Beyonce set a terrible example for moms and babysitters everywhere by dragging her one-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, into a jacuzzi before subsequently posting a photo of the event to her official Tumblr page.
The "Run the World (Girls)" singer posted the black-and-white pic of herself sitting in a hot tub, clad in a swimsuit, sunglasses and turban while clutching her apparently sleeping infant daughter to her chest. The picture is drawing plenty of oohs, ahs and coos from Bey's fan base, but one has to wonder what on earth this famous mom is doing taking her baby into a jacuzzi.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control warns, "Exclude children less than 5 years of age from using hot tubs." And an article on the Livestrong website explains, "It's dangerous to take your baby into the hot tub because of the heat. Your baby cannot regulate his body temperature well and can overheat in a hot tub quickly. Overheating can make him extremely uncomfortable and cause his heart to race. In some cases, overheating can cause death."
Los Angeles-based pediatrician Dr. Lyn Laboriel tells Zap2it taking a baby into a jacuzzi is much like leaving a child unattended in a car on a hot day. "The risk in taking a baby, or even a young child, into a hot tub is that they are at high risk for hyperthermia -- that is having their body temperature go up to a dangerous level," says Laboriel. "The water in a hot tub usually is between 100 and 104 degrees and our body temps are ideally at 98.6. Babies cannot control their internal temperatures when challenged like that ... It is much too risky."
The high temps in a hot tub can also lead to swarms of dangerous bacteria. Not to mention, pregnant mothers are warned against sitting in jacuzzis because the heating of a woman's bodily fluids during the first trimester of pregnancy can cause disfigurement as the fetus develops. That said, perhaps Bey is simply trying to quash those baby-on-the-way rumors, as she did with that infamous red wine photo. If that's the case, maybe she should consider ways of dispelling gossip that don't include putting her only baby in harm's way -- like just saying, "Nope, I'm not pregnant."
Blue Ivy, Beyonce's first child with her husband, rapper and entertainment mogul Jay-Z, was born in Jan. 2012. The A-List couple has yet to publicly refute rumors that they are expecting a second child.
Photo/Video credit: Tumblr