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Friday, October 30, 2026Oct 30

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Baumgardner: Parenting: Easy (and wrong) to make judgments from sidelines

Silhouette of Child Jumping into Happy Father's Arms
Silhouette of Child Jumping into Happy Father's Arms Silhouette of Child Jumping into Happy Father's Arms

When David and Victoria Beckham were recently criticized by parenting experts for allowing their 4-year-old daughter to have a pacifier, David took to social media to set the record straight.

“Why do people feel they have the right to criticize a parent about their own children without having any facts?? Everybody who has children knows that when they aren’t feeling well or have a fever you do what comforts them best and most of the time it’s a pacifier so those who criticize think twice about what you say about other people’s children because actually you have no right to criticize me as a parent,” said Beckham.

His response garnered over 600,000 likes on Instagram and more than 23,000 comments encouraging him in his efforts to be a great dad.

Isn’t it interesting how people can take a snapshot in time and make assumptions that may or may not be correct?

“The Irreducible Needs of Children: What Every Child Must Have to Grow, Learn, and Flourish,” a parenting book by pediatrician Dr. T. Berry Brazelton and child psychiatrist Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan, lists seven basic needs of children: nurturing relationships, physical safety and security, opportunities based on individual personality, developmentally appropriate experiences, rules and expectations, a supportive community and cultural continuity, and future protection.