Dealing with comments about my babies skin tone.
I’m Black and my partner is 50/50 - Black and white. Our baby is closer to his Dads complexion.
When my baby was first born he looked white for the first Month and everyone who saw him would instantly comment on how he looks. Now he is 6 months old and looks mixed but very fair. As a dark skinned black women myself I have had some stomach churning interactions with people such as “your printer ink ran out” “He’s beautiful, what’s he’s mixed with” and the “He must look like his Daddy” statements.
I feel like I have to validate he is in-fact my baby…
Has anyone dealt with this before? From hearing this freshly postpartum until now, It’s really messing with my head!
The views expressed in community are solely the opinions of participants, and do not reflect those of Peanut.
Learn more about our guidelines.
Yes omg. My twins are the opposite of one another and people ask if these are my kids. One looks like daddy and one like mommy. I had one lady ask if I was the nanny 😒
I’ve noticed this similarly with my daughter’s Dad, his black Caribbean and I’m white but our daughter is basically white, we’ve been out and people have commented “oh she’s yours!” to him, which I find absolutely wild! The look’s he gets with her is also crazy.
I think people are just ignorant especially when it comes to mixed children. If you were to see him as a baby, our daughter is literally him but with fair skin.
I have no advice unfortunately as I’m still trying to navigate it myself, especially when I ain’t on the receiving end - but wanted you to know you aren’t alone x
I have to deal with it because my son is very fair-skinned.
I have always asked them directly what they intended to gain by making a colorist joke because if they want to be funny, I'll be mf'n hilarious😇
If you need a nice way to phrase it, because you know how they like to call us angry, you can say, "I don't get it. Can you explain what's so funny about my child having fair skin?"
The minute they realize they have to explain their bs, they backpedal. If they pull that again, chew them out. Your child's confidence and sense of security is more important than their lil jokey-joke.
I’m mixed and olive toned, if it wasn’t for my hair I don’t know that people would know I am black and my husband is white. My baby came out looking like me, but has gotten progressively lighter in his skin tone and hair color. I get some of the same comments, “daddy’s twin” and honestly they don’t bother me. At the end of the day I know he’s my son, and I don’t care if anyone else doesn’t think so. I also dealt with this as a child and it didn’t affect me. My son gets to grow up in two very unique cultures and loved by both.
Yes, my partner is black and white Caribbean and his skin is quite dark. We have two kids together and they’re both very pale with my son even having bright red hair. We get lots of comments and looks of surprise when I point to who their dad is.
Download the Peanut App
