In it for the long haul! Bekah Martinez shared her plans for nursing her 9-month-old daughter, Ruth.
“I get the question often: ‘How long are you going to breast-feed for?’” the Bachelor alum, 24, captioned a photo of her little one feeding on her Thursday, November 7, Instagram Story. “As long as I can and both of us want to. There’s nothing f–king weird about a 2-year-old still nursing. It’s bonding time, soothing time and boosts the immune system. it’s only weird if you’ve still got it in your head that breasts are inherently sexual, even between mother and child and if that’s the case, who’s the weird one?”
The former reality star went on to describe her nursing schedule now that she’s finishing her art degree at the University of California Irvine. “In order to keep my milk supply up, I nurse as frequently and as long as I possibly can on days I’m not at school,” Martinez explained. “Having baby empty your breasts as much as possible (yes empty!!) sends the signal to your body to produce more milk. … Furthermore I don’t pump unless I’m at school. I supplement with formula on these days so I don’t put pressure on myself to produce enough milk for when I’m gone. For me, more stress = less milk.”
Initially, the California native and Grayston Leonard’s daughter had “trouble taking bottles” with her mom back at college. “She pretty much went on strike and only drank like 4 ounces the first few days I was gone at school,” the former ABC personality explained. “But eventually, I think she realized she needed to give in and takes a bottle really well now. … She does not take a bottle for night feedings. Only mama will do for her! And we haven’t eliminated night feedings yet because she’s in a pretty low weight percentile.”
On top of that, the little one eats solids “as often as possible,” ranging from avocado and sprouted bread to beans and goat cheese.
Martinez and the rock climbing gym owner, 31, welcomed Ruth in February. In August, the new mom told Us Weekly exclusively about their plans to expand their family.
“I would be fine with five or six,” she revealed. “Maybe just five. But for now, we want to keep it just [Ruth] for a couple of years. We can travel with her really easily, so we want to stick with her and then go for the rest.”
Martinez previously vied for Arie Luyendyk Jr.‘s heart on season 22 in 2018.
