What to Know
Potty training my son was a process. It was important for me that we take our time and do things at his pace to make things go as smoothly as possible. It wasn’t easy, but at no point did I ever think of punishing him. I think most parents would agree that punishing your kid during the process would only make things harder. That’s why so many of them were shocked when a mom admitted on social media that she put her toddler in a cold shower for having bathroom accidents. People were so incensed by her behavior, they actually called CPS on her.
What she admitted actually horrified me.
@rubywithnews For the record, this is not ok. Who knows our little friend here? We need to make sure the kids are ok. #coldshowers #pottytraining #cps ♬ original sound – rubywithnews
In the video, which has been largely scrubbed from the internet, the mom explained that she was “accused of abusing” her child after she shared on Threads that her “most unhinged potty training hack” was to put her child in a cold shower every time they have an accident.
“Works like a charm,” she said. “Because it does.”
People began finding the video, and on TikTok, starting stitching it together with their own takes on what the mom had just revealed. Trust me when I say, people were not feeling it at all.
“Who knows her name?” TikTok user rubywithnews asked in a stitched video. “Somebody has to know her name who wants to DM me so I can talk to her…and maybe CPS. Just maybe.”
“You were accused of child abuse because that is child abuse,” she goes on to say. “This isn’t even allegedly just her children — she does this to other people’s children,” she added. “I bet that CPS would love to make a call to this lady. Because if this is what she’s willing to admit on the internet, I would bet that there’s other behaviors that are not good for children.”
The comment section turned into an investigation.
Multiple people replied, sharing screenshots of the woman’s Facebook with her name, location, and where she allegedly worked. Others combed her social media for details about her children, and seemed to find out when her oldest was born.
Within hours, all of her social media accounts had disappeared.
Even the people who didn’t search for the mom online had a lot to say about her parenting choices.
“What happened to the m&m jars when they did good? WTF?” one person wrote.
“That has literally never crossed my mind as a mom. Also those toddlers are learning a new skill, of course there’s gonna be accidents,” another commenter added.
Someone else wrote, “yk yelling and cheering when they make it to the potty is WAYY better than making them FEAR accidents.”
There was an update.
@rubywithnews Major update on the lady who punished her 2 year old with cold showers. #update #pottytraining #coldshower #greenscreen ♬ original sound – rubywithnews
Rubywithnews did post a follow-up video, saying that a lot of people, including two people who were allegedly bullied by the mom in high school, had reached out to share information with her.
She did share that she had contacted CPS in the state where the mom lived, and shared the original video with them.
Again, she reiterated that the mom’s potty training punishment was “child abuse, let’s be plain on that,” she said.
“You need some help,” she added. “That is not appropriate behavior to be doing to your child. I still can’t get over it; it is truly a disgusting thing to do to your own child. I cannot fathom doing it to mine.”
As she pointed out, what happens next is entirely up to local CPS.
“Ok thank you for calling. bc thats so bad, breaks my heart. as someone who was also abused as a kid and for having accidents it is soooo harmful. I am happy to say my son never had to experience the abuse I did and poty trained great and in his time ❤️,” one commenter wrote.
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