Former Love Island star Montana Brown has found herself at the centre of a parenting debate after a claim about her toddler's screen time backfired spectacularly. The 30-year-old influencer, who shares son Jude, two and a half, and 12-month-old daughter Miley with fiancé Mark O'Connor, boasted about a milestone only for followers to swiftly point out a contradiction.
The 'First Proper Screen Time' Claim That Unravelled
In a recent TikTok video titled 'First proper screen time on the flight at 2.5 years old', Montana documented a long-haul family Christmas flight. She told her followers she was marking a significant moment, revealing that during the eight-and-a-half-hour journey, Jude watched his first film. However, she noted he only engaged for about ten minutes, didn't use headphones, and asked for "the next song," seemingly misunderstanding the concept.
It was her explanatory aside that caused the stir. Montana stated, "As sometimes he loves music from The Sound of Music or sometimes I will get a YouTube clip and he will watch the song when they are doing the yodeling." This casual admission opened the floodgates for critical comments from her audience.
Fan Backlash and Past Controversies
Viewers were quick to highlight the apparent inconsistency. One pointedly commented, "Oh, so he does have screen time then." Another asked, "So…he watches YouTube?" Montana attempted to clarify, replying that it had happened "Only once when I was preggo with norovirus for 2 weeks." Others accused her of slipping up and applying rules only "when it suits."
This is not the first time Montana's strong opinions on childhood have sparked controversy. Last year, she was widely criticised after claiming in a TikTok that some teachers "make pupils watch films all day and feed kids doughnuts." During her search for schools for Jude, she listed several issues, including excessive screen use in classrooms and poor nutrition, stating she hated seeing children have so much sugar as part of their school diet.
At the time, followers called her out for being contradictory, noting that the majority of her income as an influencer comes from screens. One wrote, "This is absolutely insane it's like dystopia. You're an influencer ranting about screens on a screen."
Montana's Personal Parenting Choices
Beyond screen time debates, Montana has been open about other intense parenting experiences. She recently shared the challenging story of her daughter Miley's breech home birth. Despite being advised by NHS midwives to go to hospital, Montana insisted on following her "head and heart" to stay at home, enlisting a private doula for support.
She described the birth on Instagram as "magical" but admitted to feeling nervous when her waters broke, with one of the baby's legs emerging first. She credited her fiancé Mark, her doula Emiliana, and midwife Heather for helping her relax before Miley "flew out" two pushes later.
The online reaction to her latest video underscores the intense scrutiny modern parents, especially those in the public eye, face regarding their choices, and how quickly a shared moment can become a public talking point.
