Rumer Willis is moving forward with co-parenting. He says his divorced parents, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, set a “high-end” example.

Since giving birth to her daughter Louetta in 2023, Rumer Willis She became the “rightful” advocate of mothers. “There’s a lot of rhetoric on the internet and in our heads that tells you if you don’t do things a certain way, ‘you’re not doing it right’ or ‘you’re feeling overwhelmed.’ “I get it. ‘I’m really excited about it,'” she tells Yahoo Life. and Willis, the eldest daughter of actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

Willis partnering with baby group Pura As a global creative partner, she serendipitously stepped into advocacy when she experienced much of this negative feedback firsthand. After posting photos of herself breastfeeding Louetta. “If you breastfeed your child to sleep, you’re a bad mother; if you co-sleep your child, you’re a bad mother; if your child doesn’t sleep through the night for three months, you’re a bad mother,” she says. .

The pressure to be the perfect parent is just one of the lessons Willis has learned since becoming a mother. Here are the previous ones Dancing with the Stars champion and founder Rumer has it. She talks about family, being a caregiver, and how “lack of support is harmful” for mothers.

Being part of the ‘sandwich generation’ is challenging but rewarding

In 2023, Willis and his family announced that his father, actor Bruce Willis, had been murdered. Frontotemporal dementia was diagnosed (FTD). As a result, Willis knows well the difficulty of caring for a young child and a sick parent at the same time, making him part of the family. sandwich generation. But Willis says he “had a natural inclination towards nurturing” and “felt a lot of love” from his father.

The star sees some parallels in caring for Louetta, now 18 months, and her father; like the “kindness, softness, sweetness” he tries to show to both of them. “It’s really pretty amazing to be accepted both as a child and as someone who struggles with dementia (FTD in my case),” she says. “It’s such a beautiful thing to be able to feel and give so much love.”

As a single mother, self-care is vital

Willis is still trying to figure out how to strike the right balance between life and work. “The lack of support, not just for mothers in general but for single mothers in particular, is staggering,” says Wilis, who is no longer with Louetta’s musician father Derek Richard Thomas.

Despite the resources he has, Willis is still struggling. “We all have those moments where we say, ‘Man, I’m overwhelmed or I’m tired or I need some help,'” he says. Although he feels social pressure to be productive when he’s not with Louetta, Willis tries to resist the urge by taking a nap or a hot bath when he has time to himself. “It helped me look better” as a mother, she says.

Co-parenting is complicated

“Co-parenting is different,” says Willis. Before leaving Thomas, she was glad to have someone at home to ask for help. “It was easier to make breakfast or run to the grocery store,” she says. “You don’t realize how helpful it is to have another pair of hands until you don’t have another pair of hands,” he says. Wills says he bows down to mothers who raise their children without a partner.

Willis is also trying to navigate the complexities of having to see her ex-boyfriend regularly after a breakup. “Whatever your reasons for leaving a relationship still exist, but you have to find a way to co-parent,” she says. “Whatever problems you have with your co-parent, they are not your child’s problems. Don’t make it theirs.”

Her advice to fellow single moms? “Find the appropriate person to process whatever you need to process. Hit the pillow, do some clear text …whatever you need to do.”

Willis’ parents separated when he was young, and he says they created “the ultimate version” of what co-parenting could be like. “My job is to make it better. It certainly can’t get any worse. That would be a shame,” he laughs.

Even though Willis recently started dating again, she’s still “pretending” to be “her own boyfriend.” While her past boyfriends used to make gestures she loved, like bringing her a big bowl of fruit salad, now he does them for her. Instead of waiting for someone else to pamper her, she says, “I take care of myself the same way I want someone to take care of me.”

Looking forward to having another child, with or without a partner

Given his own large family, Willis wants Louetta to grow up with her siblings. While she “would love to find a partner,” she says she “won’t wait forever” to have another child. “I’m not going to let not having a partner get in the way of having a sibling for Louetta because it was such a profound experience for me,” she says. She’s also looking forward to “experiencing how your heart grows when you have more than one child.”

“You can’t let that (not having a partner) stop you from creating the family of your dreams,” adds Willis.

You have to give yourself grace

Despite the pressure on new mothers, Willis feels very privileged to have a good support system. “I have people reminding me that I am a great mother and how accomplished I am,” she says. She wants all new mothers to feel this way; This means ignoring negative feedback, especially from influencers who tell themselves there is only one “right” way to do things. Instead, she thinks new mothers should find a community that will cheer them on and support the choices they make for their families.

His advice? “Give yourself kindness” and trust that you know what is best for your baby. “We’re all just trying to figure it out,” he adds. And while there are things he’d like to do better (like not being on his phone so much), he’s quick to focus on his strengths. “I’m doing really well,” he says. “I’m doing a really good job as a mother.”

Mothers are the strongest people in the world

Before she became a mother, Willis wasn’t fully aware of the power mothers had. Since having Louetta and wanting to “give her everything,” Willis says she now understands mothers who “lift the car” to save their children.

He also found his own strength. Her daughter was not yet 6 months old when Willis contracted both Covid-19 and the flu. “How will I be sick and take care of my child at the same time?” he remembers thinking. However, after Willis recovered, he realized he had “made it.” Although overcoming these obstacles wasn’t easy, “I learned a lot about my own resilience,” she says.

“Mothers are the strongest people in the world,” she says, adding: “I feel very privileged to be part of the club.”