People say my controversial parenting methods are ‘abusive’

A mother has gone viral after revealing her controversial methods of parenting where her children won’t attend school, visit the doctor, or eat meat.

Mother-of-two Kaytlynn Green, 23, from Missouri, also believes kids shouldn’t have set bedtime routines, shouldn’t wear shoes or socks, and be raised on a vegan diet.

Despite sparking plenty of controversy online, Kaytlynn isn’t fazed by people’s comments and is adamant she will continue to raise her daughter, Olive, three, and son Felix, one, this specific way.

Mother-of-two Kaytlynn Green, 23, from Missouri, has gone viral after revealing her controversial methods of parenting where her children won’t attend school, don’t visit the doctor, and don’t eat meat

Kaytlynn always knew she wanted to be a mother, and wasn’t raised the way she wanted to raise her own kids, so she was excited when her and husband Jesse, 31, started their own family.

She explains: ‘I practice what’s called holistic and respectful parenting, however people have told me I’m abusive for not allowing them to eat certain foods and tell me I don’t deserve to have children.

‘People also tell me it’s dangerous to sleep in bed with them, and don’t agree with me letting them be barefoot – as well as the fact I home school them.

‘I know what I do isn’t classed as normal, but I didn’t think it was controversial. The hate doesn’t bother me, I’m very confident in my decisions and these people don’t understand that.

Kaytlynn shares her controversial parenting methods in online videos were she claims kids shouldn’t have set bedtime routines, shouldn’t wear shoes or socks, and should be raised on a vegan diet

Kaytlynn who is pictured with her husband Jesse, 31, (left) and their son Felix, one, believes kids shouldn’t have set bedtime routines

Kaytlynn isn’t fazed by people’s comments and is adamant she will continue to raise her daughter, Olive, three, and son Felix, one, this specific way

‘They probably don’t know any different and are probably miserable.

‘My motherhood journey started well. I grew up in large family and was the oldest of eight kids, so I’ve always helped raise children ever since I was young. I always knew I wanted to be mum.

‘I wasn’t raised how I wanted to raise my own kids, so I was always excited to raise my own and give them a better future.

‘I changed my discipline values. They shouldn’t be hit, shamed or told their opinions don’t matter. I don’t agree with the whole what the parent says goes.

‘I was raised to feel shamed and not voice my opinion, and I don’t want my kids to feel like that.’

When Kaytlynn started sharing her parenting styles, she didn’t think she was controversial (pictured holding her son Felix) 

Even from pregnancy Kaytlynn knew she wasn’t going to follow the same route as everyone else

When Kaytlynn started sharing her parenting styles, she didn’t think she was controversial. 

Even from pregnancy she knew she wasn’t going to follow the same route as everyone else, and opted to have a wild birth, with no pre-natal care.

She adds: ‘I had a midwife for my daughter but when she started doing things I didn’t agree with, my husband and I decided we would do it ourselves at home next time.

‘With my son I had one non-medical ultrasound to find out the birth but that was it.

‘I’m healthy so I didn’t fear anything would be wrong and I felt as if I’d know if something was wrong as I was so in tune when I was pregnant before, so it felt unnecessary.

‘I felt like midwife appointments weren’t needed as they were only 10 minutes long and all they’d check was the blood pressure and heart rate – something I can do at home.

‘If there was something wrong with my baby, such as a disability, it wouldn’t have changed what I’d do, I was always going to have the baby anyway.

‘It was just me and my husband at the birth and I was really relaxed. I also practise attachment parenting, which means we stay with our babies all the time for the first six months and we all sleep in the same bed. All four of us.

Kaytlynn practises attachment parenting, which means the couple stay with their babies all the time for the first six months and they all sleep in the same bed

Since documenting their lifestyle online, Kaytlynn has received a flood of comments – good and bad – with some people supportive of her ways, although most are astounded by what she does 

‘We push two mattresses together and I also exclusively breastfeed, we don’t have any bottles.

‘It feels best having them sleep next to me at night and makes them know we’re always there. We also don’t force sleep, they don’t have set bedtimes and so we follow when they’re tired or ask to go to sleep.

‘Sometimes it will be 5pm and sometimes 11pm, it varies and we don’t force naps either.

‘For the first 12 months I also don’t put them in a stroller I will wear them. Even when we’re shopping, I won’t put them in the cart and then when they become more dependent I’ll use a stroller.’

Kaytlynn feeds her children a whole food vegan diet, high in raw food, rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted grains and legumes, with very little food being cooked, to which some people have claimed as ‘abusive’.

She adds: ‘We eat a whole-food plant-based diet and raise our kids that way too. They’ve been vegan since they were born. They’ve never had animal products.

‘They don’t have processed sugar or packaged foods like Doritos and no fast food either.

Kaytlynn beams for a sweet snap with her daughter Olive as a baby however the tot is now three 

‘I make 100% of their meals. I’ll make home made bread and avocado, oatmeal, muffins and banana bread, brown rice pasta, curry, rice and beans, and burrito bowls. We eat a lot of normal food I just make it at home from scratch.

‘I was brought up with a meat and dairy diet, and at 15 I watched a documentary about animals and how they were treated which upset me. My parents didn’t let me go vegan, so at 18 I did.

‘My husband was having a heavy meat diet but now he eats vegan at home. When we moved in together I told him I’ll only cook vegan food but he likes it and eats it which is good.

‘We’ll also be barefoot in most places too. However when it’s cold in the winter we’ll wear shoes but it also depends where we are.

‘There are some places where we have to wear shoes but most of the time I try to be barefoot and my kids also prefer this as they always take shoes off anyway.

‘We’ll definitely be barefoot at the park and any time when we’re outside. Even in stores, my kids will be barefoot, but I wear shoes just because the floor is cold – but the kids don’t care.

‘We believe in child-led learning. I teach them whatever they’re interested in, and that’s what we learn about.

‘I teach them about real-life experiences – such as going to the store and having to figure out how much things cost although people see it as controversial.

‘Apparently, when we choose to let them have a say it’s controversial. We give leniency, for example if we were at the park and they don’t want to leave, we’ll resonate with them so they feel like they have a little control.

‘We also don’t leave them. They don’t go to day-care and they don’t have babysitters, only when my family come to visit is when we’ll leave them.

‘We don’t take them to doctors either. We don’t go for regular check ups, we’ll only go when they’re sick, so we’ve only been once.

‘Luckily, they don’t really get sick, but if they did, I’d use holistic methods such as herbs, homeopathies, water and rest.

‘My husband and I haven’t been to a doctor for many years as we treat things at home. If our home remedies don’t work, we’ll go to a doctor, but we’ve been able to help at home.

‘Everything I do people think I’m crazy.

‘Our families are very accepting, they’re very supportive. They’re very respectful and they know the boundaries we’ve put down.

‘We’ve made it clear that if they cross the boundaries we’ll cut contact, and this has happened with my mother as well.’

Since documenting their lifestyle online, Kaytlynn has received a flood of comments – good and bad – with some people supportive of her ways, although most are astounded by what she does.

She explains: ‘I’ve had a lot of comments. I’ve found a lot of people who agree with me.

‘I always know what I did wasn’t normal, but I had no idea it was so controversial.

‘Occasionally I’ll respond to comments, but sometimes I just ignore them.

‘At the beginning I’d always respond, but now I just delete and block people, I don’t need that kind of hate.’

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