Hilary Duff is used to mom shaming. The Younger star has three kids — a son named Luca with ex-husband Mike Comrie and two daughters, Banks and Mae, with husband Matthew Koma. Mae is the newest arrival, born on March 24 this year.
Ever since Hilary became a mom, it seems like her fans have wanted to tell her she's doing it wrong.
"I feel like people are just using [social media] as their outlet to voice their opinions when no one really cares. I don't," she told Insider while pregnant with Banks. That was around the time she was bullied for eating raw fish, which many women avoid while pregnant. While Hilary always tries her best, it must hard for to know that her every move can easily be criticized.
Mae is currently 7 months old, and Hilary felt like it was time to pierce her ears. But she knew that she'd get some backlash on Instagram — so she prepped for it in advance. In a story, she wrote, "Yes! I pierced her ears today. Can't wait for the internet to call me a child abuser…again."
Piercing a child's ears is a personal choice. Some people do it as a cultural practice, while others just think it looks nice, figuring their child won't remember the pain. But some people think that getting a child's ears pierced is cruel, since they don't have a choice in the matter. Even though they're a baby, it's still their body. Based on the number of opinions, it's a debate often seen among mom groups.
Hilary has already heard the backlash; she got her older daughter's ears pierced at a similarly young age. After posting a cute picture of Banks with pierced ears at 8 months old, she received comments like, "Just won an unfollow after seeing you pierced her ears, poor baby. Bye!"
So, what do pediatricians think? According to WebMD, most doctors advise a baby to be at least 3 months old before the procedure is done. Many pediatricians also offer the service in-house to help prevent infections. But they often believe it's up to the parents to choose.
Piercing newborns isn't recommended, since if the baby gets an infection and a fever, that would warrant a trip to the emergency room. It's also recommended to always use hypoallergenic material, like sterling silver, to make sure there isn't a reaction. It seems like Hilary got it done at a place she trusts, and she was well past the minimum age recommendation.
But her followers still have a right to their opinions. They just shouldn't be so vocal and refer to it as child abuse. And Hilary's been getting critical comments since before her children were even born, both in person and online.
She told one story to Insider about how intrusive people could be when she was pregnant. "The other day I was at a coffee shop, and someone was like, 'Um, you're going to have decaf right?' And I was like, 'Nope. I am not.' Like, how do you know how many coffees I've had today? How do you know what my doctor said I'm going to do? And also, while we're at it, don't ask me if I have twins in there. OK?" she continued. "It's just so funny that people think [pregnancy] is an open invitation to come and voice their experience to you."
Some caffeine is allowed during pregnancy, and many pregnant women choose when to partake. It's also possible that Hilary was picking up coffee for someone else. It's her business, and her fans should give her the benefit of the doubt that she's making good decisions — just like with ear piercing.
It's possible Hilary may get more attention than others based on one of her signature roles. She starred as Lizzie McGuire on the Disney Channel, and many of her fans first latched onto her career when she was just 13. Playing a character who needs to navigate through life doesn't mean that people should judge her today through that same lens. Hilary is currently 34, and she seems happy.
Like all parents, Hilary has been learning along the way. And while you might not agree with some of her decisions, right now they're not viewed to be dangerous. Piercing babies' ears may cause some complications that moms don't want to deal with right now, but it's still a fairly common practice. And if it didn't work out for Banks, she probably wouldn't have gotten it done for Mae.
