Mother furious after her two-year-old daughter is told to ‘hide’ at the pool

A woman has criticized a lifeguard for telling a two-year-old girl to “cover up” at a public pool, even though there were shirtless toddler boys nearby.

Katie Sturino, from the US, shared the story of how the lifeguard singled out her friend’s daughter when she was getting changed before her swimming lesson.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Mum outraged over ‘cover up’ comment at pool.

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“I was just catching up with my friend and she said that her two-year-old daughter was at swim lessons and all the little boys around her were shirtless,” Sturino explained in an Instagram video.

“Baby boys were shirtless in diapers and she was in a swimsuit bottom and didn’t have her rash guard on yet.”

But before she could even get fully dressed, the mom was furious when two lifeguards referred to her toddler’s state of undress as “nudity.”

“Two different lifeguards came over at two different times and said, ‘Ma’am you need to put a shirt on your daughter, there’s no nudity allowed in the pool’,” Sturino said.

“That made my f***ing head pop off because I was like, ‘This is it, this is when they start policing our bodies’.

“They start to say, ‘You gotta cover up, there’s something wrong with you’.”

Sturino, an outspoken body positive advocate, took particular issue with the lifeguards for making an “inappropriate” comment about the toddler’s body.

“She’s two years old. She’s a two-year-old little baby. And these rules are put on women from the start,” she said.

“Different rules for boys and girls bodies start young and are reinforced constantly along the way.”

“Should toddler girls have to cover up?”

Her video has been viewed more than 640,000 times, with many outraged by the story.

“Ew calling a baby’s body ‘nudity’ gives all the wrong messages,” one said.

Another shared: “As a pediatrician and expert in the bodies of children, there is no biological difference between a toddler girl’s chest and a toddler boy’s chest. That is absolutely insane.”

One suggested: “Telling a two-year-old to cover up is CREEPY. Yikes.”

Another said: “Lifeguarded for 10 years and never once was it my place to tell a child what to wear.”

While one added: “This story is disturbing and is all kinds of f***ed up.

“It’s also a harrowing reminder that… it doesn’t matter what age a female is… her body will always be sexualized, which means it will always be at risk of danger.”

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