Paris Hilton’s therapist has called her out for relinquishing “authority” over her child to her son’s nanny.
In a recent episode of the socialite’s reality show, Paris in Love, a therapist criticised Hilton’s decision to let a caregiver take over caring for her son, Pheonix. Hilton and her husband Carter Reum welcomed their first child in January 2023. Now, almost a year later, they’ve expanded their family with a newborn daughter. While Hilton decided to welcome her children via surrogate, she has also relied heavily on a nanny to help after birth too.
The 42-year-old recently revealed on her show that she didn’t learn how to change Pheonix’s diaper until he was one month old. In the now-viral video, Hilton admitted she was “scared” to change her son’s diaper. Her younger sister, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, watched as her sister learned how to change him from her nanny. Hilton’s nanny carefully instructed her on how best to change his diaper, encouraging her to communicate with Pheonix while she changes him. However, Hilton’s nanny easing the reality star’s nerves about her own son left a bad taste in her therapist’s mouth.
In a follow-up episode, Hilton expressed concern over Pheonix’s temperature, despite what her nanny typically says about him. “The baby’s nanny, she always loves being hot. I always say: ‘Isn’t he hot?’ and she’s like: ‘No,’” Hilton told her therapist. Rather than siding with Hilton’s nanny, her therapist emboldened her to follow her own intuition. “OK, so this is where you should trust yourself in terms of what you think is good for the baby,” the therapist said. “You are the mother, she’s not.”
Hilton proceeded to argue that the nanny is the professional, admitting “she’s done this millions of times.” But her therapist didn’t seem to care how much experience her caregiver has with Pheonix.
“You’ve given up authority to the baby nanny. I’m sorry, but that’s wrong,” the therapist proclaimed. “Because you’re the expert, not her. It doesn’t matter how many babies she’s raised, that’s your baby. You’re the expert on your child. I think the question is, do you want the nanny to be the primary attachment figure?”
“Or do you want to be the primary attachment?” the therapist continued. “I think you should ask yourself that.”
Hilton candidly admitted she’s worried about her capability in taking care of Pheonix. Rather than arguing with her therapist, she felt as though she was not as responsible to have total parental control. Her therapist responded: “OK, what you’re telling me makes no sense. If you were so irresponsible, you wouldn’t have a multi-billion dollar empire. It makes no sense. So, how much do you want to change this?”
“Because I can help you work on it, but I don’t want to force you,” they continued.
Fans online showed Hilton continued support, as the clip of her therapist session went viral. Many viewers also commended her therapist for the motivational discussion.
“I think she needed to hear that. It probably validated her,” one person said, while another wrote: “Wow, Paris is being so vulnerable. Props to her for that.”
“I think all mommies need to hear that. ‘You’re the expert on your own baby,’” one woman said.
The Independent has contacted Hilton’s representatives for comment.
