According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 90.8 percent of the 33.6 million families with children have at least one working parent. Working mothers make up 71.5 percent of the workforce, with 65.1 percent of those mothers having children younger than 6 years old (within the natural age of weaning). While there are no statistics on how many of these mothers are breastfeeding, for those that do, finding breastfeeding friendly child care can make or break a breastfeeding journey. Here are 5 tips on what to look for in a child care provider for the breastfeeding family.
Are they knowledgeable on breastmilk handling? Different states have different guidelines on how long milk can be served after sitting out or if it can be saved. But, does your provider facility understand that sometimes breastmilk separates and that doesn’t mean it’s spoiled? Do they understand that it may differ in color (“watery” milk, blue milk, etc.)
Are they knowledgeable about paced bottle feeding? All babies should be pace bottle fed. And for breastfeeding babies, this ensures that the flow of the bottle imitates that of the breast. This means that baby is held in an upright position, with the bottle being held parallel to the floor. This allows baby to draw bottle nipple in and control the pace of the feed, with the average feed lasting 10-20mins. Pace feeding aids baby in consuming appropriate volume of milk (limits overfeeding and underfeeding). This is extremely important for the working breastfeeding mom as pump output during the work day should be enough to sustain baby while separated. Overfeeding places undue stress on mom to send or make more milk that she simply doesn’t have. Underfeeding can cause mom to reduce pump sessions or store the milk instead of feeding it to baby.
Do they understand normal baby behavior? This is another that’s standard for all babies. Sometimes, breastfed babies get a bad rap for being clingy, fussy, or always wanting the boob. But, the truth is, that’s all normal baby behavior. Babies want to be held, they want to be soothed, they want to be comforted. Often times, in breastfed babies, normal baby behavior is attributed to fussiness and moms breast milk not being enough.And is most often times, not true.
Do they feed on demand? Breastfed babies should be fed on demand, mimicking how they would feed at the breast. This could mean every 2 hours or every 3 hours. Or 2hrs and 16min one feeding and 3hrs the next. The goal is to be flexible and patient with baby's needs.
Are they pushy with solids? This is a big read flag. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months. Introduction of solids (anything that is not breastmilk or formula) is a decision made between parents and care providers should not use coercive tactics to lead parents. Care providers should honor and respect parents feeding decisions for their child.
Good child care is hard to find and expensive. But it is still a service; a service that you pay for and a service that should have the best interest of the client at heart. By communicating needs and expectations clearly and upfront, it can save all parties the headache and heartache of miscommunications.
References: 1. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf 2. https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/ 3. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/129/3/e827