"I took my kids to the park and several of us mother's were sitting around the playground when this little boy, probably about three-years-old, ran up to his mother and said, "Momma, I want to suck your boobie."
Breastfeeding can be one of the best things a mother can do for her child. Human milk is uniquely superior for infant feeding, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) last policy statement. Not only does breastfeeding provide a child with the nutrients it needs but research also indicates the act builds an important emotional bond between mother and baby. But when is enough of a good thing enough?
During my 20 years as a child abuse investigator I worked closely with our Department of Child Services (DCS). It's our policy and belief that a team approach to child abuse investigations is the best way to handle these complaints. Regardless of which department receives a report of possible abuse we contact the other and initiate the investigation together. On one such occasion I was called to DCS to do an interview. The complainant was concerned that a family with three children ages three, five and eight were being sexually abused. She had no hard facts that lead her to this conclusion. However, she had what she described as red flags going up all over the place.
She had met the mother of the children in the park and they had become acquainted. During their discussions she'd learned the children still slept with their parents and had heard the three-year- old ask to suck his mother's "boobie." She was mortified when the mother pulled her breast out and offered it to the child without blinking an eye.
It was this investigation that started me thinking about child development and how being knowledgeable about it should play an important role in child abuse investigations. While I wasn't convinced that sexual abuse had occurred in this situation I was turned off by the idea of a child big enough to run up and ask for a breast to still be nursing. While my training had taught me to be open-minded during an investigation, I could see why the woman was upset by what she had witnessed.
I realized that through all my law enforcement training, child abuse investigation training, and even my experience as a mother, I had no formal knowledge of the different stages of child development. Therefore, I really had no scientific basis, work or life experience to fall back on to conduct a truly fair and thorough investigation.
Ask yourself: at what age should a mother wean her child from the breast? The AAP recommends that "breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child."
In the United States it's culturally acceptable to nurse your child during their first 12 months. However, in some cultures this may be done until puberty.
Is there a time or a circumstance when breastfeeding could be harmful or illegal? In a presentation by Karen M. Kedrowski, Ph.D. titled Breastfeeding Rights in the United States, Kedrowski describes cases where mothers who were breastfeeding their children were found guilty of neglect when using illegal drugs and certain prescription medications, had high blood lead levels, were HIV positive, and when they didn't take lithium and suffered psychotic breakdowns and the baby was malnourished. She noted two other cases in which breastfeeding was defined as child abuse one when a mother was breastfeeding in front of an older son, and the other when the woman was breastfeeding in front of her estranged partner, who was under a restraining order.
Lawrence W. Daly, in his article "The Essentials of Child Abuse Investigation and Child Interviews," volume three of the IPT Journal, suggests that all investigators should be provided proper training in child development, interview techniques, evidence gathering, court testimony and investigative methods if that person is to become a special assault detective or an officer assigned to the special assault unit. He believes that training and assessment for the assignment should be mandated for a 90 to 180 day period, although most jurisdictions do not have the budget and/or manpower to allow this.
However, when to stop breastfeeding is not the only question in which child development plays an important factor. Many times I've been asked how old a child has to be before he or she can be left alone and when is it no longer appropriate for a child to sleep with his/her parent.
The investigation of child abuse complaints can be complex. The outcome can have serious and long-term effects on families. So why should the officer responsible for investigating these types of crimes have any less training than, say, your bomb technicians or your K-9 officer?