Is Carrying a ‘Big Kid’ the Newest Celebrity Parenting Trend?

09/03/2010 9:00 am by

There are times when I have the distinct impression that I would make a bad celebrity. I’m not rail thin. I shun botox. I like to exist on something more substantial than salad and water. And I stopped carrying my son everywhere when he topped 40 lbs.

angelina jolie zahara Is Carrying a ‘Big Kid’ the Newest Celebrity Parenting Trend?

I have two children, ages (almost) 2 and 4. I do pick them up, cuddle them, and carry them very short distances when needed, but you certainly won’t catch me carrying them all over town. For one thing, they’re two heavy. For another, they don’t want to be carried…probably because they know the freedom of walking.

katie holmes suri cruise Is Carrying a ‘Big Kid’ the Newest Celebrity Parenting Trend?

I realize that celebrity parents may have the added worry of being swarmed by paparazzi, and I can see myself on occasion considering doing the same thing in that case. But there are a few celebrities that appear to be carrying their child, all of the time. How often is Suri Cruise, 4, photographed walking? Not very damn often. Angelina Jolie is often photographed carrying Zahara, 5, or Shiloh, 4. Liv Tyler has been photographed multiple times carrying her son Milo, 5, around the streets of New York on on the beached of Malibu. A similar story with Gwen Stefani and Kingston, 4.

And I wonder if that’s healthy.

gwen stefani kingston Is Carrying a ‘Big Kid’ the Newest Celebrity Parenting Trend?

It seems to me, that when a child is carried from point A to point B day after day after day, there runs the risk of having that kid think they’re just Queen Bee all of the time. It’s like they’re little emperors being carted around by their loyal servants.

I think these kids are likely already coddled enough. It’s time to let them walk on their own two feet.

liv tyler milo Is Carrying a ‘Big Kid’ the Newest Celebrity Parenting Trend?

Am I right? Or am I right?

jennifer garner seraphina and violet Is Carrying a ‘Big Kid’ the Newest Celebrity Parenting Trend?

. . . . .

Marilyn is right.

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Filed Under: Brangelina, Celebrities, Celebrities Are Just Like Us, Celebrity Kids, Celebrity Moms, Celebrity Parents, Fail, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,


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  • http://mytornadoalley.com Jen O.

    Milo is HUGE. Liv must be STRONG LIKE BULL to be able to haul him around like that. My daughter is 40lbs and I only lift her occassionally for the same reasons you said. She’s too heavy, she doesn’t want to be carried, and jeez, kid, use your own damn legs, mommy’s tired.

  • cel

    While I think this is totally unfair (kids do have bad days and who wants to have that photographed)… I can’t help but laugh at the title.

  • http://fawnlikeadeer.blogspot.com Fawn Amber

    I’ll carry my kids as long as they’ll let me…especially if they’ll let me.

  • Erin

    Please. If I tried carrying my 4 year old, my back would break and HE would end-up carrying me home.

  • Kim S.

    I have to believe this has everything to do with the swarming masses of photographers that follow them everywhere. I would assume that the minute I saw a group of paps coming at me, I’d pick up my kid too. A protective reflex. There are probably plenty of times where these kids are walking when no media is around. Then we just don’t have the pix to prove it.

  • http://kinnagecarnage.blogspot.com wallydraigle

    This is a subject that really gets my hackles up.

    My daughter is extremely shy. Just like I was as a kid. Holding her is the best way to help her feel secure, and it helps her warm up to people and situations much, much faster. We’ve tried the setting her down on the ground and refusing to pick her up thing. It’s a sure way to make her retreat stubbornly into her shell. So if she wants to be held, we hold her (we also encourage her to get down and walk as often as we can, but it’s not often, especially with lots of people around).

    I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “You need to put that kid down!” or, “Stop babying her!” or some variation thereon. It’s not as simple as that. Believe me, carrying her around is better for EVERYONE. She’ll grow out of it. And we absolutely do not treat her like she is Queen of Everything. She hears “no” and “calm down” and “be patient!” at least a hundred times a day. It’s not giving her a superiority complex.

