Fashion and beauty influencer Isabelle Lux has sparked debate and divided parents with her controversial post-birth rules. In her after-birth plan, which was posted on Instagram, the social media star, who is expecting her first child, said she will not do any nappy changes for the first three weeks.
‘I don’t care if it's night or day. I will not be changing a single diaper,’ she told fans. ‘My entire body, my hormonal system, everything that I’m going to be going through, is in recovery mode.’
Isabelle also declared she would be following the 5/5/5 rule – spending five days in bed, five days on the bed and five days around the bed after giving birth.
‘So 15 days in total,’ she shared with her 17.4k followers. ‘Super important for recovery – but it does mean that your husband is going to have to pick up a lot of slack because when the baby cries you don't get up to pick up the baby or figure out what's going on. No, the baby gets brought to you so you can fully, fully recover.’ She added, ‘There's no way I'm going to be adding anything to my plate. I need to feed the baby, I need to feed myself and I need to sleep.’
She also plans to embark on a beauty bootcamp with acids, retinol and saunas. ‘I'm talking acids, I'm talking retinol – every single thing that I have not been allowed to do for the last nine months I will be doing immediately,’ she said. ‘Cold plunges, steam rooms, saunas, hot tubs, all those things - I'm so excited.’
Other rules the influencer, who’s expecting a boy with German-born husband Jonas Heidrich, plans to abide by include no light-up toys, no baby music or media and no American baby milk formula. She will not be contacting family immediately after the birth and she will be travelling to four countries with the newborn: South of France, Austria, Switzerland for skiing and New York.
‘This baby is going to come with me everywhere I go and you better believe we're going to be travelling,’ she said.
While her followers praised her ambitious plans, other parents ridiculed her rules. ‘Money and complete selfishness are the only way those rules will happen. She sure has one rude and humbling awakening about to hit her square in the face!’ one online commenter said. Another added, ‘She is delusional if she thinks her husband will be doing the work of changing diapers etc.’
A third online commenter remarked, ‘She’s a first-time mum, right? Self-care is important but I found it more like passing out on the bed any chance someone was around to watch the baby for me lol.’ And another added, ‘You can plan out exactly what kind of mum you want to be and then reality sets in and you have to do what you have to do to save your sanity. Good luck, girl. The best laid plans…’
Isabelle and Jonas, who married in June 2023, revealed they are expecting a boy last August.
Shereen Low is a senior writer at Grazia UK.