Matt and Abby Howard, popular TikTok personalities, have addressed the false accusations about leaving their children unattended during a family 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, shared in a TikTok video uploaded recently. “People started to speculate and believe that we had left our children alone in their staterooms — and that is just completely untrue.”
Matt emphasized: “We had someone with our children at all times on this boat. Period.”
The couple, Matt and Abby, became the subject of conversation after sharing an Instagram Story post that hinted at FaceTiming their sons, Griffin, 2, and August, 12 months, who were asleep while the couple went out for dinner. Abby explained on Instagram that their baby monitors didn’t “work on board” during their seven-night cruise with her extended family.
On Monday, Abby acknowledged the misunderstanding stemming from her viral Instagram Story.
“I ended up deleting it several hours after posting it because I could see that it was causing concern and misunderstanding,” Abby explained. “Thank you so much to those of you that were concerned about the safety and well-being of our children.”
She further mentioned that the couple’s main concern is always their two boys.
“To know that other people share those same concerns for our precious boys, it really means a lot,” she added. “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.”
The TikTok star clarified the “baby monitor situation,” explaining that the boys sleep in a “blackout tent” that accommodates 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,” Abby explained. “We just love to have eyes on them, we’re always concerned about them.”
Talking more about the FaceTime aspect, Abby said she and Matt would “take turns” being with their sons and kept the video call on — especially if one of them wasn’t staying with the boys.
“We’re so thankful for her extended family, you guys. We spent a lot of time on this boat in our staterooms manning baby monitors,” Matt shared. “If it wasn’t for Abby’s extended family, we really would have not gotten a chance to really get out of the room.”
The couple concluded their video by thanking viewers for “listening” to their side of the story.
Matt and Abby have been together since high school and got married in July 2019. They welcomed their first son, Griffin, in July 2022, and their second son, August, was born in August 2023.
