My 4-year-old son was on Instagram before he was born and now rakes in thousands from brand deals. If you think I’m taking advantage of him – here’s why you’re wrong

An Australian mother has given a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the life of her ‘kidfluencer’ son and slammed critics who claim she is abusing her four-year-old son.

Nina Gonthier’s four-year-old son Jerome has almost 100,000 followers on an Instagram account that was created before he was born.

His online fame has led to the youngster scoring countless freebies and raking in thousands through brand deals, alongside his 18-month-old brother Atlas.

Ms Gonthier, who is a model and influencer herself, said she initially set up the ‘allthingsjerome’ account after finding out she was pregnant with her first child.

She said she never intended to expand the account and explained that she planned to use it to share photos of Jerome with friends and family.

Ms. Gonthier had around 40,000 followers and multiple brand deals at the time, but her own following has only continued to grow since then.

“I had a lot of mom and pop brands sending me things for Jerome before he was even born,” she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘I have a lot of clothes, cloths… personalized blankets, name tags, strollers, cribs.

“That was cool… I know it’s really expensive, and all I really had to do was post an unboxing or something like that on my story.”

Ms Gonthier said the first photo she shared on Jerome’s account was an ultrasound scan.

She continued to share photos once he was born, and more baby clothes and toys arrived.

‘For a few months I didn’t think anything of it. “I just started posting pictures to keep people updated if they wanted to follow me,” she said.

‘I started buying him more and more clothes… because I wanted to see his outfits and stuff like that.

“I just kept posting pictures and videos of him in whatever the brands were sending.”

Jerome’s account grew quickly 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 for 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 venture, with Jerome able to pocket a few hundred dollars for a photo shoot and a few thousand dollars for a brand deal.

But one thing his mother wants to make clear is that he is still a normal child.

“To me it’s just casual fun,” Ms. Gonthier explained.

‘If Jerome isn’t feeling it during a photo shoot and doesn’t want to take pictures, I won’t force him to do anything.

‘There are no expectations and he is still a child.

‘We usually take pictures of him doing what he does. During a photo shoot we did in Sydney, the kids were running around blowing bubbles and we just captured that.

‘Last week we had a 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 pictures on a Polaroid and just having so much fun.

‘We don’t take pictures every day, we do the occasional photo shoot and for him that’s just another playtime, but with cameras.

“He’s a kid and he lives like a kid, with all the fun things added.”

Critics have harshly condemned Ms Gonthier for spotlighting her children online, but she says it is a “relatively safe” practice.

She said sharing photos on social media was “no different than having a child in a TV ad or Big W catalogue.”

“It’s very important to me to make sure that my children are protected and that no one gets the wrong idea… I don’t want people to spin it,” she said.

“The majority of people who follow Jerome are mothers just like me and love finding inspiration for their own children.

‘I’m doing everything I can to protect him and since I posted him I haven’t had any real problems.’

Ms Gonthier also responded to a wave of hate she received over her parenting style.

‘He’s a child and I only share that because he’s beautiful. I’m not exploiting him,” she said.

‘I don’t make any money from him. Everything he gets is for him and goes to his future, so if you can do that by being a cute kid on social media, I don’t see the harm in that.

“And if I don’t like the brand, I won’t agree to work with them… I’m very picky about what I post with Jerome.”

And if Jerome ever wants to stop being a kidfluencer, his mom says she’s “cool” with that, too.

“If he gets to a certain age and decides, ‘I’m not sure I want to do this anymore,'” he can stop, she said.

“He’s his own person and that’s all.”