Breastfeeding Not Sanitary At Daycare

[permanentvacation]

Ok, first, I know alot of people are going to think that I am the WORST daycare provider in the world for what I am going to say, but here it is. In my defense, I fully believe in breast feeding - it provides the immunities, nutrients, etc. for the baby and I know it is the best thing for a baby to drink. However, it is bodily fluids. In order to rinse out the bottles after feeding a breast-fed baby whose mother pumps breast milk for the baby to drink at daycare, we have to rinse the bottle - with breast milk (bodily fluids) in our sink. Here, it is illegal for me to rinse out any clothing that contains bodily fluids - blood, throw-up, etc. Because it puts the bodily fluids into the sink which then contaiminates the sink - yes, I know you can disinfect the sink - but the law here is do not rinse bodily fluids out at all. So, how is it that we are supposed to be allowed to rinse breast milk out of the bottle? I've done daycare for 20 years and this is the first time I've had a breast-fed baby's mother pump and send breast milk here. Yes, we discussed it during the interview and I immediately thought about bodily fluids - but I like the mom, baby, hours, etc. so I decided to take the child. But I really don't like rinsing her bodily fluids out in my sink.

What do you guys think?

[cheerfuldom]

Why do you have to rinse anything? DCM can send enough bottles for the day and everything gets sent home to be washed at home. You've never in 20 years had a daycare baby that was sent with pumped milk before? All formula fed babies?

[Auntie]

I would not rinse them out. I would tell her she needs to provide enough bottles for the day. I did daycare for a breast fed baby and mom used the platex nurser bottles and sent enough for the day. I just tossed the bags.

[AnneCordelia]

"CDC does not list human breast milk as a body fluid for which most healthcare personnel should use special handling precautions. Occupational exposure to human breast milk has not been shown to lead to transmission of HIV or HBV infection. However, because human breast milk has been implicated in transmitting HIV from mother to infant, gloves may be worn as a precaution by health care workers who are frequently exposed to breast milk (e.g., persons working in human milk banks)..."

"No special precautions exist for handling expressed human milk, nor does the milk require special labeling. It is not considered a biohazard."

http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/faq/index.htm

The CDC doesn't consider it a 'body fluid' in the same way it considers blood or urine a body fluid. Breastmilk is not a biohazard.

[Lucy]

I've fed 3 babies their mama's milk. Wasn't concerned in the least.

When you think about it... cow's milk is fluid from a cow's body. Just sayin'

[permanentvacation]

Nope, 20 years and never once a breast-fed baby! Yes, cows milk is from cows, but they don't transfer as many diseases to humans as humans do. 1/3 of infants breast-fed by mothers with AIDS get AIDS from the breastmilk. Diseases can be spread through breastmilk - it doesn't typically happen, but it CAN happen. I'd rather not take the chance.

Maybe I'll tell the mother that I can not rinse the bottles out. Maybe that will calm my nerves.

[Kaddidle Care]

Ask the Mom to use the playtex inserts and send the whole thing home for her to sanitize in her dishwasher.

If it is skeeving you out, you may have to send her on to another care facility. You WILL have contact with it no matter what. The bottle or baby may dribble when eating and there is always the puke factor.

You're kind of skeeving me out and I nursed both of my children.

[Michelle]

I am kinda divided on this, I totally agree with you on the ick factor, if you really think about where the milk comes from and not sure of the moms health. Also milk doesn't always stay in babies mouths. There's spitting up and drooling etc.
I also totally believe in breast feeding and totally support my moms and have always fed breast fed babies. I just wash my hands more often than usual, so like 100 times a day instead of 75 :: and I have to change my shirt if it gets on me, I do that with formula anyway..
As far as rinsing, just throw them in a plastic bag and let mom wash them.
I personally rinse them out but all the moms use platex disposables and I just rinse the nipples out and toss the bags.

[cheerfuldom]

yeah but any diseases are going from mom to their baby, not every person in the vicinity. I am shocked and actually saddened that you have never encountered a daycare mom that sent breast milk for her child. That is just really really sad. I understand that some moms choose not to and have supply issues, etc. but the fact that you have not worked with a breastfeeding mom is crazy to me. I am happy to accommodate nursing moms if at all possible and am happy that two of my DCMs are currently sending pumped milk. As for bodily fluids, I would imagine that you and the other kids are coming into a lot more contact with drooling, chewing on toys, changing diapers, puking, potty training, etc, etc. than a few bottles rinsed in the sink each day. The former are by far a bigger ick factor to me than breastmilk

[SimpleMom]

Ask the Mom to use the playtex inserts and send the whole thing home for her to sanitize in her dishwasher.

