Is anyone else's daycare "forcing" them to give LO certain foods?
I ask because the teachers at LO's DC have been overfeeding him, big time. 6-7 4oz. bottles of BM over 9 hours (if DS is at home with DH or is being watched by Grandma, he goes through 4, maybe 5 in the same time frame). Both DH and I have discussed it with the teachers, and when it happened again we went to the director.
Now the director is saying that it is state mandated that they have to give LO a breakfast and a lunch of cereal and another solid. We started solids about 2 weeks ago and we're just cycling through the fruits and veggies to watch for allergies, and we've been doing one serving a day at dinner. We haven't done any cereal at all, but now I feel like we're being forced into something that DS hasn't tried yet and possibly doesn't really need. I'm also annoyed that they are just now bringing this up after I brought up my concerns.
LO loves food, and is a champion nurser. He's in the 50th percentile for weight, so that's not an issue at all.
Just wondering if anyone else has had this experience and can offer any insight or advice.
Thanks!
Re: Food and Daycare
Our daycare lets us set the schedule for food. They did tell me that DS was still acting hungry after giving the solids I sent in for him. But we make the final decision.
I've never heard that the state mandates a certain amount of food for an infant. I know they have health guidelines for older children, but not at this age. I would do some research, and see what the state requirements are.
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I saw this recently on a thread on a different BMB. The daycare was saying they were mandated by the state to start feeding solids at 6 months and the parents were not on board with this. This wasn't true.
What was true is that the state was offering a reimbursement program (or something like that) if the daycare started giving kids certain foods at a certain age. If the daycare couldn't prove that one kid ate the foods starting at a particular age, the daycare wouldn't get the state funds. So that is more than likely the issue here.
LO then (2 days) and now (1 year)
When A was in daycare, we sent her with bottles and told them the schedule we liked to follow. They told us a couple days in that she still seemed hungry after eating, so we increased them a little. But they weren't requiring it, certainly. They fed on our schedule.
For comparison, my DS is 6 months and has always been an every 2 (MAYBE 3) hour eater, but does sleep anywhere from 5-8 hours at night initially, then will typically go back to sleep for another 4. He nurses (typically) 2-3x in the AM before I go to work, takes 3-4 4 oz bottles from the sitter/DH and then nurses 2x at night.
Yesterday when I picked him up I saw they only gave him 5 bottles - which is what I send fresh everyday, and that equates to one bottle every 2 hours or so. When I got home, I looked at his sheet more and saw that they gave him 8 oz. for his first feeding at 9, then another 4 oz. at 11. Needless to say, I was/am pissed. I keep frozen BM there for emergencies, but they've been using 1-2 bags of it everyday.
They keep saying that he's acting hungry after each bottle. At home, if DH is feeding him, he'll be fussy after the bottle until he's burped well, then he goes about being a happy kid after a good belch. And we've told them this. Repeatedly.
I think they're mistaking every fuss and wimper as hunger, and being lazy as one PP said. I'm going to call my pediatrician on Monday to see if they can send a note, because obviously they aren't listening to DH and I, and if they won't work with us on this we'll have to find a new DC, because trying to pump enough to keep up with what they are giving him is stressing me the fuck out.
DS is getting new DC teachers on Monday due to the center rotating classrooms. I'm hoping that helps with this issue as well.
Thank you all for your responses. It's helpful to think I'm not going crazy.
It's a red flag that they can't follow your instructions on this. You are the mom and you should be allowed to make his eating habits. I understand how hard it is to find daycare so I know switching may not be an option. I would see about looking up your state regulations and actually going over them with the director if they are trying to give you false info.
This is so tough. I know what's it's like to be unhappy with daycare and have a director who wouldn't help. We were lucky to find another opening but I know that isn't always an option.
ETA: just looked through my state's regulations and it says specifically parents shall supply infants feeding schedule.
https://nrckids.org/index.cfm/resources/state-licensing-and-regulation-information/