PHOTOSHilary Duff Shares Breastfeeding Picture & Explains Why She’s Done With It
May 8 2019, Updated 4:32 p.m. ET
Hilary Duff opened up about her emotional choice to stop breastfeeding her six-month-old baby Banks in a candid Instagram post. The Younger star has never been shy about sharing her pre and post pregnancy woes. Scroll below to find out why she decided to stop.
Hilary, 31, shared a photo of herself crying while she breastfed her daughter. She began the caption, “THIS ONE’S FOR THE LADIES Just a few thoughts that I wanted to share on Breast-feeding. Last week was my last week nursing Banks (my six month old). I am a working mom of two. My goal was to get my little girl to six months and then decide if I (and her of course) wanted to keep going. Let me tell you. Pumping at work sucks.”
She explained sacrificing her breaks on and off set was getting exhausting. Hilary got explicit as she said, “Plus you are having your damn nipples tugged at by an aggressive machine that makes an annoying sound, that echoes through your head day and night.”
The Disney alum, who is also mom to her 7-year-old son Luca, said, “Anyway, I didn’t know this because with Luca I didn’t work until he was about nine months old, so I didn’t pump very often. Your milk supply drastically drops when you stop feeding as often and lose the actual contact and connection with your baby (?).”
In lieu of her crying photo Hilary said, “With all of this complaining, I want to say I enjoyed (almost) every moment of feeding my daughter. Felt so lucky to be so close to her and give her that start. I know many women are not able to and for that I am sympathetic and very grateful that I could. For six wonderful months.”
She got candid about the emotional effect and revealed, “I needed a break. I was going to break. With the stress of a dropping milk supply and a baby that was getting bored or not caring about nursing when I was available to. I was sad and frustrated and feeling like a failure all of the time. When really I’m a bad a** rock star.”
The “Come Clean” singer said, “I wanted to share this because deciding to stop BFing was so emotional and hard. I thought about it ALL day everyday. It was a constant loop in my head. Weighing the pros and cons. And half of the time I wasn’t making any sense. It was about me, and not Banks at that point. I cried many times and felt so depressed while weening. I wasn’t myself at all. Something scary was hovering over my brain and my heart...the part of me that I know is smart and rational. The lows felt horrible. I was missing good time with my baby.”
Hilary lastly assured her fans, “I feel fine and happy and relieved and silly that I even stressed on it so hard. Banks is thriving and I get even more time with her and daddy gets to do more feeds! And mommy gets a tiny bit more sleep!”
She gave her advice to other struggling moms and said, “Whether you are pre or postpartum. Or just a busy mom, You are a hero every day for all that you do. Always putting yourself last and running a mile a minute...while carrying all of the bags lol Love you all and hope this helps anyone struggling! See you nursing bras✌? until next time!”
