Nikki Reed’s postpartum isolation plan: brilliant or not for you?

Since announcing her pregnancy back in May, Twilight actress Nikki Reed has been absolutely glowing in every Instagram photo. Just don’t expect to see many pics of her and Ian Somerhalder’s baby right after the arrival: In a new interview with Fit Pregnancy, Reed said she and Somerhalder plan to shut off their devices and shut themselves in during the first month of their baby’s life.

“We’re doing one month of silence,” Reed said. “Just the three of us, no visitors, and we’re turning off our phones too, so there’s no expectation for us to communicate. Otherwise, every five minutes it would be, ‘How are you feeling? Can we have a picture?’ You don’t get those first 30 days back, and we want to be fully present.”

Although Reed and Somerhalder’s postpartum isolation plan may sound intense, I understand the compulsion. I didn’t even tell my family when I went into labor because I didn’t want any visitors at the hospital to interrupt my baby bonding time. I only changed my mind when my sister offered to bring coffee. ☕️

As for turning off the phone for a month, it’s a suggestion I wouldn’t be able to get behind. I was snapping selfies with my little guy just a few hours after his birth and needed my phone to Google important information—like, “What should baby poop look like?”

Reed’s “vow of silence” is attracting a lot of attention online, but staying in actually isn’t a novel postpartum custom in some parts of the world. In China, a lot of moms spend baby’s first month in their pajamas, practicing a tradition called “sitting the month.” (Or, for the fully committed, there is no hair-washing, shower-taking, tooth-brushing or even air conditioner-using.) And, in some Latin American countries, many moms choose to do a 40-day quarantine period, “la cuarentena.”

The big difference between traditional practices and what Reed is planning is the visitors.

Typically, new moms who are sitting the month or doing la cuarentena have help from extended family members who come look after the baby and mom while she recovers. That may also have emotional benefits: According to Harvard Medical School, social isolation increases the chances that parents will develop postpartum depression. So while Reed’s plan to forgo visitors is great for her, it might not be a good fit for other moms who need more connection with friends and family.

Reed hasn’t said if the couple plans to have some professional help around the house, but we hope the fridge is well stocked before the baby arrives—because we doubt this tight couple would break their phone ban to order a pizza. Although we wouldn’t blame them if they did!