Tinseltown parents vow ‘month of silence’ after their baby’s birth
Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder plan on staying out of the spotlight as new parents. Photo: Getty
Married American actors and new parents Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder have an unconventional tactic for coping with parenthood, revealing they plan to take ‘a month of silence’ following their baby’s birth.
Reed, 29, and Somerhalder, 38, welcomed their first child, daughter, Bodhi Soleil Reed Somerhalder, on July 25 this year and immediately disappeared from the spotlight.
Before giving birth, Reed revealed in an interview with Fit Pregnancy she and her high-profile husband would not welcome visitors or even phone calls.
“We’ll take the baby’s first month for ourselves. After the baby arrives, we’re doing one month of silence,” Reed explained.
Reed, who appeared in the Twilight film series, and Somerhalder, who stars in popular TV show The Vampire Diaries, have a combined Instagram following of 14 million people, but won’t be sharing snaps of their newborn with their many fans.
“Just the three of us, no visitors, and we’re turning off our phones too, so there’s no expectation for us to communicate. Otherwise, every five minutes it would be, ‘How are you feeling? Can we have a picture?’.
“You don’t get those first 30 days back, and we want to be fully present.”
It might sound extreme but according to clinical psychologist Dr Divna Haslam, some solo time post-birth isn’t all that unusual for new parents.
“Often people will do it for the first couple of days in hospital,” Dr Haslam explains, adding that extending that period isn’t necessarily a bad idea.
“It is really important for parents, especially mothers, and infants to bond well in the first month because we know that developing a strong attachment has a lot of positive effects long-term, like building trust or assisting general coping,” she says.
Dr Haslam says there is some risk of increasing the likelihood of developing perinatal or postpartum depression by cutting yourself off from society.
“Somewhere between one-in-five and one-in-seven women will experience some level of postpartum depression so that risk is relatively high anyway,” she says.
“Isolating yourself could have the potential to increase that risk but it also depends on what level of support the partner is giving.”
Associate Professor Richard Fletcher from the University of Newcastle is also interested in how Somerhalder copes with the unadulterated bonding time.
“The thing that would be interesting would be to ask the dad after a couple of weeks how he’s doing because he won’t have been expecting the intensity,” Prof Fletcher explains.
“The mother will be more [biologically] prepared but him taking a month will give him a head-start on other dads who often have to return to week after two weeks paternity leave.”
Fans of Reed and Somerhalder will likely be unsurprised by their decision to switch off given the actors are known for adopting unconventional social strategies.
When their relationship was plagued with rumours of ill will with Somerhalder’s ex-girlfriend and co-star Nina Dobrev, they took to Instagram to clear everything up.
Posting a photo of herself alongside Somerhalder and Dobrev, Reed wrote: “Who wants to respond to made up stories about ‘friends backstabbing friends’, ‘cheating exes’, or ‘cast members exiting shows’.
“I now see that silence was taken as an opportunity to fill in the blanks with even more falsities and we, yes WE, believe we have a moral responsibility to young girls to end that narrative.
“Let’s turn this page together, as we all walk into the next chapter peacefully.”
If you or a loved one are experiencing postpartum or perinatal depression or struggling with mental health, contact Parentline on 1300 30 1300 or visit ww.panda.org.au.
