Word of advice - don't ever criticize David Beckham's parenting skills. The former professional soccer star took to Instagram on Monday to express his outraged over a story published by the Daily Mail criticizing his parenting after his daughter, Harper, was photographed still using a pacifier (known as a "dummy" in U.K. parlance) at 4 years old.
The Daily Mail article was headlined, "Why does Harper, four, still use a dummy? Experts warn David and Victoria Beckham's little girl may end up with 'speech or dental issues' if she continues to use one."
The article reported that health experts only recommend pacifiers for small babies younger than Harper, which they said becomes a hard to break habit because parents use them to stop a child from crying or to settle restless children.
The article, which was posted on Sunday, cited parenting expert and former midwife Clare Byam-Cook, who said Beckham, who has four children with wife Victoria, is "putting Harper's well being at risk" by letting her use a pacifier after turning a year old.
Beckham, who has four children with wife Victoria Beckham, posted a screenshot of the article that also featured a photo of him walking beside Harper with her pacifier and wrote a lengthy caption, calling the publication inappropriate for questioning his parenting skills.
"Why do people feel they have the right to criticize a parent about their own children without having any facts??" he posted with the picture on his Instagram account.
"Everybody who has children knows that when they aren't feeling well or have a fever you do what comforts them best and most of the time it's a pacifier so those who criticize think twice about what you say about other people's children because actually you have no right to criticize me as a parent," he added.
Social media users rallied behind Beckman's comments and praised the former athlete for being a good father.
A photo posted by David Beckham (@davidbeckham) on Aug 10, 2015 at 9:23am PDT
