This irked me - breastmilk not allowed near "food" at daycare

missfire

DS' room at daycare shares a kitchen with the infant room. I noticed that one of the bottle warmers has been labeled "breastmilk" now.

Apparently regulations say that "bodily fluids" are not allowed near "food" (formula).

I'm pretty neutral on breastmilk vs. formula now, but this seems like a really stupid regulation to me!

DelGrecoBride

missfire:

DS' room at daycare shares a kitchen with the infant room. I noticed that one of the bottle warmers has been labeled "breastmilk" now.

Apparently regulations say that "bodily fluids" are not allowed near "food" (formula).

I'm pretty neutral on breastmilk vs. formula now, but this seems like a really stupid regulation to me!

but is it *that* big of a deal to be annoyed by it?

philosoraptor

It is a bodily fluid. It contains the same contaminants that saliva, semen, etc would contain. Would you want someone else's EBM coming in contact with your child's food?

preg_amy

It is a stupid regulation, but a lot of daycares have it.  When I worked in the infant room, we had to put the warm water in a cup with the child's name on it (we used a crockpot to heat bottles).  That one cup had to be used only for the child to warm a breastmilk bottle.  Formula bottles could be warmed right in the crock pot.

It kind of makes sense to me.  We did use the same counter to prepare bottles and make lunch and such.  So it wasn't too extreme.

Mrs.Hizzo

I wouldn't want someone else's breastmilk contaminating my kid's food.

Luckystar2

I BFed DD and brought her BM from 12 weeks to a year.  They always had a seperate warmer for the BM.  And they're also supposed to put each bottle in a little ziplock basically in the fridge.

Pretty much every daycare I looked at seperated the BM and formula. It's a bodily fluid.  I really didn't care as long as my baby got her BM! 

Miss.Modular

philosoraptor:

It is a bodily fluid. It contains the same contaminants that saliva, semen, etc would contain. Would you want someone else's EBM coming in contact with your child's food?

 

you make it sound like they need a hazmat suit to handle it

Mia Wallace

It makes sense to me. I mean, I wouldn't let my child drink a random person's BM. They are just following guidelines.

felt_tip_pen

It makes sense to me--it's a bodily fluid. Not a BAD bodily fluid, but still it's safest to not mix--at my daycare I remember them using gloves to change diapers. Just better to be safe.

missfire

The babies spit up on other babies. I've also seem them take other kids' bottles and drink from them. Using gloves & washing hands when changing their diapers is one thing. Whether a closed bottle is heated on the same heating element as another closed bottle doesn't bother me, no.

aew82

Most likely this is not the daycare's policy but the state's.  We use this system in our daycare.  It is needed policy.  I work in a childcare center and it is hard to heat a bottle in a crock pot of warm water and keep the cover on.  Many times they pop off.  Also and this may be a little extreme but parents do not need to notify their daycare or other parents of their HIV/AIDS status.  What if a mother with HIV was sending her breastmilk and it mixed with someone elses?  This has happened and that's why this is a policy.

Yes babies spit up on each other, that is something that can not be prevented.  Cross contamination of bottles can be prevented.  As for babies grabbing other babies bottles that should not be happening.  Teachers should be holding babies to feed them and then their bottles should be placed out of reach of other children.

Brookie-Cookie

reading it at first annoyed me but then I thought about it for about 5 seconds and totally understand the reasoning.