Rants about Atlanta's breastfeeding restrictions.

 Recently I found out that Atlanta is restricting public breastfeeding

This is a slippery slope and in my opinion I think it sends out the wrong message about breastfeeding and the human body in general! Instead of this law why not focus on every state having laws the PROTECT moms right to breastfeed?

The new recommendation is to BF tell two. I do applaud that they decided to take that into consideration when deciding on an age. But they did not take into consideration the weaning process, if we breastfeed tell 2 we may not have a child fully weaned by two!  And they defiantly did not think about the right a mom has to go beyond two. I know many moms who have or are breastfeeding past two! They have very adjusted children. It is not unheard of this day and age and it is not wrong. Breastfeeding is such a personal choice and that relationship is between a mom and child. This is not about what age you find appropriate, that is an opinion someone might have but in the end you have to look at the big picture. 

When we start putting laws and restrictions on breastfeeding we are sending out a message the it is dirty.
Breastfeeding is NOT the same as public indecency, plain and simple. We look around every day and we see so much nudity and body parts. A proper latch will cover a good majority of breast and all nipple. And if we want to get technical a 2 year old has a bigger head then a newborn, so it will cover even more!  Most moms who have breastfed this long are amazing at knowing how to drape clothes so that you don't see any skin! So technically we should make a law that outlines the exact skin ratio a person could show. Low cut shirts and bikinis show more skin then the average nursing toddler. How about shirtless men? Can we make a law that says men can't run shirtless? I mean how unfair is that anyways, I get hot and my shirt has to stay on while I run... yea that is another rant for another day.

If we make a law that restricts toddlers over 2 from breastfeeding in public we send out a message and soon that age will get lower and lower and lower. Breastfeeding in public takes courage! If a mom has that courage and you don't like it then all you have to do is look away, plain and simple. If I don't like seeing a man run without his shirt on do I get to ask him to cover up? Nope, I just get to look away. And for those who say it is to hard to look away, well I would rather see a happy nursing child then some guy shimmering like a god from mythology as he runs shirtless down my street. And I would rather see a nursing child then some stay hair from "you know where" as a girl bends down in those tiny shorts! 

It is easy for the people who have never breastfed a child past 2 (if ever) to tell the mother to go to the car or bathroom, but in their shoes we would not want this! And there is no reason for them to! In a society where we see nudity and a push up bra ad shows more bare breast then a nursing toddler this law seems silly! I see girls on the street who wear a bikini top and shorts that cover less then boy short panties! Look at the big picture.... these women are brave for breastfeeding in public, they are feeding children NOT stripping for cash. Unless we make laws that are much more strict on a dress code for public then why even bother saving Atlanta from having to see skin from a breastfeeding mom? They will be seeing skin anyways so mine as well learn to deal with it and leave the extended breast feeders alone!

If you feel similar as me then you may write some email's as well!

 John Parker, City Manager
Email address - jparker@forestparkga.org

Angela Redding, Management Analyst
Email address - aredding@forestparkga.org

Jan Young, Executive Assistant
Email address - jyoung@forestparkga.org