UPDATE: Bethenny Frankel tweeted Monday in response to the backlash, writing, "BREAKING NEWS! World Scandal: Former reality star, failed talk show host & cocktail maven jokes by wearing her kids' pjs! #itcantbetrue"
"When ur 4 year old peanut says "mommy please put my dress on" & giggles uncontrollably, u do what ur told," she added.
She followed up a few hours later with: "What will be convenient & economical is if I have another baby & wear their diapers when i'm in adult diapers. #frugalmom"
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Little girls often play dress up in mom's clothing, but Bethenny Frankel took the opposite approach.
On Sunday, the 43-year-old SkinnyGirl mogul Instagrammed a photo of herself wearing 4-year-old daughter Bryn's Hello Kitty nightgown and pajama shorts, asking, "Think we're ready to start sharing clothes yet?"
The full-body shot was cute to some and controversial to others, who deemed the pic "inappropriate" and wondered if it was "sending the wrong message" to young girls. This, though, isn't the first time the Naturally Thin author has come under fire for her fit figure.
The former Real Housewives of New York star lost her pregnancy weight quickly—reportedly shedding 29 pounds in 35 days—and showed off her post-baby body in an Us Weekly swimsuit spread.
"Do I think it's an unrealistic message to be sending? If I gained 80 lbs. and expect to come back, that's unrealistic," she said in an interview with Access Hollywood. "But the truth is I'm healthy before, during and after."
"I didn't diet when I was pregnant, but I also didn't binge," she added. "My theory is people who gain 60 to 70 pounds: You're eating, you're eating like a maniac! I think it's license to go off the rails."
Bethenny has built an empire, though, steering women away from fad diets and quick fixes—things she, too, had once fallen prey to. "I'd read every single diet book and been on more diets than you can imagine," she revealed on her now-cancelled talk show last year. "I came from a home with eating disorders...I never had bulimia or anorexia, but I was obsessed."
She discovered, though, that moderation and "viewing your body as a bank account" allowed her to splurge occasionally without "wrecking" her overall health. "It allows you to live life," she explained of her eating philosophy, which stresses the importance of moderation and overall health as opposed to living by sizes or numbers on a scale.
The National Eating Disorders Association is familiar with Frankel's brand, meanwhile, and president-CEO Lynn Grefe told E! News in a statement:
"While we cannot comment on the health of any one, because contrary to many opinions, you cannot judge a person's health based on appearance, whether small, medium or large. We can say with certainty that the obsession with skinny in the news, diets and product marketing—such as Frankel's Skinny Girl cocktail brand—is over the top and pushing our young people to develop poor body image, fat shaming, and dangerous dieting behaviors in an attempt to meet these unrealistic goals."
-Reporting by Sara Kitnick
(Originally published July 14, 2014, at 7:31 a.m. PT.)