Feeding a child at any age comes with so many challenges, whether it’s navigating breastfeeding and formula feeding, transitioning to solids, or convincing older kids that they have to eat more than just chips (shoutout to Andy Cohen’s adorable son!). Keke Palmer has been open with fans about the highs and lows of her pregnancy, and now she’s sharing her postpartum breastfeeding journey.
The comedian — who shares a six-month-old son with ex-boyfriend Darius Jackson — recently got candid in an interview with Essence and shared how hard breastfeeding has been and how it affected the way she sees herself.
“I think my breastfeeding journey was also very empowering because it was so difficult,” Palmer said. “And I wanted to give up at so many different points, but I just kept pushing myself and kept trying to figure it out.”
She said her fourth-trimester experience, the bond breastfeeding built between her and baby Leodis, and her insistence to overcome any feeding challenges (and there can be a lot!) made her feel so confident, strong, and self-assured.
“I just got this overwhelming sense that I can do anything,” she said. ” … There were so many things I was always trying to change before, but now, my being enough for my son has let me know that I’m enough in the world.”
She also got the sense that she needed “get back up” and take care of herself again.
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“In the midst of trying to work out and do things that I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do — like going to the Met Gala — I was able to say, ‘You know what, I’m gonna get out there and experience everything again, and I’m still gonna be there for my boy.’”
This is far from the first time that the Nope actress opened up about the physical, mental, and logistical challenges that come with breastfeeding. In June, she claimed that a Transportation Security Association TSA agent in Houston, Texas stopped her for having breast milk in her bag.
“I should’ve popped my tit out right then because the discretion and comfort of pumping is thwarted with threats to throw out over 16oz my babies food?!?!!!” Palmer tweeted. “Why is that not a crime?? I’M A MOTHER for crying out loud 😩😢”
Meanwhile, TSA policy says that because breast milk, formula, toddler drinks, and baby/toddler food are “medically necessary liquids,” they don’t have a 3.4-ounce maximum as other liquids do. The same is true of ice packs, freezer packs, and gel packs that are used to cool these (again) “medically necessary liquids.”
Breastfeeding will never not be hard, and Palmer (and every mom!) is always allowed to switch to bottles and/or formula — but for now, we are glad she feels so empowered and connected to Leo.
These celebrity moms have shared their journey with breastfeeding as Black women.
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