For a lot of women, motherhood is a major milestone in life. It’s also one of the greatest challenges they have ever encountered. After all, you instantly become responsible for someone else’s life. Sometimes, you may feel like you’ve got the hang of things. Other times, you may not know what to do. But either way, you can’t just give up. Motherhood is a journey that you have to see through the end.
Every mother has her own struggle. And for celebrities, those struggles are often lived out in public. A child’s first year is especially challenging. At this age, a baby cannot communicate his or her needs. And it is also during this time that physicians recommend breastfeeding the child.
Breastfeeding helps keep a newborn nourished. It is also said to help strengthen the bond between mother and child. However, breastfeeding isn’t always a pleasant experience for mothers. As a result, some celebrity moms made the decision to stop breastfeeding. These include:
15 Serena Williams
Tennis star Serena Williams decided to stop breastfeeding her daughter Olivia when she turned six months old. On the documentary “Being Serena,” Williams explained, “Once I got to six months I felt good about it. Then it was just emotionally letting go. I literally sat Olympia in my arms, I talked to her, we prayed about it. I told her, ‘Look, I’m going to stop. Mommy has to do this.’ I cried a little bit, not as much as I thought I was. She was fine.”
14 Emily Maynard Johnson
Former ‘Bachelorette’ star Emily Maynard Johnson is now a mother of four children. And by the time she gave birth to her third child Gibson, she was having breastfeeding issues. She told People, “I just quit. I didn’t want to tell anybody that I quit. I was trying to hide formula. I saw all of these beautiful breastfeeding pictures, I don’t know if I would post a picture like that, but I would love the option. I wanted to so bad.”
13 Khloe Kardashian
In April 2018, Khloe Kardashian gave birth to daughter True Thompson and later that year, she revealed that she stopped breastfeeding her daughter. On Twitter, the reality star revealed, “I had to stop breast feeding it was really hard for me to stop (emotionally) but it wasn’t working for my body. Sadly.” She also later tweeted, “It was so frustrating because for Kourt it was sooooooo easy for her to breast feed. My experience was very different.”
12 Kim Kardashian
While making an appearance on “Live! With Kelly and Ryan,” Kim Kardashian talked about her decision not to breastfeed Chicago. The reality star explained, “I enjoy carrying myself, [but] that wasn't an option for me for my last child and moving forward, so I will say, when it came time to the breastfeeding time, I was like, 'OK. This is the best decision I ever made.' It is a game changer.” Kardashian added, “Not having to go through that every few hours breastfeeding. Not having to go through that every few hours breastfeeding.”
11 Coco Rocha
After being criticized for switching to formula feeding, model Coco Rocha took to Instagram and explained, “Not that this is anyone's business - I loved breastfeeding Ioni for the first 5 months of her life and then one day my milk went dry. It happens to every mom at different times. She's been on formula for a few weeks now and seems to be doing just fine.”
10 Kelly Rowland
During an interview with Parents Magazine, Kelly Rowland talked about the challenges of breastfeeding her son, Titan. Rowland recalled, “I had my heart set on breastfeeding, but I wasn’t producing enough milk. I got down on myself, which I think was mentally limiting my supply.” Eventually, the R&B singer made the decision to switch to formula.
9 Jana Kramer
Country singer Jana Kramer made her feelings about breastfeeding known during her “Whine Down” podcast. Initially, she tried to nurse her daughter, Jolie Rae. However, she didn’t really want to. Kramer explained, “I had no desire. I wasn’t breastfed. I didn’t feel like I had to have that connection with my baby. Personally, I don’t like my nipples being touched. I don’t like it. I don’t want someone sucking on ’em.”
8 Jamie Lynn Sigler
The former “Entourage” actress is suffering from MS and this affected her decision to stop breastfeeding. Taking to Instagram, Sigler explained, “I’m having to stop breastfeeding soon so I can get back on meds. The truth is, the toll of two kids and a newborn lifestyle is not the easiest on me.. and I need some help. What sucks is that I live with a disease that makes decisions for me a lot , and with breastfeeding I took SUCH pride that I was able to do something really awesome with this body that I am constantly at war with.”
7 Elisa Donovan
The ‘Clueless’ got real about breastfeeding in a blog entry for People. In her entry, Donovan recalled, “This process took almost an hour in its entirety, was painful beyond words, and only yielded the tiniest amount of milk. Scarlett was feeding every 2-3 hours, so this was a 24 hour-a-day endeavor. After five more days of this with no improvement, I finally had to consider that maybe breastfeeding was not for me.”
6 Jillian Harris
The HGTV host revealed that she had to stop nursing her first born when he was five months old. She told Us Weekly, “We were doing lots of traveling and I had anxiety about the amount I was producing. I didn’t want my baby to feel that anxiety… I was always stressed and I was always saying to Justin, ‘I have to pump, I have to pump. Nothing is coming out! I’ve got to go! Now I’m late! Now the baby is crying!”
5 Adele
Adele once spoke out about the pressure that new moms feel about being able to breastfeed. And then, she also offered some advice, saying, “Breastfeed if you can but don't worry, Aptamil [formula]'s just as good. I mean, I loved it, all I wanted to do was breastfeed and then I couldn't and then I felt like, 'if I was in the jungle now back in the day, my kid would be dead because my milk's gone.' It's not funny that's how some of us think.”
4 Molly Sims
While speaking with host Anderson Cooper on “Anderson Live,” Molly Sims said she breastfed her baby until she couldn’t physically handle the pain anymore. She recalled, “Early on in the hospital, they really want you to breastfeed, so I’m trying everything. And I’m like, ‘Gosh, this really, really hurts.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, we know.' I did nipple shields, nipple guards, supplemental nursing system, it was horrible. He was literally like a vampire on me for three months.” She added, “Cut to I’m not breastfeeding and I’m proud of it.”
3 Amanda Seyfried
The actress spoke openly about her breastfeeding struggles to Us Weekly saying, “You become very desperate. Because up until recently, it’s like a hidden, closeted thing. Breastfeeding is incredibly hard. If you don’t find it hard, you are rare. A rare, lucky person.” On Twitter, she also stated, “Breastfeeding is awesome. Formula is awesome. Feeding your baby is awesome. Not awesome? Judgement.”
2 Jessica Alba
In her book, the actress and businesswoman wrote, “I breastfed as long as I could, but not as long as I wanted. I had to get back to work, and I wasn't able to keep it going. But I am proud to say I did the best for my daughters and I'm proud of all of my mom friends for doing the best they can on this issue.”
1 Angelina Jolie
For Angelina Jolie, the breastfeeding struggles came when she was nursing her twins, Vivienne and Knox. While appearing on the British talk show “GMTV,” Jolie revealed that she decided to switch to formula after three months. She explained, “It was about as much as I could do. I did that a few times. I would take turns. It just takes a long time.”