It is a lovely sight - a mum and her little one snuggled up together peacefully.
It is no wonder the image has been shared thousands of times across the Internet.
But this innocent picture is causing some mums a great deal of upset. And it is all down to the message behind it.
Dayna Meyer shared the image of herself asleep with her daughter, Luella that her partner had taken. She wrote:
"This was from several weeks back, yes, I climbed in the crib in hopes to soothe my screaming, teething, blushed faced, and tear soaked little girl. There I was in the heat of this exhausting, beautiful thing we call parenthood, and I remembered a promise I made to her."
Dayna outlines a story she was told by a missionary who had spent time in an orphanage in Uganda. She says that he was shocked by the silence in the room full of babies in their cots. When he asked why he was told that they did cry... until they realised no one was coming for them and then they stopped.
Dayna said that story stayed with her and broke her heart and she felt that it made her make a promise to her daughter:
"We came home, and that night as Luella rested her tiny little 10lb body against mine and we rocked, I made a promise to her. A promise that I would always come to her. Always.
At 2:00 am when pitiful desperate squeals come through a baby monitor, I will come to her.
Her first hurt, her first heartbreak, we will come to her. We will be there to hold her, to let her feel, to make decisions on her own, and we will be there. We will show her through our tears and frustrations at times, that it is okay to cry, and it's ok to feel. That we will always be a safe place, and we will always come to her"
Here is the full post:
And that is lovely. And romantic.
But it is not very realistic in the context of family life.
Many mums work and need to sleep at night. In my house, we have multiple visits from our children in the night but climbing into their cot with them is not the number one thing on my list of responses.
The message this photo says is that those parents who do let their child cry it out, or don't rush in immediately are somehow 'breaking their promise' to their child. And that is unfair.
I am all for balance. I am a sucker for their tears and would happily have them snuggle into me all night, but when it starts leaving everyone tired and grumpy it perhaps is time to reign it in. Equally, I would not have been able to let my child cry for hours when she needed me at night. I think every mum has their own instinct when it comes to knowing what is right for their child.
I respect Dayna's decision to sleep in the cot with the baby, but all I am saying is that this photo shouldn't make you feel bad if you don't.
