Malaysian 'Gen Z mother' criticised online, apologises after taping pacifiers to babies' mouths during drive

A self-proclaimed "Gen Z mother" from Malaysia has come under fire for her potentially dangerous method to keep her babies quiet.

In a now-deleted post, Threads user Syadajeff shared photos showing her driving with her two children in baby car seats, with pacifiers taped onto their mouths.

"I just want to be proud of myself for successfully driving the twins to the hospital by myself," she wrote, adding that it was always "chaos" whenever she had to take them for their hospital appointments.

In a follow-up post, Syada added that it was a "last resort" decision to tape the pacifiers on their mouths.

"I had been getting ready since 12pm and the appointment was at 2pm, but I had to soothe the babies for a long time until it was 2.30pm when I started driving," she explained.

"So my last option was to tape [their mouths] for around 13 minutes in the car. Alhamdulillah they were safe even though it was a risky move!"

Netizens were alarmed and enraged.

Another mum, going by the name of Dhiadaily, responded: "Please do not ever tape the pacifier onto your child's mouth to keep them quiet while driving. This is not judgement, but a safety hazard! It's dangerous!"

She shared that if mums were worried about pacifiers falling out of their babies' mouths, they could get a pacifier clip to secure it.

"Stop in a safe place if the child is acting up," she added. "Let the child cry for a while (crying is communication) rather than risking their lives."

Syada made a series of follow-up posts on Thursday (Jan 15), apologising: "I admit it was a stupid solution in that moment and could have jeopardised my babies' safety."

The mum-of-three added that she was also reaching out to people who had criticised her to apologise in private messages and ask them not to share her children's photos further.

She also assured netizens that she was not taping their mouths at home.

"Once again, thank you for your concerns. I failed to assess the situation as a whole," she wrote. 

"I'll be a better mum. I pray for each one of you to be blessed."

drimac@asiaone.com