Ice-T and Coco Austin Breastfed Their Daughter Until She Was Six — And Say Critics Missed the Point Entirely

Ice-T and Coco Austin have never pretended their household runs like anyone else’s, and their approach to raising daughter Chanel has made that clear from the start.

Between an unusually long breastfeeding journey and a refusal to explain themselves to critics, their parenting style has stayed consistent no matter how much backlash it draws.

Breastfeeding Kept Going Long After Most Families Stop

Austin continued breastfeeding Chanel well past toddlerhood, a decision that stretched years beyond what most American families consider typical. She’s said the choice had nothing to do with nutrition by that point, since Chanel was already eating full meals on her own well before the practice ended.

Austin has framed the extended timeline as entirely Chanel’s decision to make, not hers. “I was gonna let her stop when she wants to stop,” she’s said, treating it as something the child would naturally outgrow rather than something to cut off on a schedule.

“She Eats Steak and Hamburgers” — Their Go-To Defense

Whenever criticism surfaced online, both parents leaned on the same response: Chanel’s regular diet was never in question. Austin has repeatedly pointed out that breastfeeding was more of an occasional comfort than an actual meal, insisting her daughter “eats real food” alongside it.

Ice-T backed that up just as directly, publicly noting that Chanel eats normal meals like everyone else, framing nursing as something closer to a snack than a food source. For the couple, defending the practice meant constantly separating two things critics kept conflating: comfort and calories.

Chanel Still Sleeps in Their Bed

Extended breastfeeding wasn’t the only unconventional habit in the household. Ice-T has said Chanel continued sleeping in their bed well past the age most parents transition kids to their own room, describing himself as fully at ease with the arrangement.

He’s credited that closeness with a bond he didn’t have the chance to build with his older children, whose early years overlapped with a demanding career. For Ice-T, the co-sleeping wasn’t a phase to correct, it was time he was intentional about not missing this time around.

Manners Come First, Fame Comes Second

Despite growing up with famous parents, Coco has said she doesn’t want Chanel to think of herself as a celebrity. “She just wants to act like a regular kid,” Coco has said, describing her main rule as simple: act normal, but always be polite.

Ice-T has echoed that same emphasis on basic character over public image, saying he’s tried to teach Chanel not to prejudge people and to give everyone a fair chance.

Between the two of them, manners and openness get far more attention than anything tied to status.

They Don’t Pretend to Be a “Normal” Family — And Never Apologize For It

Ice-T has openly compared their household to the Osbournes rather than any conventional family, acknowledging that their parenting looks nothing like a typical household’s. “It’s not harmful. That’s the main thing,” he’s said, drawing a clear line between unconventional and dangerous.

That refusal to conform, or to apologize for it, runs through everything from the breastfeeding decisions to the sleeping arrangements.

Whatever backlash follows, both parents have made it clear they’re building their own version of normal rather than measuring themselves against anyone else’s.