Harry Judd has admitted he struggled to bond with his second child – and wants to remind others that parenting isn’t always picture-perfect.
The 33-year-old drummer in McFly and Strictly winner is dad to one-year-old Kit and three-year-old Lola with his wife Izzy. “There was a lovely moment when my wife told me after having Lola that being a parent brought out the best in me,” he told The Mirror.
“But at the same time, when my son was born, it wasn’t such a kind of rosy situation, it was the reality of two young children 19 months apart with both of us working – it was really stressful.”
Judd’s comments come after a survey by WaterWipes found 62% of parents in the UK feel like they’re failing within their first year of parenthood.
Judd and his wife have previously spoken about their struggles to conceive, and the drummer said despite Lola being an “easy” baby, Kit was the opposite.
“I didn’t feel an instant connection with my son as well when he was born and I’ve spoken to quite a lot of parents who’ve felt that and the feelings that come with that are quite strange,” he added. “Don’t get me wrong I’m completely besotted with Kit now, but the first six months of his life were some of the trickiest months for us as parents.”
Judd shared an Instagram video of himself holding his daughter, while his wife was on the floor changing their son’s nappy – and both children were crying.
“The daily sense of pride and love I feel can still be overwhelming, I could go on, but let gets real for a second... it’s also the hardest and most stressful thing I’ve ever experienced,” he wrote.
“It tests your patience, your relationship, your ability to function on next to no sleep, the amount of times you can watch Peppa Goes on Holiday (about 50 times btw), your buggy and cot assembling abilities.”
He said he wants to encourage mums and dads to talk about how they’re feeling in those tricky first few months, adding: “We [me and Izzy] just feel like the actual reality of parenthood is a lot different to what gets put out there.”
WaterWipes campaign #ThisIsParenthood aims to build confidence in parents by starting a more open and honest conversation about parenting.