Sister Wives stars Kody Brown and wife Robyn Brown were slammed by fans after seeing their 7-year-old daughter, Ariella, using a pacifier in a throwback clip. During the Sunday, August 20, season 18 premiere, Ariella was seen in a flashback clip with a pink pacifier in her mouth. In response, several social media users took to X — previously known as Twitter — to weigh in.
“Yeesh, still showing Ari with the pacifier in the flashbacks,” one fan wrote shortly after the episode aired. “So shameful! Not good parenting,” another added. In addition to Ariella, Robyn, 44, and Kody, 54, share son Solomon together, in addition to Robyn’s children from a previous relationship: Aurora, Breanna and Dayton.This wasn’t the first time Kody and Robyn have been called out over their parenting choices with Ariella. In January 2022, multiple fans took to Twitter to call out the couple for giving the growing child a pacifier.
“Oh my dear gracious. Ariella is how old now and she still is using a pacifier?! Whyyyyyy?!I” one person tweeted at the time, adding, “Get the feeling none of these kids will ever move out.”
Robyn is Kody’s only wife now that he is separated from former sister wives Christine Brown, Janelle Brown and Meri Brown. During the latest episode, however, Robyn opened up about how Kody’s divorces impacted her relationship with the businessman.
“Everything that’s going on with Kody and Christine, and then everything that happened through [COVID-19,] I am questioning my reality,” Robyn admitted in a confessional. “I’m just looking for answers because I don’t understand this.”
Previously, TLC viewers watched Kody’s separation from Christine, 51, affect his relationships with the other sister wives. Though the two announced their split in November 2021, fans didn’t see Christine and Kody’s breakup play out until season 17, which premiered in September 2022.
By the end of that year, In Touch exclusively confirmed in December 2022 that Janelle, 54, split from Kody because she “outgrew him.” One month later, Meri, 52, and Kody addressed their split during the Sister Wives reunion before issuing a joint statement to Instagram formally announcing their separation. Robyn and Kody are now in a monogamous marriage.
During a teaser clip for season 18, Robyn confessed that she was struggling in her marriage to Kody.
“No one should be married while they’re going through a divorce,” she explained, before adding, “I never thought I wanted to leave. I know how much I love Kody … He’s doing his best.”
As the season unfolds, fans will have to wait and see if Kody’s marriage to Robyn lasts. Before the latest episode aired, though, Kody seemed optimistic when it came to his relationships with his ex-wives.
“It’s been painful, a lot of finger pointing and blame,” Kody said in an interview with People on August 16. “But you have to hope we still have a friendship in the future. Because we’re bound forever through our kids.”
When it comes to possibly adding new sister wives to the family, Kody explained that “there’s no reason for [him] to do that,” noting that he “hit the bottom of a deep swimming pool, but [he has] pushed off and am headed to the surface.”