Jessica Alba on having 3 kids: ‘You’re outnumbered, but I really like it’

If there’s anything Jessica Alba isn’t afraid of it’s taking on a new challenge. When she started The Honest Company, an all-natural baby and beauty brand, seven-and-a-half years ago she had no idea her hard work and dedication would morphe into a billion-dollar business.

Now the entrepreneur is taking on her newest ongoing challenge of mothering three children with ease. “Everyone says you’re outnumbered [when you have more than two kids] and that it’s challenging, but I really like it,” says the 38-year-old. “I think because I have such an age gap between my two girls [her oldest daughter Honor is 11, and middle daughter Haven is eight], it brought us together as a family in a different way. We really got to bond over the birth of my third child.”

According to Alba when her son Hayes, who’s now one-and-a-half, was born her daughters treated him like a real-life baby doll, while she and her husband of 10 years, Cash Warren, reveled in having a kid they actually planned. Alba finds peace in having a set routine in her life these days.

In fact, a large part in the key to maintaining her sanity as a busy mama is sticking with a schedule. “My husband and I were very regimented from day one on sleep and feeding times,” she says about the first months as a mother to three kids. “We also stuck to the routine of not having the children sleep with us when they were really young. It gave my husband and I time to be alone.”

But being a celebrity and businesswoman doesn’t exclude her from parenting challenges—particularly at bedtime. She admits that she was surprised at how difficult putting three kids to bed can be when they prefer to cuddle for two hours instead of laying down. But even if her schedule is thrown off a bit, the routine she establishes is ultimately better for the entire family.

Family aside, personally, Alba overcame issues of feeling insecure and the idea of constantly having to be a perfect mother. “I was really insecure when I was 27 years old with my first child,” she says. “It took me a year after every kid to feel normal again and get comfortable with the fact that my body is different and it’s okay. I’m a lot more confident now.”

When she’s not busy managing Honest (which is set to launch a line of eczema products at Honest.com on July 23), Alba enjoys traveling and getting out of her comfort zone. “It’s nice to see how other people live because it helps you figure out how you want to live,” says Alba regarding her most recent family trip to Montenegro. “While there, it was so cool to see the kids out of their comfort zone. We spent a week in a place that none of us had any expectations on what it was, and we didn’t do anything all day. We just literally hung out with each other. It was so nice.”

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