Rumer Willis Posts Honest Video of Her Breastfeeding Her Toddler
Rumer Willis is shedding light on the challenges of breastfeeding a toddler, while responding to critics along the way.
“When someone begins to judge my parenting,” Willis, 37, shared on Instagram on Saturday, April 4, in a video showing her breastfeeding her almost 3-year-old daughter, Louetta Isley Thomas Willis.
In the clip, Willis holds her daughter tenderly, stroking her hair as she nurses. (The daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, she shares Lou with her former partner Derek Richard Thomas.)
The video then shifts to a woman at a whiteboard, drawing two circles labeled “my business” and “your business.”
“This is my business. And this is yours. I am here,” the woman states, placing an “X” inside one of the circles. “The issue is, you are also here when you should actually be here.”
The woman then marks another “X” inside the “my business” circle and draws a line and an arrow pointing to the empty circle, illustrating the need for people to stay out of “my business” and focus on their own.
While the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that mothers breastfeed for up to two years, alongside introducing solid foods and other necessary nutrients when appropriate, mothers often face judgment, shaming, and ridicule for breastfeeding their infants and toddlers publicly.
In 2019, Coco Austin defended herself after receiving backlash for breastfeeding her daughter Chanel, who was nearly four at the time. (Austin, 47, continued to breastfeed her daughter until she was six.)
“[You] need to have a baby to understand it,” the actress told Us Weekly shortly after sharing a candid breastfeeding photo on social media.
“What I think confuses people is that they see the picture and assume Chanel doesn’t eat food,” Ice-T (real name Tracy Lauren Marrow) remarked in defense of Austin. “She eats cheeseburgers. She only breastfeeds … when she cries [and] just wants to be close to her mama. She asks for the boob and holds on. It’s not for nourishment. This girl eats chili fries, OK?”
Austin went on to clarify that her choice to continue breastfeeding her daughter well into her toddler years goes beyond nutrition — it’s about love and connection.
“It’s about showing love to your child and bonding with them while providing good nutrition,” she shared with Us. “Breast milk is like liquid gold. Overall, it’s a beneficial choice.”
