Coco Austin has revealed in a new interview why she still breastfeeds her five-year-old daughter.
The reality star, 42, gave birth to her daughter Chanel in November 2015, and she has been repeatedly subject to criticism for her decision to breastfeed long after the CDC recommendation of 12 months old.
"Chanel still likes my boob. She's 5 years old," Coco, who shares Chanel with husband Ice-T, told Us Weekly. "A lot of people are like, 'Oh, you're not getting the nutrition after 2 years old. Why do it?'
"And I'm like, My child's eating steak and hamburgers. She just likes a little snack every now and then and more of the bonding between the mother. Why take that away from her?"
The TV personality explained that while she is aware that there is a societal expectation for children to stop breastfeeding by her daughter's age, she is not going to stop because of it.
Instead, she is going to wait until her daughter no longer wants to breastfeed.
She said: "I'm not going to just say, 'No boob!'"
Explaining how she is physically still able to breastfeed five years after giving birth, Coco explained that it has become a comforting bedtime routine for her daughter rather than a source of nutrition.
Chanel herself said: "You know what? The boo boo makes me sleep.
"She loves on it and it's not like she's getting milk from it, but she's getting her little snack and it's kind of soothing her to sleep."
Coco concluded her interview with the news outlet by saying that as a mother, she's decided not to deprive her daughter of something she wants, even if it goes against societal expectations.
"I don't want to deprive her of something she wants, just because society says you need to stop after 2," she added.
Coco is not alone in her decision to defend breastfeeding Chanel, and Ice-T has also spoken out in her defense.
Back in 2019, he told TMZ that breastfeeding has never been exclusively for babies.
He said that she does it "every once in a while, you know what I'm saying? If she wants to get close to her mum, what's the big deal? She eats food, she eats f**king cheeseburgers."