Ashley Graham explains why she stopped breastfeeding her twins at five months: 'I felt like I was feeding a nation'
Ashley Graham has revealed why she decided to stop breastfeeding her twin boys when they were five months old.
The model is a mum to three-year-old son Isaac and one-year-old twins Roman and Malachi.
“There's this whole thing with people telling you how to feed your child,” the 35-year-old told guest host of The Daily Show, Chelsea Handler.
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“With my first kid, I was like, 'I could only breastfeed. This is the right way’. 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 [my breasts]. This is a lot of work.”
She added that she opted to switch to formula when the twins were five months old. “It felt like I was feeding a nation,” she added.
"These little guys are so strong and so happy, so I don't think we should be telling people how they should be feeding their kids.”
In September last year, Graham told People that her breastfeeding journey with her twins had been an “interesting one”.
“I thought that I would easily be able to breastfeed without having to think twice about it,” she explained at the time.
“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. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. I had to figure out how to do it at the same time.
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“I remember telling myself, 'It's okay if you have to use formula. Don't worry. You're not failing as a parent.'
"I just want people to know that there's no one size when it comes to feeding your babies. I have championed [for] all kinds of different bodies in fashion and media to be represented, and that's exactly what I want to do here."
If you are able to and choose to breastfeed, the NHS recommends feeding babies exclusively breast milk for the first six months of their lives, and anywhere up to two years old.
“If you find it difficult to only breastfeed or you don’t want to, try to give as much expressed breast milk as you can.
"If your partner wants to help with feeding, then you can express your breast milk for them to give to your baby,” the site adds.
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