An Australian mother has revealed an inside look at her ‘kidfluencer’ son’s life and hit back at critics who claim she is taking advantage of her four-year-old son.
Nina Gonthier’s four-year-old son Jerome has almost 100,000 followers on an Instagram account he created before he was even born.
His online fame has led the youngster to score countless gifts and earn thousands of dollars through brand deals, along with his 18-month-old brother Atlas.
Gonthier, who is a model and influencer, said she initially created the ‘allthingsjerome’ account after discovering she was pregnant with her first child.
He said he never planned to grow the account and explained that he intended to use it to share photos of Jerome with friends and family.
Nina Gonthier’s four-year-old son Jerome has almost 100,000 followers on an Instagram account he created before he was even born. They appear in the photo with Atlas, 18 months old.
Jerome’s (pictured) online fame has led to the youngster scoring countless gifts and earning thousands of dollars through brand deals, along with his 18-month-old brother Atlas.
Gonthier had around 40,000 followers and multiple brand deals at the time, but his following has continued to grow since.
“A lot of mother and child brands reached out to send me things for Jerome before he was even born,” she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I have a lot of clothes, diapers… personalized blankets, name tags, strollers, bassinets.
“That was cool… I know it’s really expensive, and all I really needed to do was post an unboxing or something on my story.”
Gonthier said the first photo he shared on Jerome’s account was an ultrasound.
She continued sharing photos once he was born, and piled up even more baby clothes and toys.
“For a few months I didn’t think about any of that… I just started posting photos to keep people updated if they wanted to follow us,” he said.
‘I started getting him more and more clothes… because I wanted to see his clothes and things like that.
Jerome’s account grew rapidly in 2020, after his mother shared a photo of him wearing a teddy bear outfit when he was just six months old (pictured).
Now managed by his mother (pictured right), he works with two different agencies and has modeled for some of Australia’s most iconic clothing brands.
“I kept posting pictures of him and little clips of him on whatever brands were sending.”
Jerome’s account grew rapidly in 2020, after his mother shared a photo of him wearing a teddy bear outfit when he was just six months old.
He is now managed by his mother, works with two different agencies and has modeled for some of Australia’s most iconic clothing brands including Bonds, Cotton On Kids and Best and Less.
And it can be a lucrative business, as Jerome can pocket a few hundred dollars for a photo shoot and a few thousand for a branding deal.
But one thing his mother wants to make clear is that he is still a normal child.
“For me it’s just casual fun,” Gonthier explained.
‘If Jerome doesn’t feel comfortable in a photo shoot and doesn’t want to take photos, I don’t force him to do anything.
‘There are no expectations and you still get to be a child.
‘Most of the time we take photos of him doing what he does. On a photo shoot we did in Sydney, the kids were running around blowing bubbles and we just captured that.
‘Last week we had a photo shoot for a new children’s brand on the beach and we were in a Kombi van, he was playing on a skateboard and we were taking photos with a Polaroid and we were having a lot of fun.
“We’re not taking photos every day, we’ll do the occasional photo session when the time comes and for him that’s just another moment of play, but with cameras.”
Jerome (pictured) can pocket a few hundred dollars for a photo shoot and a few thousand for a brand deal.
Gonthier responded to the recent hateful comments and said he is not exploiting his children.
“He’s a boy and he lives like a boy, only with all the fun little details added.”
Critics have harshly judged Gonthier for displaying her children online, but she says it is a “relatively safe” practice.
He said sharing photos on social media was “no different than having a child in a TV ad or in the Big W catalogue.”
“It’s very important to me to make sure my kids are protected and that no one gets the wrong idea… I don’t want people to twist it,” she said.
‘Most of the people who follow Jerome are mothers, like me, and love getting inspiration for their own children.
“I’m doing everything I can to protect it and haven’t had any real problems since I posted it.”
Ms. Gonthier also responded to an avalanche of hate she received for her parenting style.
“He’s a boy being a boy and I’m only sharing him because he’s beautiful… I’m not exploiting him,” she said.
‘I’m not going to make money from it. Everything he receives is for him and goes towards his future, so if you can do it by being a cute boy on social media, I don’t see the harm in that.
“Also, if I don’t love the brand, I won’t agree to collaborate with them… I’m very picky about what I put out with Jerome.”
And if Jerome ever wants to stop being a kidfluencer, his mom says she’s fine with that, too.
“If you get to a certain age and decide, ‘I’m not sure I want to do this anymore,’ you can stop doing it,” he said.
“He’s his own person and that’s it.”
