Camilla Thurlow has won praise for sharing an “honest” update on her daughter’s progress.
The former Love Island star shares two daughters, Nell and Nora, with her husband Jamie Jewitt, and is currently expecting their third child – a baby boy.
In a post shared on Instagram, Camilla candidly revealed that their two-year-old daughter Nora is “on her own timeframe” as she’s yet to start walking or talking.
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Sharing sweet snaps of Nora, she wrote: “When I shared recently about Nora starting to crawl at 20 months (and not yet walking) I got a lot of messages from mums who have been feeling worried, or isolated, as the majority of what they see on here are other babies reaching certain milestones.
“It really got me thinking because I shared a lot of ‘firsts’ with Nell without even really realising I was doing it, I would just want to share how cute she was using her fork, or be so excited she’d said mama and was making funny babbling sounds.
“And please don’t get me wrong, I love LOVE to see those posts, watching parents see their babies do things for the first time and the amazement and joy that brings is something very special, and is such a lovely thing to celebrate.
“But having a second child on a very different timeframe has reminded me how much easier it is (without even realising you’re doing it) to fill a square, or story, with something that someone is doing rather than isn’t doing.”
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“So I just wanted to share that whilst the nature of social media means you might constantly see babies meeting milestones, you really aren’t alone if they’re not ❤️, and it doesn’t mean there aren’t other mums and dads out there in a similar situation to you,” the 34-year-old continued.
“I don’t share so many of those moments with Nora and it’s not because she’s our second child, it is simply because we haven’t shared those moments in real life yet.
“She’s very much on her own timeframe for everything, although I’ve only touched on gross motor development on here before. She doesn’t speak – about 8 months ago she said dada for the first time and then overnight she stopped and hasn’t said it since.
“She has never said mama. Day to day we are still working on her cutlery and practical skills.”
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“We have been so grateful to our Health Visitors for her assessments and the referrals that have been made, because we want her to have every bit of support she needs, and for our family to create an environment in which she can thrive,” Camilla wrote.
“Equally, I want Nora to know she can be a baby for as long as she wants or needs to. We are very proud of how she is steadfastly moving through the world at her own pace. The last thing I want is for her to grow up thinking that life is a race, or that she needs to be the fastest, smartest, funniest or loudest person in the room to be worthy of love.
“She will be loved absolutely wholeheartedly and unconditionally for exactly who she is, and because we are lucky enough that she is ours.”
“I know being a parent of a baby on their own timeframe can be fraught with worry and self-doubt because we all just want to do the best for our babies so am sending lots of love, and I highly recommend the Bluey episode ‘The Baby Race’, just don’t watch it right before heading out because it’s a real tearjerker!
“Sometimes we can only do our best, but there’s more than enough love to take care of the rest 💕,” she added.
The TV personality was inundated with thankful comments underneath her post, with many praising her for being so real and honest.
One follower commented: “Thank you so much for sharing this ❤️ my little boy is 2.5 and doesn’t speak! We have the odd word here and there but we’re still waiting on so many firsts!”
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“Social media can be so toxic at times especially for us parents who long for so many of those firsts! It’s taken me a long time to realise that although our ‘normal’ may be different to everyone else’s it doesn’t matter because our journeys are all unique. It’s so refreshing to see posts like this, it makes me feel much less lonely ❤️ xx.”
Another wrote: “Paediatrician here! Thank you so much for sharing this. I see so many parents who feel so isolated and alone in their child not meeting milestones at the same rate as other children and although they aren’t alone at all it’s so hard to convince people of that.
“Anyone with a big voice sharing a story full of so much love, compassion and support really helps.”
A third follower added: “This is the post I needed to read today 😍 I find this is the most relatable post I’ve ever seen, you’ve just made my day thanks for sharing this 🥰.”
Camilla and Jamie met on the third series of Love Island back in 2017.
The couple welcomed their first daughter Nell in October 2020, and their second child Nora in May 2022.
One year prior, the reality stars tied the knot in September 2021 in front of family and friends at Gosfield Hall in Essex.
