of kids in reception who have got nappies on and they can’t feed or drink themselves.’
The comments sections on the podcast’s social media accounts were flooded with criticism from parents.
Louise Thompson and her husband Ryan Libbey have sparked backlash after appearing to ‘mock’ children who are still wearing nappies by the time they start school
‘I just can’t believe you were laughing while talking about it without a single thought for parents and children who are struggling. I was very sad to see the video,’ commented one.
‘Laughing while talking about children who are struggling is disappointing, whether it was aimed at the children themselves or just immature humour about “poo,” it came across poorly. Overall, very disappointing.’
‘Just genuinely gobsmacked, kids who aren’t toilet trained or unable to feed themselves is definitely not something to laugh about,’ agreed another. ‘I am also a parent whose child struggled through no fault of his own. Please read parents stories and hopefully use this to educate your audience in future.’
Accounts dedicated to SEN (Special Educational Needs) children have also reposted the clip with their own commentary.
The Instagram account autismandourworld states that ‘children with special needs deserve dignity, understanding, and compassion – not public ridicule.’
‘Platforms that should be used to promote kindness, compassion, and understanding are instead being used to mock and ridicule children with special needs, and to blame parents for developmental delays that are often far more complex than people realise.’
The account tagged Louise and pointed out her brother Sam Thompson’s ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, saying: ‘I really expected more from a person who has a brother who is neurodivergent’.
Others pointed out Louise’s well-documented health issues could make her more sympathetic.
‘How incredibly ignorant. As someone who has listened to your podcast for a while, this will be my last,’ read one comment. ‘Please educate yourselves before commenting on subjects like this. All I take from this is 2 very privileged GROWN ADULTS laughing at children because they wear nappies.’
Speaking on the latest episode of their podcast, the couple, who are parents to son Leo, four, discussed the statistic that one in four children are sent to school before they are potty trained
‘As a woman who’s a mum and has a stoma bag, I really did think better of you. No 2 children are the same. No 2 families are the same. Let’s not judge and tear down others.’
The statistics quoted by Louise and Ryan come from an annual survey of primary school staff in England by the early years charity Kindred Squared, which states that ‘teachers estimated that 26% of the children in their reception class were having frequent toilet mishaps, rising to more than one in three (36%) in the north-east.’
The survey also found that 28% of children were unable to eat and drink independently and 25% were struggling with other basic life skills.
That figure does not account for the proportion of children whose delays may be related to disabilities or special educational needs.
A clip of Louise and Ryan’s discussion has since been removed from the podcast’s Instagram account without explanation.
Followers criticised the lack of apology with one posting: ‘Simply removing the video without addressing the impact comes across as dismissive rather than accountable. A genuine apology and some understanding of why people are upset would have gone a long way.’
Louise and Ryan went on to discuss their ‘theories’ for the statistics, with Louise saying ‘maybe parents are just doing too much for their kids. Maybe it’s like a bit of a copout.’
‘They’re like, “Oh, my child’s crying and they’re being a bit difficult. I can’t be bothered with the hassle, so I’m just going to take the easy route.”‘
The comments section on the podcast’s social media accounts were flooded with criticism from parents
Accounts dedicated to SEN children have also reposted the clip with their own commentary. The Instagram account autismandourworld states that ‘children with special needs deserve dignity, understanding, and compassion’
A clip of the discussion has since been removed from the podcast’s Instagram account without explantation. Followers criticised the lack of apology
She added: ‘I think that people are so distracted these days with screens that they can’t be bothered to dedicate the time.’
The couple also explained how they had help with their son’s potty training, with Ryan admitting that his parents ‘pretty much broke the back on the potty training for us with Leo because we went away for a week and he went to his grandparents and they got him out of nappies in a week. It was quite convenient to be honest.’
Ryan added his ‘theory,’ admitting ‘this could get me in hot water… I think there’s maybe fewer parents than there used to be who were comfortable in the acceptance of I’m a parent. Full stop. As in like my job is to look after my child or my children.’
‘I think what happens now is is that you’ve got very career-hungry, ambitious parents who are maybe younger and something’s got to give in that scenario maybe. And it’s these little moments of potty training and correct development with eating and drinking.’
Louise went on to theorise that parents who do not send their children to a nursery setting may not be as ‘exposed’ to ‘feedback’ on reaching milestones.
‘I think that at nursery they would have flagged to us if Leo was still in nappies at three or four or even like two plus,’ she said. ‘It’s part of the narrative that you have when your child is being looked after… Surely it’s for someone to pick up on that that is not the behavioral norm.’
‘If I hang out with any of my friends, like we’re all trying to hit those developmental milestones. It’s one of the things we actually talk about and we talk about our kids a lot.’
Representatives for Louise and Ryan have been contacted by Daily Mail for comment.
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