Sarah Johnson of Odenton casually breast-fed her 7-month-old daughter, Annabelle, Wednesday morning in the Starbucks in Target.

She and her sister chatted and fawned over Annabelle, who was dressed in her Christmas best.

The visit to the Annapolis Towne Centre at Parole was part of a nurse-in, where mothers planned to breast feed in public to protest an earlier incident at a Houston-area Target.

"I just wanted to exercise my right to breast feed in public," Johnson said. "After all, breast milk is best for babies."

Johnson, who said she is studying to become a lactation consultant, said she has never been hassled while breastfeeding in public, though she has become accustomed to "the looks."

Her sister, Megan Osborne, who was visiting from San Diego, said Johnson even breast-fed during church over the holidays.

Johnson said she heard about the nurse-in through a Facebook group called MilkMakers. She said eight other women had said they would participate at the Parole Target, but Johnson was the only one to show.