daycare and nursing
Question:
Please do not wean just because of this daycare. There are other places which will provide a great service for breastfeeding mums. Mine asks me what schedule my baby is on and then they follow it as closely as possible. My son is totally breastfed and feeds every 2 hours at daycare with no problems. He also will not take a bottle but through trial and error from both the daycare and myself we have found that he will take expressed breastmilk off of a spoon. We are also introducing him to a spout to see if that works better. A daycare provider should go with what the mother wants for her baby and not try and enforce a 4 hourly schedule. Each baby is different and should be treated as such. In my opinion I would find a different daycare that agrees with everything you want and not just a couple of matters. Hope this helps Anita Mum to Danielle 31/2 and Aaron 5 months.
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it just me or are a lot of daycare facilities very anti-breastfeeding? After telling providers I’m still nursing my 8 month old son, I have had at least one say, "You know, it just occurred to me I’m all full right now!" My current provider says she is pro-breastfeeding, but she has a mania about "schedules." My son is new to her and still won’t take the bottle from her, although he will take one from people he knows, like his dad and his aunt. I know some nursing babies won’t take a bottle and their moms just nurse them before and after they go–they also eat solids at daycare. On the other hand, at home my son still nurses every 2 hours and is nowhere near the every 4-hour feeding schedule this provider wants to put him on. She also seems to give the babies and awful lot of solids, when I thought they were just meant to supplement the milk. Does anyone have experience with this? Can nursing babies be put on "schedules"? Has anyone had a baby who wouldn’t take a bottle in daycare but would take one at home? I want to stay with this provider because I like her attitude about other matters, but I am worried that I am going to have to wean just to conform. Thanks for the advice, Cheryl Mom to Lucas
First of all, if you like your daycare provider otherwise stay with her, but please *don’t wean* just to conform. I am sure you would regret it. Second, this is your baby; *you* should decide how much solids are appro- priate for him and your provider should go by your wishes. If he takes water out of a cup make sure she offers him some several times a day (so that at least he won’t get dehyrated). Give him some more time to get used to the daycare provider (you didn’t say how long he has been going) and he should take a bottle from her. And even if he nurses every two hours at home he should be able to adjust to her schedule just fine. If he cries when he is hungry she will offer him a bottle even when it isn’t time yet, won’t she ? Good luck and I hope Lucas adjusts quickly. Petra in Tacoma, WA — mother of Aila (9) and Lukas (5)
Response:
I worked in day care for about 7 years, and breast fed infants were a challenge. However, the state licensing book (this was in Maine, but I’m sure it’s not terribly different in other states) specifically said that infants were *not* to be put on schedules, and were to eat and sleep according to *their* needs, not some random adult desire. Only when children reached the toddler age could we set specific times for snacks, lunch, and naps, and limit them accordingly. From a day care provider standpoint, I remember working very hard to "hold off" 2 breast fed babies in my room (I had 5 at one time, which is beyond hard, and illegal, but that’s beside the point now), and I’d bounce them, distract them, and do anything and everything to get them through til their moms got there at 1 pm. We had one mother who worked in the news media and was frequently late, and as she provided only 2 bottles (and I had no idea of the mechanics of pumping…I’d be tons more sympathetic now), I’d have to divert her screaming son to the detriment of the others til she could get off from work. And we’d have to deal with the baby who started bottles on Sunday and day care on Monday…that happened all too frequently, and made things *very* hard on us. We spent a great deal of time training babies to take bottles, but if can be done if you’re patient. It’s also harder to take the time to defrost the breast milk, as you have to heat the water separately, then plop the frozen bottle in it (that’s not the best way, I know, but we just didn’t have the time, or resources, to thaw a bottle slowly under running water.) Compare that to a bottle of pre-made formula, which we often just heated in the microwave for a minute and voila. The babies did seem to eat an awful lot of solids; when I read the instructions on a box of infant cereal recently (and when I’ve read posts here talking about one year olds who eat tablespoons of solids, max), I realized that we were feeding those kids one to three *huge* meals per day, all before one year of age, well beyond what is recommended and appropriate. In fact, now that I think about it, only one child (and I worked in some pretty big centers over the years) was breast fed daily into his first year of life. All the others were at least daytime weaned (even off EBM) by one year of age. All that said, I did all those things gladly, as I thought breast feeding was the way to go, and since the moms came in at lunch time, they made my work load easier and I got to chat with some great women, breaking up my day. A lot of the other teachers were very squeamish about handling breast milk, and often irritated by all they had to go through with those babies. I’m no saint, and I can grumble as well as the next person, but I didn’t see it as a huge problem. I know that if my son Noah was in child care, he’d have a very hard time, and since I can’t pump very well, he’d be on formula for sure. He still eats every two hours (sometimes less), sleeps very little, and I refuse to rush solids to "tide him over." He would be a day care teacher’s nightmare! I hope this helps. If I were you, I’d take some time to explain how you feel about breast feeding, and perhaps get some information from the AAP and other sources to explain why breast feeding is so very important. To a working mother, the child care arrangement has to be a good fit, so I’d arm myself with all the facts and find someone who agrees with you, or at least won’t undermine what you’re doing. I don’t know if I helped any, but at least now you have a bit of the day care provider’s perspective. Good luck! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Is it just me or are a lot of daycare facilities very anti-breastfeeding? After telling providers I’m still nursing my 8 month old son, I have had at least one say, "You know, it just occurred to me I’m all full right now!" My current provider says she is pro-breastfeeding, but she has a mania about "schedules." My son is new to her and still won’t take the bottle from her, although he will take one from people he knows, like his dad and his aunt. I know some nursing babies won’t take a bottle and their moms just nurse them before and after they go–they also eat solids at daycare. On the other hand, at home my son still nurses every 2 hours and is nowhere near the every 4-hour feeding schedule this provider wants to put him on. She also seems to give the babies and awful lot of solids, when I thought they were just meant to supplement the milk. Does anyone have experience with this? Can nursing babies be put on "schedules"? Has anyone had a baby who wouldn’t take a bottle in daycare but would take one at home? I want to stay with this provider because I like her attitude about other matters, but I am worried that I am going to have to wean just to conform. Thanks for the advice, Cheryl Mom to Lucas
Emily, mother to Noah Joshua (4/8/98) & Romeo, retired racing greyhound (6/90) See the latest pics of Noah and family at: http://home.inreach.com/droysdon/eroysdon/pics/ Personal page (a rambling diary of sorts): http://members.aol.com/CallMeMs/ Please note, email now goes to CallMeMs(AT)aol(DOT)com
