An Australian court has ordered a mother not to try to breastfeed her six-year-old son.

The order came during a custody battle between the Fiji-born parents and an Australian caregiver who has been looking after the boy for five years, The Herald Sun reports.

The boy told his caregiver that during a visit with his parents last summer, the mother hit him with a belt and asked him to suck on her nipple like he was breastfeeding, court heard.

The mother denied the claims, the newspaper reported. She said they were lying down and he asked to touch her breasts. The mother said she told the boy she had breastfed him when he was young.

But the judge didn't believe the woman and ordered her not to expose her breasts to the boy. She is also not allowed to ask him to breastfeed or touch her breasts.

The judge said the boy should continue to live with the caregiver, who had initially agreed to give the boy back to his parents before hearing the boy's complaints.

The newspaper said the parents are living in Australia on bridging visas — which means they don't have full visas — and they could be deported.