Audrey Roloff has once again opened up about her breastfeeding challenges.
But this time with a controversial twist.
To the credit of this Little People, Big World star, Roloff has never shied away from the pain she often faces while providing her daughter with sustenance.
She suffers from a condition called Mastisis.
Shortly after welcoming Ember Jean into the world, Audrey told her followers that this problem resulted in more physical pain for her than she even experienced during childbirth.
Yikes, right?
We feel terrible for Audrey and we salute her for being so honest about such difficulty.
However, we’ve often found fault with Roloff for using her daughter as a prop.
A debate continues to rage online over whether or not it’s appropriate for the TLC star to gush over child-rearing in one breath … and then encourage fans to purchase some product for which she’s shilling in the next breath.
And that’s exactly what Audrey just did on Instagram.
“I don’t know about you mamas, but nursing while laying down in bed was a game changer for me,” Roloff wrote on Tuesday night as a caption to the above images.
She continued:
“I’m so thankful that I learned how to do it early on in my breastfeeding journey. It allowed me to still have precious bonding moments with Ember while I nursed her round the clock to increase my supply, and endured reoccurring mastitis.
“It offered a little comfort and connection to my painful beginnings.”
We’re very glad to hear this.
And we’re guessing other relatively new mothers out there are as well, as it’s advice they can maybe utilize in their own lives.
But then Audrey’s message sort of took a turn.
“We spent so much time in bed together that it made me wonder about all the toxic materials in our matteress,” she wrote, explaining as follows:
“I did some research and learned about all the harmful effects of off-gassing from mattresses (especially the memory foam kind).”
Did she really, though?
Or is she just getting paid to say this?
The latter seems most likely, considering what Roloff wrote next:
“I really wanted to invest in a mattress made from natural and organic materials, but I didn’t want to sacrifice comfort…
“After doing some thorough comparisons, I finally decided to try to @avocadomattress and we absolutely love it.”
Now, look: There’s nothing wrong with promoting a product on social media.
For stars all across the Internet and all across various industries, this has become a perfectly common and profitable way to make money.
It’s just that… well… Audrey Roloff seems to pride herself on being real, honest and open.
Just consider the way she presents this mattress problem to her fans, right?
She’s acting as if she stumbled upon Avocado Mattress organically – when, in fact, this is clearly a paid promotion.
Concludes Roloff in this instance, regarding her new mattress:
“It’s 100% organic and eco-friendly + made in the US. I was worried it wouldn’t be as soft and cozy as our old mattress but we got the plush topper and it’s a dream.”
At the very end of her post, Audrey writes that this is, indeed, an “#ad.”
What do you think of this quasi Roloff controversy?
Are we making a big deal out of nothing at all?
Or is Audrey being sort of hypocritical by gushing about God while simultaneously encouraging her followers to purchase some kind of product?
It’s an interesting debate, isn’t it?