Little People's Audrey Roloff responds to fans' fears for her kids after mom puts them in 'super stressful' situation

Oct 04, 2023

LITTLE People, Big World alum Audrey Roloff has addressed fans' fears for her three children after she seemingly put them in a questionable situation.

The reality star conducted a Q&A on her Instagram Stories earlier this week, where she explained her method of teaching her kids how to swim.

In the post, Audrey, 31, shared a photo of her one-year-old son, Radley, floating on his back in an in-ground pool.

A swimming instructor was standing nearby, supervising the tot in the water.

Above the snap was a concerned followers' question about Infant Swimming Resource - a decades-old program that teaches young children survival skills in the water - which Audrey and her husband, Jeremy, have been using for their kids.

They wrote: "IRS seems super stressful for the kids, triggering their fight or flight survival. Thoughts?"

Audrey responded with a lengthy message explaining why she stands by the controversial program.

"Yes it can be. But it's also life saving. I don't think it's for everyone but if you spend a lot of time around pools, or you or a family member has a pool or pond or you live near a river/lake then you have to weigh the pros and cons yourself," the TLC alum began.

"My parents pool doesn't have a gate or cover and we spend a lot of time there especially now that we are neighbors so it makes me extremely nervous. This is a huge part of the reason why I looked into ISR in the first place."

She continued: "Our instructor is absolutely amazing with the kids even despite their resistance in the beginning. Don't buy into the stigma that it will make them be afraid of water or swimming forever. It won't."

Last week, Audrey gave fans a closer look into the practice by sharing videos of her sons in the water.

The first video showed her three-year-old son, Bode, in the pool, and Audrey captioned it: "Bode crushing it this week, look at that float at the end!!!" tagging the swim school.

It followed with a photo of Radley on his back in the water as his mom explained: "Rad floating today too!"

Audrey then warned her 1.6 million followers: "If this is triggering for you in some way here is your warning to not watch the next story!"

Radley was seen floating alone without armbands, and his head dipped slightly under the water several times.

An excited Audrey rooted for her son off-camera: "Yes, yes, yes, go, go, go, oh my gosh, that was so good! Wow!"

She captioned the video: "Two weeks in with Rad and he rolling to float!"

In addition to their sons, Audrey and Jeremy are also parents to a five-year-old daughter, Ember.

Fans often question the couple's parenting styles, most recently after Jeremy shared a clip of the kids playing in a huge stagnant mud puddle.

In a video posted to Instagram, the three youngsters splashed about in the water and walked around in the boggy earth.

At one point, baby Radley fell in the mud, with his brother Bode slipping knee-deep into the ground as he went to help him up.

Audrey was shown waiting for the kids in a farm vehicle on the nearby grass.

While the children wore swimwear for their messy playtime, the redhead opted for a flowy white maxi dress.

Jeremy also handed the camera to someone else to capture him in the mud, wearing board shorts and a tank top as he joined the children.

He captioned the post: "Kids playing in the mud hole."

One of the TV personality's followers reposted the moment on a popular LPBW forum, where many others pitched in with their concerns.

The original poster prompted: "Auj & Jer patting themselves on the back with multiple posts many children and their toddler splashing in stagnant, standing water and getting stuck in knee-deep mud - are they flipping crazy???"

A second wrote: "That's the water where deadly super viruses live. No one thinks it will happen to them.

"They are so desperate to show that their kids are living the #farmlife that they are willing to put them in danger."

A third critic expanded: "The parasites and bacteria that the children can get in their eyes, bellies, private areas, and lungs (via inhalation) are no friggin joke.

"Even pets are advised to NEVER drink standing water. Warm, standing water is a literal incubator for bacteria and parasites."

"Ok that looks scary and gross to me," stated a final commenter.