    Okay, granted, my kid is only 2. But she’s huge for her age, and a lot of people think she’s older than she is. And if she still needs to be held in a year or two, so be it (she’s huge in height, but has hardly gained an ounce since she hit 25 lbs six months ago, so my arms can probably take it). We work with her in other ways to get her more comfortable around strangers.

  • Peyton

    I think I’m with Kim S. on this one – I don’t ever really pick my five year old up anymore, but if there were swarms of photogs coming at the two of us, you bet I would, all 48 pounds of her!

  • Sara

    I’m mostly in the “put the kid down” camp, for sure, although I definitely see the point if you’re being swarmed by photographers, etc. What I find more irritating is the number of movies wherein very precocious children who are often treated as if they are little adults, end up being carried around by one or the other of the parents with all these gangly arms and legs all over the place. It’s really a pet peeve of mine.

  • Hil

    I don’t get it- if it’s understandable for them to carry their kids when surrounded by paparazzi, why do we then go on to criticize all of the parents in these photos obviously shot by paparazzi?

    • http://yesimadethat.blogspot.com Lori

      That was my thought too. Each of the photos we see this happening in were shot by paparazzi. So… ?? it makes sense to me then that the kids would be carried. Maybe this is part of the celeb’s fitness regimen to keep them tiny and strong?

  • http://www.mysuperkaduperlife.com rkmama

    I do NOT get why people care so much about what the cut off age is for strollers and being carried. My kids want to walk everywhere so it’s a non-issue for me but I find it completely baffling that people actually make remarks to strangers about this. There’s got to be a better way to spend your time.

    • http://kinnagecarnage.blogspot.com wallydraigle

      THANK YOU. As I said in my other comment, my daughter looks very old for her age. She’s not yet two, but because of her height, she could pass for a 3-year-old or a short 4-year-old. We get more than a few judgy stares when we’re out and about. I think there are a million reasons someone could be carrying their kids or putting them in strollers instead of making them walk. Shyness, protection, children looking older than they really are, and probably more that I haven’t thought of.

  • http://loripalooza.wordpress.com drlori71

    My 4 year old son likes to play the “I lost my walk” game. 9 times out of 10 I refuse to pick him up. But on that rare occasion that I do pick him up & carry him around, I thank my lucky stars that he’s only in the 5% for weight! :-)

  • AmandaJo

    I’m with most here – if there were swarms of people around (especially swarms of people known by their ‘profession’ to be personal space invaders who often yell “HEY! KID WHO DOESN’T KNOW ME BUT WHO’S NAME I KNOW! ISN’T THAT FREAKY! OVER HERE! LOOK HERE! DID YOU HAVE FUN AT THE BOOK STORE WHILE WE WATCHED?!”) I’d pick my kid up. If he were too big to pick up, I’d probably position myself between him and the swarm, and never let go of his hand. Maybe Liv wasn’t holding her gigantic kid before the photographer came. And doesn’t the kid kind of look put out, like “Really? Again? Do you see how big I am? The kids at school won’t shut up about this shit.”

    And yes, fine, these adults agreed to this lifestyle, being chased around all the time. But they’re obviously trying to give their kids something that resembles normalcy by having them out at all. So if they pick them up when there are freaky strangers around, maybe that’s not something to judge.

  • http://www.wordydoodles.blogspot.com Anita

    I’m with most of the other commenters. My first thought was “I’d probably pick up the kid too” if there were swarms of paparazzi around. And even if the kid had a superiority complex (which most toddlers/young kids do have, since their worlds are pretty small still), it’s probably not coming from being picked up in someone’s protective loving arms.

    Maybe more from being picked up in heavy duty expensive fleets of cars with chauffeurs. ;)

  • Keryn

    You’re right.

  • http://nannersp.com Nanette

    I agree with Kim S.

    I live in LA. Paparazzi are straight up crazy and almost always travel in packs.

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  • Erin

    But then again they’re with nannies all the times so maybe the parents ‘miss’ them and want to carry them. Ya know.

  • http://www.quixoticlfe.blogspot.com Quixotic

    How else does the average celebrity manage to get not only herself, but her column-inch-creating progeny in the pic if she doesn’t carry them??