What TikTok’s “Scrunchy Moms” Want You to Know

Sometimes parenting TikTok can be a little overwhelming. Arguments over parenting styles brew in the comments while drama breaks out between users who go back and forth on the “right way” to raise a child. Amid all the chaos and extremes, it’s refreshing to see the concept of the “scrunchy mom” trending again.

If you haven’t heard the term before, the “scrunchy mom” is a fusion of silky and crunchy moms.

Silky moms are typically seen as moms who ascribe to western medicine, use disposable diapers, and don’t see anything wrong with iPads, fast food and other modern conveniences.

Crunchy moms are typically seen as taking a more holistic approach. They choose unmedicated births, buy technology and plastic-free toys, eat organic and wrap baby in cloth diapers. These two factions are often at odds, poking fun or outright criticizing what they see as bad for baby.

Scrunchy moms are here to give visibility to that in-between parenting style and to show us that while it can be fun to identify with being a crunchy or silky mom, many parenting styles realistically fall in the middle, and that’s okay.

A new mom and blogger, Hilary Rose, simply lays out the scrunchy mom style in a recent post. “It’s called balance. Have you heard of “crunchy” or “silky” moms? Well, I’m right in the middle as a proud “scrunchy” mom who will pay $20 for a vegan leather bib, but I also definitely don’t use cloth diapers," Rose writes in the caption.

"We love nice wooden toys, but will for sure buy the fun plastic light up ones as well. And while we like to mainly use glass bottles, it’s necessary for us to have plastic ones as well for traveling or on the go. Whatever you feel like doing in your mama heart is best for your babe, whether full crunchy, silky, or scrunchy. All the love to the mamas out there today!”

Many parents echoed Rose’s sentiment in the post, adding comments like, “it’s all about balance,” “I feel seen,” and “scrunchy and proud!” A wave of TikTok moms and social media influencers have chimed in over the past few months with their own posts showing off things that just make sense in their scrunchy mom home. For many moms the new trend is freeing them from some of the parenting stress that comes with strict parenting styles and having to get it all right.

Whether you feel like a scrunchy, crunchy or silky mom, the commonality lies in the fact that all mothers are doing the best they can for their babies. May scrunchy moms remind us that every parenting style deserves respect, and we are all completely free to come up with our own unique style. Listen to your doctor, partner and friends, and then do what feels right for you and baby—everything else will fall into place.