Store manager's remarks disturb child-wearing mom

Tammie Fields | WTSP-TV, Tampa-St. Petersburg

Show Caption Hide Caption Mom shoots down criticism of 5-year-old in baby carrier A group of women have joined together after one mom was ridiculed for putting her 5-year-old daughter in a baby carrier. A store manager snapped a photo that has since gone viral.

TAMPA — A Florida mother is stunned over the criticism she received from a store manager after she went shopping with her children.

Erica Kalnins was carrying her 5-year-old daughter in a baby carrier strapped to her back while she was shopping at Citrus Park Mall on Monday. The mother of two children, had both her 5-year-old and a 1-year-old with her.

"Actually, we just stopped because my daughter wanted some bracelets. She was excited but she wasn't feeling well, so I said we'll stop real fast, so I put her in the Tula on my back."

She said she had no idea a store manager had taken a photograph of her and her daughter and posted it to social media.

A manager for Icing, a jewelry store, wrote on her own personal, public Facebook page that she snapped the photo of one of her customers while the customer was shopping. The manager used strong language to criticize Kalnins by saying she should know her daughter is much too old to be in a baby carrier.

Kalnins said the store manager's posting was shared so many times from Facebook to other baby wearing social media sites that she stumbled across it and immediately recognized her daughter.

"It's just completely unacceptable for someone to take what I did by shopping with my kids to turn it into something to cause hurt and pain," Kalnins said.

The Tampa Bay-area mom said she has received an overwhelming amount of support from as far away as Australia.

Two dozen mothers, with children strapped to them, marched to the mall Tuesday to prove a point that store managers shouldn't criticize them for the way they carry their children.

"It has nothing to do with being a lazy parent — it just has to do with us as moms wanting to carry our babies close because they're not small for long," Kalnins said. "We want to educate people that it's not a weird thing to carry your baby it's totally normal. We like to carry them to have them close we have both our hands free. It's a common sense thing — and we can shop and they're not destroying your store."

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, baby wearing promotes "parent-infant attachment and the baby's development."

The Icing store at Citrus Park said the store manager wasn't available for an interview. However, Icing's corporate office released a statement saying:

We were appalled by the views expressed by this Manager on her personal Facebook account, and her actions were a significant breach of conduct that we take very seriously. Her personal views in no way reflect the views of Icing, and we have taken the necessary appropriate action with the individual.

Christy Scott, one of the mothers showing support for Kalnins, said the store manager should be forced to apologize publicly.

"If she's able to go on her phone to take these pictures, this isn't the first time she's done it."