The dark side of family vlogging: How parenting influencers who rose to fame by posting videos with their children have been convicted of abuse and neglect - with one couple even rehoming their adopted son

Family days out, emotional updates, parenting tips and sweet siblings moments have all becomes staples of a family vlog. From candid confessions to first steps, some parents have made a career out of sharing their lives online with millions watching at home. But there's certainly a dark side of the happy smiles and giggling with granny,. YouTubers like the Stauffers, DaddyOFive and Jordan Cheyenne all scored millions of views by granting the public total access to their lives - but behind the scenes lay a dark and murky reality that no one could have guessed.

Myka and James Stauffer admitted to 'rehoming' their adopted son due to difficulties in meeting his special needs. Mike Martin, from Maryland, who shot to fame under the name 'DaddyOFive' sparked online backlash and a criminal investigation after him and his wife were filmed smashing their son's XBox and pushing him into a bookcase. Even more horrific were the actions of now-disgraced mumfluencer Ruby Franke who will spend up to 30 years in a Utah prison for brutally abusing two of her children in a 'concentration camp-like setting'.

Here, Femail takes a look at the dark side of family vlogging. Mike Martin's now defunct DaddyOFive YouTube channel once boasted 700,000 subscribers and $350,000 a year in advertising: (Pictured: Mike and Heather Martin and their five children). Nearly a decade ago Mike Martin and his brood appeared to be on top of the world. Formerly known as DaddyOFive on YouTube, Mike prided himself on uploading daily doses of family life, for which his efforts earned him more than 700,000 subscribers and $350,000 a year in advertising.

As his moniker suggests, Mike is a father to five children, two with ex-wife, Rose Hall - named Cody and Emma - and three stepchildren - Jake, Ryan and Alex - with wife and fellow content creator, Heather Martin aka MummyOFive. The family of seven lived together and filmed 'pranking' videos, which instantly became popular and launched them into overnight stardom. But a closer look at the vlogs revealed series of bizarre moments.

In 2016 when Mike and Heather smashed their children's XBox with a hammer and pushed their son Cody, who was only nine at the time,  into a bookcase. He suffered a bloody nose after the push - although Mike later claimed it was fake blood. In other clips, they convinced Cody he was adopted, falsely accused him of bad behaviour and repeatedly yelled and swore at him. For one prank, the couple decided to trick Cody by spraying disappearing ink on the floor of his room and blaming him.

In another clip, the couple berated Cody for six minutes for 'messing up' his room. Heather is seen screaming 'Get the f**k up here! What did you do?' while Mike threatened to sell his Pokemon toys. At the climax of the video, Mike told the boy: 'It's just a prank, brah. You guys got pranked hard.'. Their videos sparked concern when in 2016 Mike and Heather were seen smashing their children's XBox with a hammer and pushing Cody into a bookcase.

In one emotional clip, Cody threatened to kill himself saying, 'I hate my life just kill me'. It was later discovered that an older brother filmed Mike while he tormented his son. Many viewers - including creator Philip DeFranco - flagged what they deemed emotional and physical abuse, resulting in an online petition which drew more than 20,000 signatures to get Child Protective Services to investigate the family.

Cody and Emma's biological mother, Rose Hall, said she told Child Protective Services about the YouTube channel in October 2016. The agency launched an investigation and the Martins ultimately lost custody of them to Rose in 2017. Simultaneously prosecutors from the Frederick County Circuit Court investigated Mark and Heather for neglecting a minor. The couple pleaded guilty and were initially sentenced to five years supervised probation.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the psychological effect on their children became apparent when during original sentencing, a neuropsychologist was quoted as saying the Martins' behaviour was linked to 'observable, identifiable and substantial impairments of their [children's] mental or psychological ability to function'. Two years later, things were looking up for the pair as a Maryland judge reduced the sentence to probation before judgement. The lighter sentence does not include supervision, and allows the couple to seek expungement of their child neglect convictions after three years.

Child Protective Services launched an investigation into the Martins' parenting and ultimately decided to award custody of Mike's two youngest children to their biological mom Rose Hall. On the social media front, they were banned from posting videos of Cody or Emma unless it was for 'legitimate family purposes' and their children were made attend mental health treatment. If the couple violated the terms of their probation, they could go to prison for up to 10 years.