Why Frankie Essex chose not to breastfeed her twins: I need sleep
Frankie Essex has unapologetically opened up about her decision not to breastfeed her twins. The former TOWIE star is refusing to feel pressured into nursing her newborns in accordance with NHS guidelines that recommend mums breastfeed exclusively for six months.
Instead, the 34-year-old is putting her health first so she can be the best mum she can be to one-month-old Logan and Luella.
Speaking exclusively to OK!, she said: “I decided I didn’t want to – just for the fact it’s twins and I need some sleep and I felt like it was an important bond for Luke [to bottle feed them]. The men can’t bond as much if the mum is breastfeeding.”
In the UK we have some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world, with eight out of 10 women stopping breastfeeding before they want to. It is a highly emotive subject because so many mums have experienced the trauma of trying very hard to breastfeed and not succeeding.
Frankie believes mothers shouldn’t be made to feel they’re putting their child’s future, or their own, at risk if they can’t or choose not to breastfeed. And she believes her decision has already enabled Luke to form a much closer bond with their newborns.
“Where I’ve got the milk, the babies can still smell it,” she explains. “They suck like crazy when they’re on me, so I just pass them to Luke sometimes and they settle easier. He’s warm – he’s such a hot person. I think they love the warmth. We’ve had a lot of skin-to-skin contact.”
Frankie, 34, is now in the process of letting her milk dry up and admits she will miss her fuller boobs.
“I’m wearing two sports bras at the moment so I can’t touch them,” she said. “I’ve definitely gone flatter. When my milk came in, I said to Luke, ‘Look at my boobs – they look amazing!’ He was like, ‘Wow’ – and I said, ‘Don’t touch ‘em!’ I have to leave them alone if I don’t want to get mastitis.”
Frankie and Luke welcomed their double bundle of joy on 24 May and have been in a love bubble ever since. Revealing their gorgeous names and birth weights to OK! for the first time, Frankie said: “Our son is called Logan and weighed 5lb 4oz, and our daughter is Luella and weighed 4lb 8oz.
"Luella has always been my girl name since I was 20 – I’ve never told anyone the name in case they stole it. Luke chose Logan’s name as he loves the [X-Men] character Wolverine, who’s called Logan. They both mean warrior, but we only found that out recently.”
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