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These Controversial ‘Off-Grid’ Parents Shun Modern Medicine and Bedtimes

Adele and Matt Allen are not your average mom and dad. To start, their two kids — Ulysses, 5, and Ostara, 15 months— were both lotus births, which means their umbilical cords were not surgically removed, and were instead left to fall off naturally. (Adele carried the placenta in a bag sprinkled with rock salt and rose petals to disguise the smell!)

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But most recently, the pair from Brighton, England, have have been making headlines for a practice called “off-grid” parenting, which means they shun bedtimes and modern medicine. 

Vaccines are out of the question. “I don’t really see that there’s any need other than using breast-feeding to supplement them,” Adele — who is still nursing her 5-year-old — recently told Barcroft Media. “I don’t see any need to inject any foreign substance directly into the bloodstream. If you use plants and herbs, you target the bad without attacking the good bacteria as well.” 

When it comes to education, Adele and her yoga instructor husband, 33, believe in homeschooling. “I haven’t tried to teach Ulysses numbers or the alphabet because I believe children naturally start decoding language around 7 or 8,” she told the Mirror in another interview on July 16. “I’d much prefer he was outside enjoying nature.”

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Adele Allen breastfeeding
Adele Allen breastfeeding her 5-year-old son, Ulysses, with her husband, Matt, and 1-year-old daughter, Ostara, at their home in Brighton, Sussex, on June 24, 2016.

And forget rules. “We have a positive approach to discipline and don’t call them bad or naughty,” Adele, 32, explained to the Mirror. “That is too negative.”

Adele and Matt felt drawn to “off-grid” parenting while she was pregnant with Ulysses. “We did collect a lot of information but essentially it was just this feeling,” Matt told Barcroft Media.

But their parenting style came under fire after a July 20 appearance on This Morning in the U.K., where Ulysses jumped on the studio’s couch and Ostara peed on the floor, as seen in the video above.

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“#offgridparenting worst behaved kids I have seen in a long time,” tweeted one woman, while another commented, “These are the kids you see smashing things & the parents are like ‘oh they’re just expressing themselves.’”

Later that day, Adele defended herself on her Facebook page, The Unconventional Parent. “Well done to Ulysses and poorly Ostara for putting up with the media chaos today,,,,and Ostara did have a nappy on today but shock horror sometimes they leak! #herecomethetrolls.”

Tell Us: What do you think of “off-grid” parenting?

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