TikTokers Matt and Abby Break Silence After Leaving Kids in Room to Go to Dinner on Cruise: 'Completely Untrue'

"We had someone with our children at all times on this boat. Period," Matt says in a new video of the cruise ship controversy

Influencers Matt and Abby Howard are responding to online criticism after sharing that they recently left their two sons in a cruise ship stateroom while they dined on board the vessel's restaurant.

In a new post, Matt clarifies that the children were not alone while the couple were dining, and that the couple had "someone with our children at all times."

The controversy stems from a since-expired Instagram Story in which Abby shared how she and Matt went to dinner on the cruise without their sons Griffin, 2, and August, 1, and used FaceTime to monitor them in the room.

"So we ended up taking them for 5 nights and it became apparent that they weren't enjoying it and therefore we weren't either," the viral mom wrote on Instagram. "So THEN we switched our dinner time to AFTER their bedtime and FaceTimed the monitors while we ate."

Elsewhere in the story, Abby noted that baby monitors "don't work on board" the cruise ship "unless you're only like 10 feet away." Referring to their dinnertime solution, she added, "And that worked out muchhhh better for everyone."

In a video posted to TikTok on Monday, Sep. 16, The Unplanned Podcast co-hosts responded to questions raised by the post, clarifying that the children were not unattended at any time aboard the cruise.

Related: TikTok's Matt and Abby Howard Face Criticism for Leaving 1- and 2-Year-Old Sons Alone in Room During Dinner on Cruise

Saying that some of the information circulating online is "completely untrue," Matt adds: "We take our role as parents extremely seriously, and we love our children more than anything in the entire world, and we're very protective of our kids."

Matt goes on to say that the couple had just gotten back from a seven-night cruise with Abby's extended family, and acknowledges that Abby had posted that the couple were "at dinner, FaceTiming the baby monitors while our children were asleep in their staterooms."

"And people started to speculate, and believe, that we had left our children alone in their staterooms," Matt continues. "And that is just completely untrue. We had someone with our children at all times on this boat. Period."

Abby adds in the video: "I can see where my story did lead to misunderstanding, which is why I ended up deleting it several hours after posting it."

Related: TikTok Couple Matt and Abby Howard Are Boycotting Father’s Day After He Says Their 2023 Holiday Was 'a Bummer'

Abby adds that while she's thankful to those who expressed concern for the children, the couple wants "to clarify that we have not, would not, will not ever leave our children unattended."

Elsewhere in the video, Abby says that their children sleep in blackout tents — both during travel and at home — and that the tents are equipped with a slot for a baby monitor.

"Even if we are sleeping in the exact same room as the boys, we always turn their monitor on," she says, adding, "Even when we would tag-team and take turns at family dinner, we would turn on FaceTime so we could also have eyes on them as their parents, if we weren't the ones attending them in that moment."

"And we're so thankful to [Abby's family members]," Matt adds in closing the video. "Because we spent a lot of our time on this boat in our staterooms manning the baby monitors. and 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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