Actress Coco Austin defends decision to breastfeed daughter until she was six years old
Reality star Coco Austin has defended her decision to breastfeed her daughter until she was six years old.
The TV personality, 46, known for appearing in Ice Loves Coco, has been married to rapper Ice-T, 67, for over two decades.
In 2015, they welcomed their first child together, daughter Chanel Nicole, who is now nine years old.
Over the years, their parenting style has made headlines, as the Law & Order: SVU actor previously noted that 'everyone parents differently'.
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It comes after the model's admission that she only stopped breastfeeding Chanel three years ago, and that she is still 'obsessed with boobs' to this day.
During an episode of Bunnie Xo's Dumb Blonde podcast, Coco shared that she used it as a 'bonding experience' as her daughter got older.
"It wasn't like I was feeding her because she needed a meal. She was able to eat by a year, you know, full, like, solids," she said.
"It was more of a bonding experience and more of like, 'Okay, I'll give you the milk'.
"But, it was more like she wanted to be around me. So I was like, 'I'm gonna let her stop when she wants to stop.'"
Coco acknowledged that their 'bonding' over her breasts wasn't going to be a thing when she's '16', but said she wanted it to be Chanel's decision.
"She's gonna eventually figure out, 'OK, this is kinda strange or weird and stuff.' And that happened around six, which was still [an] extremely long amount of time apparently," she continued.
"But in Europe, they're doing till seven. Like, it's nothing to them. I mean, Americans think that's weird."
It became more of 'a comfort thing' than anything else, the mum claimed, adding that it 'was mostly used when she went to sleep'.
"So it was more of like a comfort thing with her, but I got so many people that loved it. Like, they were on my side," Coco said.
"I had everybody come out of the woodwork when it comes to breastfeeding ladies.
"I was like, 'Oh, this is so nice' because I was the only one speaking about it. And I'm like, why is this so hard? Like, people have been doing this for thousands of years.
"She loves boobs. I think she's like she's always very comforted. She's like sitting always sitting there laying on me and then it's just a really nice moment because it's not gonna be like this when they get into the teenage years."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends mums to breastfeed their babies for the first six months of their life, and after that, babies should start eating solid foods as well as being breastfed for up to two years or longer.
"There is no right or wrong way to stop breastfeeding. For lots of mothers and babies, stopping breastfeeding happens gradually as the child grows and eats more solid foods," the NHS added.
Anish Vij