TikTok couple Matt and Abby Howard deny leaving toddlers unattended in cruise cabin: ‘We take our role as parents extremely seriously’

An influencer couple was forced to address “untrue” allegations that they left their two toddlers unattended in their cruise cabin while they enjoyed a romantic dinner at the ship’s restaurants.

Influencers Matt and Abby Howard were on a seven-night cruise over the weekend with their sons, Griffin, 2, and August, 1, when mom Abby posted about having to FaceTime the two tots in their cabin as she and Matt enjoyed dinner.

Abby, 25, claimed they had to do so because the baby monitors didn’t “work on board” the cruise ship.

Many online quickly assumed this meant the couple had left the youngsters alone in the cabin — which only fanned the flame further when Abby deleted the post.

Some even wildly compared the situation to Madeleine McCann, the UK youngster who disappeared from her family’s vacation apartment in Portugal in 2007 after her parents had gone to dinner and left her alone.

“I guess they’ve never heard of Madeleine McCann?” one Redditor snarkily commented on a post about the incident.

“Makes me think of Madeleine McCann,” another added.

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“Madeleine McCann is the first thing I thought of. She also had selfish parents who wanted to go out for adult time while on vacation,” wrote another.

However, facing growing backlash, the TikTok parents were forced to clear the air in a lengthy video on Monday explaining that their children were not unattended “at any time” aboard the cruise.

“We take our role as parents extremely seriously, and we love our children more than anything in the entire world. We’re very protective of our kids,” Matt, 26, said in a video posted to Instagram .

“People started to speculate and believe that we had left our children alone in their staterooms — and that is just completely untrue.”

Matt sternly stated that their two toddlers had someone watching them “at all times on this boat. Period.”

“I can see where my story did lead to misunderstanding,” Abby said. “Which is why I ended up deleting it several hours after posting it because I could see that it was causing concern and misunderstanding.”

The mother of two thanked her followers for being “concerned about the safety and well-being” of their two tots.

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“To know that other people share those same concerns for our precious boys, it really means a lot,” Abby said.

“But I do want to clarify that we have not, would not, will not ever leave our children unattended. We would never ever want to put them in harm’s way in any way.”

She then clarified the “baby monitor situation” by explaining that their toddlers sleep in a “blackout tent” with a place for a monitor.

“We always turn their monitor on so we can watch and see what’s happening inside the tent — make sure they’re OK, see if they’ve fallen asleep or if they’ve woken up,” the TikToker shared.

“We just love to have eyes on them, we’re always concerned about them.”

Abby added that she and her husband would “take turns” watching the FaceTime.

“We’re so thankful for them, you guys. We spent a lot of time on this boat in our staterooms manning baby monitors,” Matt said.

“If it wasn’t for Abby’s extended family, we really would have not gotten a chance to really get out of the room.”

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Nevertheless, social media users still questioned if the young parents were telling the truth or were trying to cover their tracks.

“Why do you need to watch the monitors if they are with a trusted adult? Genuinely curious,” one Instagram user commented.

“It’s weird that they didn’t say who was watching the babies?” another question.

“If people were watching your children, then why even make the post in the first place?” another asked.

Though many wanted a further explanation of the situation, others rushed to the defense of the Howards.

“People will find literally ANYTHING to tear you down for. You’re just a normal young family, living learning & growing. Everyone in the comments acts like they’re perfect,” one user wrote.

“You can see on Abby’s face how upset she is about this. Don’t let them get to you. People will always talk about something,” commented another.

“It makes me sad that as parents we have to explain ourselves. Or you’ll be scrutinized. As if it’s anyone’s business. You guys are wonderful,” another user added.

Matt and Abby were high school sweethearts who married in July 2019. Three years later, they started growing their family with the births of their sons in July 2022 and August 2023.

The couple has been together since high school, has more than 5 million followers on TikTok and more than 7 million subscribers on YouTube, and hosts “The Unplanned Podcast,” which “dives into genuine conversations surrounding relationships and family.”

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