LONDON -- David Beckham has had enough. You can criticize him as a footballer, but take a step back if you're going to publicly take a swipe at his parenting skills.
Father-of-four Beckham took to his Instagram account Monday evening after The Daily Mail ran a story earlier that day questioning why 4-year-old daughter Harper is still using a pacifier or dummy.
In a piece headlined: "Why does Harper, four, still use a dummy? Experts warn David and Victoria Beckham's little girl may end up with 'speech or dental issues' if she continues to use one," the paper ruminated on the important issue, talking to experts, while doling out advice for the famous couple.
But Beckham, who usually uses his Instagram account with 10 million followers to post selfies or family moments, uploaded a screengrab of the story, hitting back at the claims made.
Why do people feel they have the right to criticize a parent about their own children without having any facts ?? Everybody who has children knows that when they aren't feeling well or have a fever you do what comforts them best and most of the time it's a pacifier so those who criticize think twice about what you say about other people's children because actually you have no right to criticize me as a parent ... A photo posted by David Beckham (@davidbeckham) on Aug 10, 2015 at 9:23am PDT
The post received a lot of support from Beckham's followers.
"Well done David. your family your space. Who the hell are they to judge?? They think they are selling news to us but we do not appreciate such news," Instagram user lkaurable wrote. Another user, Kassajjones, said: "You are wonderful parents. To bring a beautiful family up in a world where if they sneeze it makes front page news must be so hard. You're doing a great job and should be so very proud."