Daycare Provider Breastfeeds Baby Without Mom's Consent And OH HELL NO
This daycare provider needs to be reported, ASAP
Choosing how to feed your child is a very personal choice. Whatever you decide, that’s the right decision for you and your child, period. So, you can imagine how it went down when one mom found out her daycare provider was breastfeeding her child without her consent.
“I am a single mother of an adopted baby, and I am opting to formula-feed since I can’t lactate,” a new mom wrote into Slate’s advice column, Dear Prudence. “I am a working mom as well, and found a home daycare provider who seemed amazing—she has two kids of her own (one a little older than my daughter) and has run this home daycare for five years or so.”
Unfortunately, the daycare lady did not stay amazing. According to the column, the mom brought over her daughter’s formula and upon seeing it, the provider said, “You feed her that slop?”
Sigh.
Fast forward two months, this mom paid a surprise visit to the daycare when she got off early from work one day and to her horror walked in to find her daycare provider was breastfeeding her daughter without her consent. “When I got to the area of the house where my daughter was, I about fell over. The daycare provider was NURSING MY BABY!” she wrote. “The provider said that she was saving my baby from chemicals I was trying to force into her body and I should thank her for doing it all these months!”
Oh hell no. No no no no. Readers seemed to feel the same way:
Of course, some readers felt it was ok because wet nurses used to be a thing and omg no no no. This is a mother going against the wishes of another mother whose child has been left in your care and feeding them without her consent. There is a hard line here and this provider overstepped it by a million miles.
Once the shock subsided, this mom decided to seek advice on what to do next. “Obviously, I am not sending my daughter back there, but should I report her to the umbrella company she is under for home daycares, or should I make a huge blast on social media?” the mom asked Prudence.
Of course, Prudence felt like most of us reading this for the first time, writing, “Oh my GOD. That is my first thought, is just: Oh, my GOD.” That pretty much sums it up. Then continued, “If this isn’t worth reporting her to a supervising agency, I don’t know what is.”
Prudence continued that this was not only a huge breach of trust, but her actions should also absolutely be reported. If she’s willing to go behind a mother’s back to do this, what other liberties will she take with other children?
This woman should absolutely be reported — to the police, to Child Protective Services or the Department of Human Services in her state, to other parents, to the board that certifies her to run a home daycare, or just to anyone who will listen. If nothing else, a very clear breach of trust was violated. That is unequivocally a no-go when it comes to childcare.
