Every night, countless moms struggle with getting their babies to sleep. Bleary eyed and desperate for help, they often turn to the internet for advice. How to get my baby to sleep? Why won't my newborn sleep? Will my baby ever sleep on her own? If you scroll through the internet long enough, you'll eventually find Taking Cara Babies, a website run by Cara Dumaplin, who describes herself as a "mom of four, neonatal nurse, wife of a pediatrician, and a certified pediatric sleep consultant."
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Dumaplin's business of selling e-books, classes, and phone consultations to moms struggling to get their babies to sleep is booming. She's been featured on Good Morning America and over 1.3 million people follow her on Instagram. Taking Cara Babies is wildly popular in parenting groups, too. Whether it's the soothing peachy aesthetic of her Instagram page or her upbeat messaging, thousands of moms have paid for her classes, books, and phone calls to help get their kids to sleep. So what's the problem? This week, it came to light that Dumaplin and her husband are Trump supporters who've made dozens of contributions across several years to the Trump campaign.

Screenshot of some of Dumaplin's campaign donations

Federal Election Commission records Dumaplin's campaign contributions have always been public but didn't go viral until this week. When that happened, a fierce backlash followed. "Hello fellow parents out there," one mom tweeted. "Just a heads up that Taking Cara Babies has been donating to Trump's campaign since 2016!!! What does this mean? It means if you support her you are in turn also supporting Trump with your hard earned $." Another woman tweeted, "Any mamas or dads out there who used Taking Cara Babies just a quick FYI she's sent in monthly donations to the Trump presidency fund or whatever. Glad I never paid for her stuff. Bye girl ✌️" Why are parents, moms especially, so upset about Dumaplin's donations? Many of the Trump administration's policies were at odds with the messages of love, inclusion, and peace that Dumaplin's brand purports to represent. Baby product expert Jamie Grayson, who was one of the first to share Dumaplin's donations with the internet, summed up many mothers outrage by writing, "You cannot take cara babies if the person you're supporting puts them in cages. Full stop." Still, others say it's unfair to boycott Dumaplin's business over her politics. "Just saw a huge campaign to try and get parents to stop following/buying from a 1million+ IG account (Taking Cara Babies) b/c it was discovered she was a Trump donor," one woman tweeted. "Who is next? This is just not okay." "Hope it's ineffective," she continued. "It's a little ridiculous to go rooting for ammunition against people you don't agree with politically and try to ruin their livelihood. Legal? Sure. Right? No way. I dont agree with the 90s boycotts either." Dumaplin issued a statement addressing her contributions. "Taking Cara Babies is about helping babies get sleep and parents reclaiming the joy of parenthood that's often lost due to sleep deprivation," she said. "Between 2016 and 2019, I made a series of donations (totaling $1,078) to the Trump campaign. As with many citizens, there were aspects of the Trump Administration that I agreed with and some that I disagreed with. I will continue to serve all parents by empowering them with the tools they need to help their babies sleep."

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