Alice Bender, 22, is a young mother who lives in Arizona, US who has strong ideas about child education. According to her, we should not be afraid of the microbes that help strengthen the immune system. That is why Alice lets her child lick pebbles, eat dirt and many other things.

The young mother is very active on the TikTok social network. This Phoenix mom gave birth to her baby boy named Fern 8 months ago. Since then, she has regularly shared her vision of motherhood with Internet users. Her ideas are controversial and often times create great debates on the Internet!

Mom doesn't stop her 8 month old baby from eating sand

In one of her videos, which has been viewed more than 12 million times on TikTok, the American mom says she wants to "change the public perspective" on bacteria and babies. For the young mother, a “series of billion dollar campaigns” carried out in recent decades by Western medicine would have convinced us of the harmful effects of microbes.

She allows her baby to lick the dirty shopping carts. 

However, for Alice who exclusively breastfeeds her newborn baby, breast milk is precisely the ideal protection against bacteria. "Breast milk is incredible," she added, calling it "the original medicine." The mother therefore lets her child face bacteria on a daily basis. Fern can eat rocks, sand and dirt and even lick shopping carts when his mom is shopping.

Fern can eat dirt.

“I am not afraid of bacteria. In fact, I welcome them with pleasure, ”insists Alice, who“ trusts nature ”and her baby. For the young woman, breast milk is there to protect newborns "while they are building their immune system." The American insists on one point, however: when she stops breastfeeding Fern, her baby will no longer be able to put what he wants in his mouth. But for now, Alice says she "noticed that Fern is very healthy compared to the other babies." 

Baby cradles and cribs are 'cruel'. 

This isn't the first time Alice Bender has posted a video on TikTok that has gone viral. On January 12, the young mother shared her point of view on baby sleeping. She explained then practicing the "co-sleeping" method since the birth of Fern. This practice, which consists of sleeping with your newborn baby, is criticized by many professionals. The latter warn of the dangers of suffocation for babies, linked to the presence of blankets and sheets, but also of their own sleeping parents.

Choosing to put your baby to sleep in a suitable bed would be, in her eyes, a “cruel” practice. For the young mom, crib beds are akin to detention and placing her child in them would be punishment. "We are literally buying these baby cells so that we can let them go and go," she insists in her video.

What do you think? Do you agree with Alice?

Do you let your child lick and eat dirty things?