Ashley Graham believes “mommy-shaming” on social media is “out of control”.
The 32-year-old model is mother to seven-month-old son Isaac - whom she has with her husband Justin Ervin - and has said she’s always being bombarded with “unsolicited advice” from people on social media who think they know how to raise her child, as she urged them to “keep [their] trap shut”.
She said: “I remember how I felt when everybody told me what to do and sent me their unsolicited advice and their lists. If there’s a question to be asked, ask it. But other than that, keep your trap shut and just let that mother figure it out. The mommy-shaming on social media is out of control.”
And because she knows how irritating it can be to be mommy-shamed, Ashley knows to “stop [her]self” whenever she gets the urge to give her own advice to new mothers.
She added: “Everybody has an opinion, right? But I just kind of did what I wanted to do.”
The model understands all children grow and develop at different speeds, and says that whilst her son isn’t “sleep-trained” yet, he doesn’t keep his parents up all night either.
She explained: “Isaac is not sleep-trained, but he only wakes up maybe once or twice in the night, max. I feel 100 percent rested, so it’s not like I’m living in agony every day like, ‘He didn’t sleep last night.’ We’re walking into month [seven], and he’s screaming at the top of his lungs. He thinks it’s so fun to be louder than Mom and Dad.”
Ashley and Justin have been raising their tot during the coronavirus pandemic, and the beauty feels lucky to have been able to spend the past few months away from work.
Speaking to Kristen Bell in an interview for the first ever digital edition of ELLE magazine, she said: “I’ve been able to watch Isaac grow up before my eyes. Experiencing every single moment with him has been a dream come true. I feel really bad for the next kid, because I don’t know if they’re going to get this much attention.”