'You're not failing as a parent': Ashley Graham stands by her decision to not breastfeed her twins
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Ashley Graham continues to defend her decision to stop breastfeeding her 13-month-old twin boys, Malachi and Roman, after receiving heavy criticism. The model opened up about "this whole thing with people telling you how to feed your child," on a Tuesday episode of an NBC talk show.
“With my first kid, I was like, ‘I can only breastfeed! This is the right way!'” she said of her son Isaac on The Daily Show on February 7. “Then I had the twins, and I was like, ‘I’m not doing this. This is not working here. Both of you want both of these? This is a lot of work.'” Graham, 35, recalled that she stopped nursing five months after welcoming Malachi and Roman, and notably, her children have since grown “so strong and so happy” on formula. “I don’t think we should be telling people how we should be feeding our kids,” the mother of three concluded.
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Why did Ashley Graham switch to formula for her twins?
Graham, who shares her boys with her husband Justin Ervin, spoke to People about her feeding journey in September 2022. She said, "Journey with the twins has been an interesting one." She exclaimed: "I thought that I would easily be able to breastfeed without having to think twice about it. I knew that there was going to be a little bit of actual juggling that would have to be implemented because everybody and their mother told me that if I didn't feed the twins at the same time, I was never going to have any time for myself,"
'You're not failing as a parent'
Graham talked further about how she convinced herself to opt for formula for her twins. "And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. I had to figure out how to do it at the same time. I remember telling myself, 'It's okay if you have to use formula. Don't worry. You're not failing as a parent.'"
Graham reassured people that "there's no one size when it comes to feeding your babies." She continued: "I have championed all kinds of different bodies in fashion and media to be represented, and that's exactly what I want to do here."