Shakira: Motherhood is difficult

Shakira has confessed she is finding being a mother tougher than she imagined.

The Beautiful Liar singer, who is also a mentor on the US version of The Voice, gave birth to son Milan in January, her first child with Spanish footballer Gerard Pique and admitted that adjusting to parenthood has taken some time.

"I didn't expect babies to need so many diapers! Nobody told me they needed to be changed so often!" she joked to Us Weekly.

"I mean he's a great baby. He's an easy one, I think. But nobody told me it would be this hard. It takes a lot of energy from you."

The 36-year-old star added: "I love it, I'm really enjoying every bit of it. It's just that it's not as idyllic as everybody tells you, but also not as horrible as everyone tells you."

Shakira revealed that her 26-year-old boyfriend is very hands-on.

"He has been amazing. The baby spends as much time with his dad as he does with me. He's the kind of dad who's full hands-on. He changes diapers, he bathes him, he enjoys playing with the baby, he enjoys feeding him, all of that stuff. So that's great help for me, you know. I can't imagine doing all of this and not having the father do his part of the job. So that's a huge help to me," she said.

The Colombian singer also said she's trying to lose her baby pounds.

"I have a career, and that's the only part that's been a bit stressful because I knew I'd have to come back here to do The Voice two months after I delivered a baby," she said.