Coco Austin, a glamour and fitness model and actress who has worked at the Playboy Mansion, described breastfeeding Chanel — until she was six — as a “bonding experience”
Model and actress Coco Austin has defended her decision to continue to breastfeed her daughter until she was six.
The star, also a dancer and fashion designer, said she and Chanel enjoyed a “bonding experience” and always wanted it to be her daughter’s decision when to stop this. Coco, who has been married to rapper Ice-T since 2002, said her daughter mostly used the experience as a comfort opportunity.
Speaking on Bunnie Xo’s Dumb Blonde podcast, the 46-year-old model said: “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. 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.
“She’s not gonna be 16 on my boob. She’s gonna eventually figure out, ‘Okay, this is kinda strange or weird and stuff.’ And that happened around six, … which was still [an] extremely long amount of time apparently. But in Europe, they’re doing till seven. Like, it’s nothing to them. I mean, Americans think that’s weird.”
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Coco added Chanel, who is now nine, is “obsessed with boobs” to this day, adding it’s “not a big thing”. However, the topic arose during the podcast after criticism Coco, originally from Tarzana, California, had faced online.
One internet user posted: “Breastfeeding a child beyond two years is just weird and attention seeking imo (in my opinion).” Another said: “You don’t need to breastfeed a six-year-old to bond with them.” A third shared: “Bonding experience.??.. Build some Lego together.”
But defiant mum Coco, who worked at events and parties at the Playboy Mansion in the early 2000s, insisted she has received a great deal of support from fans – including other mothers – too. She told Bunnie Xo: “I got so many people that loved it. Like, they were on my side. I had everybody come out of the woodwork when it comes to breastfeeding.
“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.”
Is six too old to still be breastfeeding?
And over here, with guidance aimed at mums, the NHS website states: “You and your baby can carry on enjoying the benefits of breastfeeding for as long as you like. Breastfeeding into your baby’s second year or beyond, alongside other foods, is ideal.”
