Doing what’s best for mom! Ashley Iaconetti has chosen not to nurse her 1-week-old son, Dawson.
“I’m not breast-feeding,” the Bachelor in Paradise alum, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, February 9, while promotingVirgin Atlantic’s “Tickets to Love” contest. “That has made everything a little bit easier. That has been a nice way for my body to just take a break.”
The former ABC personality went on to tell Us that the decision made her feel like a “better version” of herself while raising her infant.
“The past nine months have been so hard on my body,” the Bachelor alum explained. “I just kind of wanted to put all my focus on him and not to have any sort of struggle that distracted me from being my best self. I just have had so many people say that they tried [nursing] for a very short period of time, and it just stressed them out so much. I was like, ‘I don’t want to stress myself out during … this huge life change.’ It’s been really good for him. He loves his bottles. He slurps it down.”
When the Bachelor Nation member noted that her husband, Jared Haibon, is now “doing more” of the work, the Rhode Island native, also 33, chimed in, “She went through nine months of pregnancy. I can [step in].”
Ashley Iaconetti with an inset of son Dawson. Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock; Courtesy Ashley Iaconetti/Instagram
The Bachelorette alum added that he doesn’t want his wife to feel “ashamed” of her decision to bottle feed, although Iaconetti doesn’t know how her choice will “go over” with social media mom-shamers.
“I worry about the crazy people,” the “Almost Famous” podcast cohost told Us. “People are so opinionated on it.”
Haibon agreed, adding, “I’ve seen it. I’ve seen people … strongly comment about what they specifically Ashley should or should not do. Listen, we are doing everything that we think is best for Dawson and he is thriving and doing really well. And that’s all that matters.”
The former reality stars welcomed their baby boy last month, and the new mom is “pretty sore still.”
The Bachelor Winter Games alum told Us, “Besides that, everything has been really good. Of course, I could cry at the drop of a hat but not in an alarming way. Not in a way that I’m worried about myself.”
Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon’s son Dawson. Courtesy Ashley Iaconetti/Instagram
The journalist announced her pregnancy in July 2021 and spoke openly about her morning sickness struggles ahead of Dawson’s January arrival.
“When you have like a stomach virus, you know there will be an end. And with the pregnancy nausea, you’re like, ‘I don’t know when this is going to end,’” Iaconetti recalled to Us on Wednesday. “Mine stopped … the first or second week of my third trimester.”
Virgin Atlantic’s “Tickets to Love” contest is accepting applications through Sunday, February 13, with the chance for eight winners to get Upper Class tickets to London, a hotel stay at The Standard and dating tips from Haibon himself.
With reporting by Mandie DeCamp
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