New Moms & Daycares

[Bella99]

Just a question I thought of, and want to know everyone else's input. (I thought of it after seeing the thread on here on how soon people go back to their daycare after having a baby)

How do you work in breastfeeding, with your daycare. You use a cover? What do you say to the kids who ask 'whats that?' 'what are you doing?' and do you tell your parents your choice to nurse, to prepare them for any comments or questions from their kid(s)?

[itlw8]

I used a light blanket

some babies drink bottles and some get their milk from their mom... and some get their milk from mom and drink a bottle at childcare.

[cheerfuldom]

I use a blanket. The parents are all aware that I nurse my kids (and most of them nursed their own kids). I tell the kids that I am feeding the baby and if they keep asking for more info....I tell them that sometimes mommys can make special mommy milk for baby and they drink from mommy instead of from a bottle. My own girls know that milk comes from breasts but I dont go into full details with the daycare kids.....they seem to think the milk comes from my tummy.

[AnneCordelia]

I breastfeed just the same as I do in public places. I am discreet, but I do not cover my baby. Usually all you can see is the back of baby's head and nothing more.

I tell my DCKs the same as my own kids...baby is eating just like baby cows and baby piggies nurse from their mommies. The kids don't care though, they don't bat an eye.

I don't say anything to my DCPs about how I choose to feed my own infants. It's never come up.

[Michelle]

Funny story, I was nursing my newborn dd and my own 8 year old dd came up to me and was really scared and sad and said "what are you doing to her?"
apparently she had been learning about "good touches and bad touches" at school and I forgot to talk to her about nursing and she thought I was doing something wrong to her sister!

[SilverSabre25]

"Feeding the baby."

[spud912]

I nursed my dd for a year while doing daycare. I never brought it up to the parents. I personally felt it was none of their business. I used a blanket to cover up and told the kids I was feeding the baby.

The main issue I had was during drop-offs and pick-ups. I used to get very irritated because I would expect the parents at a certain time so I would hold off feeding my dd until after they came so it would be uninterrupted. When they would show up late, it would drive me nuts because she would go hungry that whole time. Eventually, I just started nursing her regardless because a little bit of milk was better than none.

[Bella99]

Funny story, I was nursing my newborn dd and my own 8 year old dd came up to me and was really scared and sad and said "what are you doing to her?"
apparently she had been learning about "good touches and bad touches" at school and I forgot to talk to her about nursing and she thought I was doing something wrong to her sister!

Hahahahah ::::::::

[DCBlessings27]

I started daycare when dd was 4 months. I nursed her using a lightweight blanket for cover. The daycare kids never asked about it but only a couple were talkers. The parents were never an issue either.

[JenNJ]

I breastfeed just the same as I do in public places. I am discreet, but I do not cover my baby. Usually all you can see is the back of baby's head and nothing more.

I tell my DCKs the same as my own kids...baby is eating just like baby cows and baby piggies nurse from their mommies. The kids don't care though, they don't bat an eye.

I don't say anything to my DCPs about how I choose to feed my own infants. It's never come up.

This is what I did when my dd was an infant. But all my dc kids were under 3 years old.

At pickup/drop off times, I was just sure to have a few ounces pumped so I wasn't showing my boobs to all the dc parents, .

[Missani]

I nurse my new baby girl. I do use a cover most of the time, but if it's naptime, sometimes I'll just cover the part of my tummy that shows with a blanket. The kids have never asked. I've never told the parents that I nurse her, and I try to time it so it's not during busy drop off/pick up times when I can, but today a dad came in while I was nursing. He didn't bat an eye at it and even talked to me (brave for a dad), but then again, his wife nursed their 2 kids too. I assume the parents all know that I nurse her because they know that I BF my older 2 boys (before I did daycare) and have even asked for nursing advice. Overall, nobody seems to care, and it's so much easier for me. I would never find time to pump and feed her during the day.

[MNMum]

When I started daycare I was nursing my 2 yo. I was discreet, but there were times when the other kids were aware (3 yo's). They never asked outright. I would usually only nurse before naptime, so it wasn't an issue for drop offs and pick ups. While I didn't discuss with my daycare families that I was nursing my toddler, they all know I am a Lactation Consultant.

[MarinaVanessa]

I never took a break from DC after having my DS so I immediately nursed my son right away. I did talk to the parents first though about how I would be nursing him. No one had a problem with it and when I explained that I would use a light cover (like a receiving blanket) all of the parents including the DCD's said it wouldn't be necessary. Like AnneCordelia said, you can be very discreet even without a blanket. All parents have access to my home during the time that their kids are in my care and I believe in feeding infants on command (whenever they ask to be fed). I felt comfortable around the DCM's so if I were BFing I wouldn't stop, if a DCD came in I'd throw a light cover over just so they wouldn't feel awkward. As far as the kids go, the parents were fine with me just saying that I was feeding the baby mommy milk if they asked about it but I didn't go further than that other than to tell them to ask their mommy's when they got home. That way their parents could explain it however they felt was okay.

[MrsB]

I have a few books in my "library" for kids about preparing for when a new baby comes into the family that touches on breastfeeding too. I shared the titles of the books with the parents. I also read these books to the kids. I had discussions with the kids about what the kids expectations were. I offered things that they could do to help. Like going and getting me the wipes or playing nicely with their toys while I was feeding. Also things that they could Never do, like touch the baby.

Doing this, I never really had any issues with it from parents or kids.

I ended up doing story time and reading to the kids while I would breastfead. So one time my DD was crying and one of the daycare kids said. "Oh I think it is story time"