HELEN Flanagan admits she feels “mummy guilt” and anxiety as she stops breastfeeding baby Delilah.
The Coronation Street star, 28, welcomed her second child with boyfriend Scott Sinclair in June last last year.
In a post on Instagram – which sees the actress cuddling her baby – Helen revealed she has weaned her little girl off of breast milk.
She wrote: “This weeks been hard but not as hard as I expected.
“I made the decision to stop feeding my baby after 13 months this week and it was the right decision for me but not always easy, I also wanted to get delilah sleeping in a cot as me and scott needed to get our bed back after finally getting matilda into her own room aged four.
“I didn’t know how I was going to do it as I’ve always hated my babies crying as it makes me really anxious.
“I’ve had mastitis this week too. I’m going to write a blog this week coming on my @delilahrubyuk website when I’m not so sleep deprived about hormones, periods returning after feeding and mummy guilt.”
Mastitis is a condition which causes a woman’s breast tissue to become painful and inflamed. It’s most common in breastfeeding women, usually within the first three months after giving birth. Helen and Scott also raise daughter Matilda, four.
While Helen and Scott haven’t managed to tie the knot just yet, she recently gave her partner a hint of what he could expect in a wedding themed shoot for OK! magazine.
The 28-year-old also revealed details about their big day, which is in the planning stage, saying they’re planning on getting hitched some time next year.
What's the average age a child stops breastfeeding?
The NHS recommends breastfeeding your baby exclusively for the first six months, but it’s completely up to you to decide when you want to bring it to an end – and there’s really no right or wrong way to do it.
The NHS says it often happens gradually as your baby begins to eat more solid foods.
They note that solid food shouldn’t replace breast milk, as there is evidence to suggest breast milk helps a baby’s digestive system when processing solid food for the first time.
“Once they are eating solids, your baby will still need to have breast milk or formula as their main drink up to at least their first birthday,” recommends the NHS.
You can breastfeed for as long as you want, and while the NHS recommends breastfeeding your baby exclusively for the first six months, you shouldn’t feel like you cannot continue for longer.
The World Health Organisation says: “Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond.”
Scott, who’s been with Helen for ten years, proposed last June during a family trip to Disneyland Paris.
They haven’t found a venue yet but Helen revealed that their wedding isn’t far off.
“I’m really picky and I’m looking for something perfect.
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“We’re quite a modern couple so I don’t want anything old fashioned, and I definitely don’t want to get married somewhere one of my friends has had their wedding.”
Helen said her Corrie co-stars Sally Dynevor (who plays Sally Webster) and Brooke Vincent (Sophie Webster) will be invited.
She doesn’t want to get married abroad so she doesn’t “sweat my make-up off” and she’s planning to pull out all the stops with her wedding outfit.
Helen added: “I’m going to be super glamorous, you won’t have seen anything like it before [laughs]! It’ll be big hair, big make-up, full on glam. I’m going all out!”
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