Considering that he’s a dad of five, Jamie Oliver is no novice when it comes to parenting. But he recently found himself getting a tongue-lashing from his mum because of a photo he posted of youngest son River Rocket, seven months, online.
Jamie posted a cute snap of the tot lying on a tiled floor on his back, smiling happily up at the camera. The TV chef wrote underneath: “Morning, little boy…always good to get a nice smile.”
His mum Sally Oliver was quick to reprimand him, writing underneath the Instagram snap: “This adorable child! He looks so like you as a baby! But please get him off that hard floor now.”
But when fans chimed in, Sally said that she was only teasing her son. When one man stepped in to defend the celebrity chef, his mother replied: “You’re quite right, the floor is very clean and River is very well cared for, I was only teasing Jamie.”
But is leaving a baby on a hard floor harmful? Parenting expert Sue Atkins says it is.
She told The Mail Online that the tiled floor isn’t a suitable surface to leave such a young tot on, even for a short period of time.
She said: “At that age they’re wibbly wobbly and they bang back and definitely could bang his head and also it’s just too hard a surface for a little one.
“A baby’s head is quite soft in the early stages and at seven-months their little heads aren’t fully developed and you know you could get a nasty injury to them.”
She explained: “You could get a concussion if a baby is only seven months old and he cracks his head on the back of a big surface like that.
“You can get a huge fright, you can get a trauma. I don’t want to be scaremongering about that but it could be quite a serious injury you could get from cracking your head on a hard surface.”
She advised that a safe way to let your tot explore different parts of the house is to put baby-friendly pillows down before you put them down on a hard surface.
She said: “If you want them on the floor to roll around and have a bit of fun of course, but put some cushions round his head and around his body.”
We all know Jamie is a good dad so we’re sure he will be more cautious in the future.
