‘Rehab Addict’ Defends Breastfeeding Her Toddler

Rehab Addict star Nicole Curtis is defending her decision to continue breastfeeding her son after she has been accused of nursing him as a scheme to keep the child away from his father.

The 41-year-old gave birth to her son Harper in May 2015. The child’s father is Shane McGuire, a man whom she never married.

Six months after Harper was born, McGuire requested equal custody of the child. He and Curtis have been engaged in an intense legal battle since that time.

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Curtis claimed that she needed to have more time with Harper because he was depending on her body to be fed, according to Daily Mail. In response to her claim, a judge told Curtis to use a breast pump and send her milk with the child when he goes to visit his father in Minnesota.

The HGTV star said in an interview with PEOPLE that she could not produce enough milk by using a pump to feed her son. She claims that Harper would not drink it unless it came directly from her breast. In contrast, McGuire’s attorneys assert that Harper happily drank from a bottle of formula when he was just 6-months-old.

“It’s not like he’s 7 or 8. He’s still a baby. Every single day I have to weather criticism about how my child is too old to breastfeed,” she said. “But when he weans, it’s going to be his decision. I truly believe it’s the child’s choice.”

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Curtis also addressed the judge’s order for her to use a breast pump.

“He had never had a bottle before, and then all of a sudden that was his only option while he was with his dad,” Curtis said. “I had no idea that a judge could say, ‘You’re court ordered to not feed your exclusively breastfed child.’”

“It’s important that children have both of their parents. But [preventing] me from breastfeeding my child just so he can see the dad is not right,” she continued.