Coco Austin Shares Photo of Her Breastfeeding Daughter Chanel, 4: 'It's Just for Comfort'
Coco Austin is opening up about her decision to continue breastfeeding her daughter Chanel Nicole.
The model and mother of one, 40, shared a snapshot of her 4-year-old with husband Ice-T nursing on Friday, looking up at her mother as she did so and placing one hand on her cheek.
“At a time when the world feels like its coming to an end … suck up as much love as you can!” Austin began in her caption. “I know the moms out there will appreciate this pic! Ive been getting alot of props in the breasfeeding (sic) community and get tons of emails from woman/moms appreciating me bringing light to the subject … 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.”
The former reality star added that she gets “tons and tons of requests that want me to speak on” her experience, explaining, “At this point in nursing its just for comfort and believe me the girl loves meat so its not like she isnt eating real food … 😁.”
“Thank you to all that understand my view … i see most of you are so eager to side with me and I too root for you in your journey as well … Us moms are connected 💗,” Austin concluded, tacking a few hashtags on to the end like “#breastfeedingforcomfort,” “#weenwhentheyareready,” “#toddlerbreastfeeding” and “#teammommy.”
Related: Ice-T and Coco Austin's Daughter Chanel Celebrates Her Birthday In Style
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The new photo comes almost six months after Austin opened up in a candid Instagram post about how her then-3?-year-old still breastfed but mostly out of “comfort” now, sharing images of her nursing Chanel on a plane.
“A mothers calling … I’m so blessed to have this unbelievable experience in this thing called Nursing,” Austin wrote. “I had a hard time breastfeeding the 1st week of when Chanel was born, I almost gave up but my family told me to hang for another week.”
“They told me I dont want to miss this special moment you have with your child … health wise and bond wise,” continued the mother of one. “I hung in there and now almost 4 years later Chanel still wants the boob.”
“I’m lucky she hasn’t grown out [of] it yet because when that moment comes I will be so sad,” Austin admitted. “Its the best feeling and ALL mothers that nurse know.”
RELATED VIDEO: Coco Austin Opens up About Being Body Shamed During Pregnancy
Austin has long been open about how much she cherishes the experience of breastfeeding her daughter.
The former Ice Loves Coco star shared in May 2018, “I follow some mother [empowering] pages here on Instagram and I love the inspiring pics they post showing the tenderness and love between a mother and child with or without nursing moments … I love that I can be a part of that.”
Austin also previously revealed in June 2016 that despite Chanel taking “instantly” to “the boob” at first, she had recently been “want[ing] the bottle more” and it had “hurt [Austin’s] feelings.”
“I’m doing whatever I can because now, she’s growing, so she needs more milk … so I have to go from breastfeeding to formula, breastfeeding to formula, but I wish she would want a little more of me,” she said at the time, adding that she still pumped “every single day” to provide breast milk for Chanel, even though it was often through a bottle.
