2017 is the Year Of The Boob for Nicole Curtis, who can’t shake a bizarre breastfeeding controversy

Nicole Curtis children

For Nicole Curtis, 2017 may well turn out to be the Year of the Boob. Despite a newly laid-back persona and as happy a life as she could ask for with her two children, she continues to be called out for breastfeeding her youngest. And this bizarre breastfeeding controversy has gone on for so long that it’s actually taken on a completely different basis, as we will explain.

Criticism toward Nicole began in the wake of a radio interview–also being streamed on Facebook Live–that the Rehab Addict star gave this past January. She brought her then-18-month-old son Harper with her to the interview; toward the end, when neither toys nor bananas could placate the lad, Nicole simply put him in her lap and clasped her breast to his lips, and then wrapped up the interview. (You can see the “scandalous” interview here.)

And with that, the Great Nicole Curtis Breastfeeding Controversy began. At the time, the drama–such as it was–was over whether Nicole should have breastfed her child in public in the first place. Though comment sections across the internet lit up in equal parts fury, amusement, and confusion, Nicole shrugged the whole thing off, saying, “It’s just a boob.”

Fast forward a few months, though, and a frustrating cycle had set in. Nicole often shares her thoughts on the difficulties of mothering in general and being a single parent in particular, and, before Rehab Addict Season 8 premiered, she was often in the news due to her ongoing custody / parenting battles with Harper’s father. Every time a new story was published, it gave new life to the breastfeeding controversy–which often led to Nicole sharing a poignant social media update featuring her thoughts on mothering and parenthood, which led to more stories speculating about her legal and personal battles, and on and on and on.

So here we are, eleven months removed from the spark that lit the breastfeeding fire–and now, the controversy itself has shifted. No longer is the question “Should Nicole Curtis breastfeed in public”; instead, it’s become “Why is Nicole Curtis still breastfeeding her son?” Nicole herself fanned the latest flames with this social media update:

A recent Detroit Metro Times opinion piece on the topic summed things up nicely: “Like most working mothers these days, Curtis has to juggle maternal and work responsibilities simultaneously and people just cannot f*cking handle it.” (Also noteworthy: Nicole breastfed Harper during an unrelated interview with the Metro Times “without so much as a pause between answering questions.”

Likewise, a new feature in People chronicles Nicole’s irritation with the issue–while simultaneously making clear Nicole’s belief that the decision to stop breastfeeding actually belongs to Harper, and no one else.

“I keep saying, it’s not like he’s 7 or 8—he’s still a baby,” Nicole told the magazine (and, yes, Harper breastfed during this interview, as well. “Every single day I have to weather criticism about how my child is too old to breastfeed,” she says. “But when he weans, it’s going to be his decision. I truly believe it’s the child’s choice.”

Judging by the pro-Nicole commenters on her Facebook and Instagram feeds, there are *plenty* of moms out there who breastfed their children until they were Harper’s age or a little bit older. And it’s obvious that, though the criticism she receives is still a daily occurrence, Nicole has just as light a heart about the whole non-controversy as she did a year ago:

Rehab Addict‘s Season 8 airs Wednesday nights at 9 on DIY.

(Photo credit: Nicole Curtis children via Instagram)


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