Ashley Iaconetti is addressing her parenting choices.
The “Bachelor” alum shared her decision on Instagram of feeding her newborn son formula rather than breastfeeding. She recently gave birth to Dawson Demitri whom she shares with her husband Jared Haibon.
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“I knew that my body needed to be only mine again after a rough pregnancy. My body needed a break,” she continued. “It didn’t need to learn to do something new again. Growing a human was enough for this year.”
The reality star was pleased to announce how “normal” she felt again after giving birth, and how she didn’t want to experience further frustration if breastfeeding didn’t go well.
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“I didn’t want my body to have to struggle again if breastfeeding didn’t come easy, which it so often doesn’t,” she explained. “I knew the frustration that could come with that challenge wasn’t going to be good for my soul. Dawson deserves the best version of me.”
Iaconetti went into further detail about her parenting process with her husband. She decided to go formula so she would be able to get better sleep in the delicate post-partum period and so her husband could share feeding duties with her.
While the decision of how to feed a newborn child can be a contentious one for new parents, the 34-year-old was happy that she had a strong network of support encouraging her decision.
“I’m lucky that this decision was so well supported by my inner circle. Jared and I were both formula fed from the start and we know plenty of other healthy adults and babies who were formula fed,” added the star. “Happy to report, Dawson has 100% of the time been excited to slurp down a bottle. I think breastfeeding is beautiful and I’m in awe of the women who choose to do it. I just know the choice I made was right for our family.”
Iaconetti and Haibon met during “Bachelors in Paradise” in 2015, and dated sporadically before getting married in 2019. They gave birth to baby Dawson in January 2022.
