For Ashley Tisdale, welcoming her 6-month-old daughter, Emerson, to the family has been an “amazing transition.”
“Jupiter is just such a great big sister, and she really is obsessed with her little sister, so much to where I have to be, like, ‘Boundaries, Juju!’” Tisdale, 39, exclusively shares in the latest issue of Us Weekly. “I think it’s just been a really easy transition for all of us.”
Tisdale and her husband, Christopher French, became first-time parents with the birth of their eldest daughter, Jupiter, in 2021. The couple, who wed in 2014, announced they were expecting their second child in March 2024 and welcomed baby Emerson that September.
For Tisdale, becoming a mother of two comes with both perks and challenges. “[With] your first one, you really have no idea what [it’s] going to entail and what that looks like and how to do things,” she explains. “And you’re so nervous. … With the second, you just feel so much more confident.”
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One thing that has helped Tisdale and French’s parenthood transition is the fact that Emerson has been “sleeping through the night” since she was around 3 months old. “She really is such an easy baby,” Tisdale gushes. “She’s so cute. She really just has made [our] family feel very complete.”
Tisdale notes that she felt “robbed” during her first experience becoming a mother, having suffered from postpartum depression after giving birth to Jupiter. “To be able to have this experience again and to have it in such a great way and be so present, it makes me cherish every single moment,” she tells Us.
The actress went on to admit that becoming parents did “change” her and French’s marriage and that it took them a bit to find their parenting groove. “I feel like we balance each other out,” she says. “There are times where Chris is really the fun parent and I might be a little bit more strict. And then, there’s times where he’s a little bit more strict with scheduling, and I’m a really fun parent.”
She continues, “We have such a great foundation. We do have different parenting styles sometimes, and I think that’s great. I think that’s awesome. But you kind of have to start to get on the same page in some areas. … Now with Emerson, we both know how we are and what to do.”
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Another difference between Tisdale’s early days with Jupiter and current experience with Emerson is breastfeeding — she tells Us she had “such a hard time” breastfeeding her eldest. Luckily, things have been easier this time around, thanks to her partnership with the Willow wearable breast pump.
“When you’re breastfeeding a newborn, you feel very much like you’re just in the rocking chair the entire time,” she shares. “Willow really gave me that optimism to be like, ‘Oh, I can leave and I don’t have to be here at all times, every hour, and I can have a life again, and I can do these things.’ And now I have this support system and it’s been really great.”
With reporting by Amanda Williams
