Mom Goes Viral With 'Ugly Baby Challenge'

Beth Ann Mayer
·2 min read
2

Many new parents swear their newborn is the world's cutest baby. And every year, one family gets massive bragging rights when nutritional company Gerber chooses its annual spokes baby, who gets their face plastered all over social media and a whole bunch of free stuff.

But one mom knows her child wasn't born model material—a realization that spawned a new TikTok trend: The Ugly Baby Challenge.

Lucy Baehr, who posts as @lucybaehr on TikTok, starts her video with photos and videos of her pregnancy journey. It's the usual stuff, like opening gifts at her shower. She thought the baby would look just like her.

Then, the photos and videos change to little Reese's early days. There is a shot of her with her mouth open, appearing to burp. Another shows Reese making a funny face as she yawns.

In all honesty, the baby is pretty cute. But Baehr's video has gone viral, racking up nearly 26 million views, 4 million likes, and 46.5K comments. Many say the baby looks just like Dad.

"She is her father's child," one person commented. "It's your husband's fault, low-key," quipped another. And another summed up what many moms have felt for generations, "Nine months of nausea and chaos and they come out looking like their dads."

Others drew different comparisons.

"She looks like Mr. Bean," a TikToker said. "Mom: Is it a boy or a girl? Doctor: It's John Goodman, apparently," another said, referring to the actor who played Dan Conner on Roseanne.

But not everyone was laughing. One commenter actually told Baehr she didn't deserve to be a mother.

"People are commenting like, 'Oh my gosh, not a mom calling her baby ugly! You are a horrible mom. She's going to grow up with self-esteem issues,'" Baehr told KARK, an NBC affiliate in Arkansas.

But Baehr adds that she doesn't actually think her child is ugly and that she really wants to convey a bigger message: Not all babies are perfect or look a certain way, and that's all good.

Either way, the Gerber Baby can eat their heart out. Baehr told KARK that toy companies are sending her free stuff.