No, as stated in God’s covenant stipulations (see Deuteronomy 28:41, Deuteronomy 28:50, Deuteronomy 28:53–57), the covenant curse was not restricted to the adult population. Jeremiah also warned the people that the outpouring of the Lord's anger would affect even the children in the street (Jeremiah 6:11; Jeremiah 9:21).1 It is especially the unparallelled suffering of young children and infants that stirred up the sorrow of the writer. This suffering is described in graphic language: their condition caused them to faint.
This is stated twice in Lamentations 2:11 and Lamentations 2:12, which accentuates the extremity of their condition. Because of the famine, their bodies were depleted of resources needed for their physical vitality. This led to them dying on their mothers' bosom.
The place where these children were found is also remarkable. They are not found in the safety and seclusion of their homes, but in the streets of the city
(which is also mentioned twice in Lamentations 2:11–12). Their homes had been destroyed, or they had left them in search of food.2
The expression bread and wine
refers to normal, basic sustenance (see Deuteronomy 11:14). Apart from the infants dying at their mothers’ breasts, the young children collapsed and died while they were searching amongst the rubble for scraps. In stark contrast to this dire situation, the scene of children playing in the streets is presented with the nation's future restoration (Zechariah 8:5).3
11 My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city.