‘Fairy baby’: parenting style of China mother who leaves toddler, 2, home alone to look after herself divides opinion online

The story of a two-year-old girl who is able to look after herself while left home alone by her mother has divided opinion on mainland social media.

The child’s mother, surnamed Teng, from Zhejiang province in eastern China, runs a restaurant next to her house.

On October 4 she was too busy to take her little daughter to work and left the girl at home.

After seeing that her daughter was able to look after herself, Teng was happy, Shaanxi TV reported.

Footage from a surveillance camera shows the girl in bed in her pajamas drinking from a bottle of milk, after which she stands up and places the bottle on a shelf.

Later she is seen drinking water from another bottle and getting out of bed to use the potty.

Teng said that she felt safe leaving her daughter alone because the restaurant she ran was right next door.

Teng did however check time-lapse recordings of the girl to make sure she was fine.

“I have discovered that she remembers every word I tell her. I feel gratified,” Teng told the TV station.

The story has divided opinion on social media.

Some people understood the mother’s actions, while many thought they posed a danger to the child.

“Oh my God! What kind of a two-year-old fairy baby is this?” said one online observer.

Another person, also a mother, said: “My daughter is as mature as this little girl. I’m very moved.”

“It is too dangerous. What happens if something unexpected takes place?” another asked.

“Is leaving kids home alone legal?” asked another.

China’s Law on the Protection of Minors, which was enacted in June 2021, says that parents or guardians who leave children under 18 years old at home alone are in breach of the law but does not specify the penalty for doing so.

Stories about independent children fending for themselves often trend in China.

Last month, the story of a two-year-old boy in eastern China putting dried corns on a toy tractor and taking them away for storage to help his busy grandmother during the harvest season touched many online.

In December last year, an independent five-year-old boy from northern China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region who herds livestock, cooks and carries out repairs around his family’s farm surprised people on social media.