If it is skeeving you out, you may have to send her on to another care facility. You WILL have contact with it no matter what. The bottle or baby may dribble when eating and there is always the puke factor.

You're kind of skeeving me out and I nursed both of my children.

LOL! Me too I nursed mine as well.

I would just use the inserts like was mentioned above. Throw them out. I don't get to wierded out by it. I just use a bleach/water solution to clean out my sink and glove to prep it.

[Crazy8]

In my 10 years in the business I have only had ONE who sent in breast milk and it was only last year - so before that I could say in 9 years I never had a breast fed baby in my care. Didn't mean they didn't breast feed, they just stopped by the time baby got to my daycare (usually about 6-7 months).

I didn't have a problem with rinsing the bottles though. I just ran the sink with hot water and dumped them out and then cleaned them. I did have a bottle brush just for them but it really wasn't a big deal for me.

[MarinaVanessa]

I've had breast-fed babies with moms that sent BM to DC and it doesn't skeeve me out or anything but I didn't rinse the bottles out here. I just used the bottles and packed them back in the baby's diaper bag. It was a time issue for me, not an ick issue. I rinse all of my dishes out during the day and put them in the dishwasher, at the end of the day after DC I run the dishwasher so I wasn't about to wash bottles during the day either. I don't rinse my own baby's bottles out either until the end of the day.

For me BM is not an "eww gross" thing, but to each their own. I actually think that BM is very clean and natural. In fact my son got a clogged tear duct when he was about 2 weeks old and his eye was gross. All Dr said was to massage it with warm water and a cloth and I did it for a week but his eye got worse. Took the baby back and Dr told me that if it didn't get better by the time he was one that they would need to stick a needle in his duct to clear it. I asked him about my DH reading online (I know, I know) about breast milk helping to relieve this and he laughed and pretty much said go for it, it can't make it worse but I think he thought it was crazy. I went home and squirted my baby in the eye ... no lie ::... a few times that day and in the morning it was noticeably better ... I swear. If any of you are laughing at me right now I don't blame you, In my circle of friends it often comes up and I'm known as the one that "squirted her kid in the face with breast milk". I didn't really believe it myself at first but I thought what the hell. So I was impressed to see that I didn't rub his eye once that day to unclog it temporarily and it looked 100 Xs better so I expelled BM, dipped a wash rag in it and put it over his eye a few times throughout that second day. I swear by the end of the day his eye was fine. DH called the Dr to tell him and the Doc didn't believe him and actually had us go in to show him. His actual words were "Well look at that. I'll be damned" I'm still laughing now as I think about it. So yeah, I squirted my son in the eye with my boob milk. That's a story to tell on his wedding day. . I've even been asked to sell my BM to some lady that had some sort of cancer and was trying an alternative treatment ... that was wierd and I said no but you get the point.

The moral of the story: Maybe BM isn't so bad afterall ... but ... if it skeeves you out maybe you can just talk to DCM about packing the bottles in the bag and having her wash them at home.

[cheerfuldom]

I don't think that is weird....my sister did the same thing when her baby had an eye infection. She tried the breastmilk before the eye drops and it worked!

[youretooloud]

It doesn't bother me a bit. I'm kinda surprised that it bothers anybody.

But, then, I have a HUGE issue with licking. Anybody or anything licking any surface, especially licking ME. Heaven help any dog that tries to lick me.

So... we all have our issues.

I'd ask her to send in pre-made bottles, and then you just warm it, feed the baby and put it back in the bag.

Or if it really bothers you (because it will get on you, and on your counters) I'd send her somewhere else. You'll either have to get over it, or have her move on.

[daysofelijah]

That's really sad that this is the first bf'd baby you've had in 20 years. The advice others gave about having her wash the bottles is great. I have a mom of a 16 month old still sending me bags of frozen milk. The only time I found it gross was when the bags leak while defrosting, but now I just thaw them in a mug in the sink as I need them instead of thawing them ahead of time in the fridge.

Sure it's a little weird having 40 oz of someone else's breastmilk in my freezer, but it's better for baby and mom! Plus I don't have to pay for formula (or milk) this way! Please research before you go around saying things like bm is unsanitary.

BM is great for healing pink eye too!