Model Coco Austin defends breastfeeding her daughter until she was six

A mum and model has defended her decision to breastfeed her daughter until she was six years old.

Coco Austin, model and wife to Law & Order: SVU actor Ice T, defended breastfeeding her daughter Chanel until she was six on the latest episode of Bunnie Xo's Dumb Blonde podcast.

Austin, 46, confessed that as her daughter got older, it served more as a "bonding experience".

"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 told Bunny.

"It was more of a bonding experience... like she wanted to be around me. So I was like, 'I'm gonna let her stop when she wants to stop'."

The mother said she wanted her daughter to decide when she wanted to stop breastfeeding.

"She's not gonna be 16 on my boob," Austin added.

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"She's gonna eventually figure out, 'OK, this is kinda strange or weird and stuff.' And that happened around [age] six, which was still an extremely long amount of time.

"But in Europe, they're doing it until [their kids] are seven. Like, it's nothing to them. I mean, Americans think that's weird."

She added Chanel, who is now nine, used breastfeeding as a "comfort thing".

"It was mostly when she went to sleep, she wanted me to be there. So it was more of a comfort thing with her, but I got so many people that loved it; they were on my side," she said.

"I had everybody come out of the woodwork when it comes to breastfeeding ladies."

She also addressed her and Ice T's "traditional" marriage on the podcast, explaining that they have his and her roles.

"He has a man place," she said.

"He goes, he does his job, he works hard, he works hard for his money.

"My place is, keep the house right. That is what I manage. I manage the house. I keep it right. I keep everything sane, because when he comes out from the streets into the home, he can now relax."

"We have an old-fashioned relationship (behind the scenes)," she added.

"You wouldn't see us having an old-fashioned relationship... but we know each other's places."

Austin and Ice T have been married since 2001, before having Chanel in 2015.

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