Coco Austin has been widely criticized after sharing a photo to Instagram of herself breastfeeding her 4-year-old daughter Chanel, who she shares with husband and "Law & Order: SVU" star Ice-T. There is controversy surrounding what age children should start being bottle-fed, but the famous 40-year-old mom is not backing down.
"Ive been getting alot of props in the breastfeeding community and get tons of emails from woman/moms appreciating me bringing light to the subject," she captioned the photo to her three million followers. "I write a baby blog about my journey with Chanel and soon I will write about what it's like to continue boob time with a 4 year old."
Austin added that she chose to breastfeed Chanel as a way of comforting her, adding that "the girl loves meat so its not like she isnt eating real food."
Many of her followers were not impressed.
"My grandmother breastfed her oldest son until he was 9 years old...(That is insane to me) but will you still be breastfeeding when she's 15-16yrs old if she asks?" one Instagram user wondered.
"Im assuming this 4 year old still wears diapers too (disturbing)," another user wrote.
"HELL NO COCO...WHAT THE HELL GOING ON IN YOUR MIND... SHE'S GROWN. THATS SICK AND DISTURBING," replied another user to the photo.
There were others in support of Coco's choice to breastfeed Chanel at 4.
"It's the least we can do to make their world a little bit more comforting," one follower wrote.
"Yes coco!!! People need to be educated BUT even if they aren't it's none of their business regardless. That's between you and her. My son is about to be 4 in a couple weeks and I have a 2.5 year old...both are still nursed," another user replied.
Ice-T has also been vocal in backing his wife. In an interview with TMZ, the rapper explained that Austin only nursed their daughter once in a while, when Chanel "wants to get close to her mom." Otherwise, "she eats just like a normal little kid ... including cheeseburgers."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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