Mother Horrified After Discovering Babysitter Breastfeeding Her Daughter!

The nanny insists she was saving the baby from ‘chemicals’ found in formula…

A mum has shared her horror in Slate’s advice column ‘Dear Prudence’ after she found her babysitter breastfeeding her daughter when she arrived to pick her up from childcare. The mum says she thought she had found the perfect care for her adopted daughter, with the nanny looking after a number of children in her own home.

Immediate Disapproval

The mum said that everything had been going smoothly until she made the discovery, with one notable exception. After disclosing to the nanny that she fed her daughter with formula, the mum says she was met with immediate disapproval. “You feed her that slop?” the nanny allegedly asked, but the mum admits she brushed it off and thought no more of it, despite initially being taken aback by the question. “I ignored the barb (I’m used to it), gave a quick rundown and went on my way,” she said. On the day in question, the mum says she got off work earlier than usual and went to collect her daughter, arriving at the daycare before the scheduled pick up time.

Completely Unacceptable

The mum says she let herself into the house through the side entrance used by parents and saw the woman breastfeeding her baby daughter. “When I got to the area of the house where my daughter was, I about fell over. The day care provider was NURSING MY BABY!” she said. “I marched over, took the baby from her arms, and asked her if she was crazy.”

The potential dangers of sharing breast milk are well documented including infection and nutritional imbalance, not to mention the emotional attachment associated with it, so we can completely understand where this mum is coming from – this nanny definitely crossed the line!

Have you had a bad childcare experience? Share your story in the comments.

59 Comments

- - Frankiielot said
  - 26 Feb 2020
    4:49 am
I would be furious too!
I wouldn’t want someone else to nurse my child. Definitely not acceptable and I would be calling a lawyer if that was me.

- - mom101628 said
  - 26 Feb 2020
    12:32 am
This is only acceptable if both parties agree to it. In olden times a ‘wet-nurse’ was the only thing that saved babies from dying – bit we have evolved from that these days.
- Ellen replied
  
  26 Feb 2020 , 8:52 am
  Exactly !
- - Xoskyexo said
  - 25 Feb 2020
    11:25 pm
Omg I couldn’t imagine that happening I would lose it! Our childcare centre is amazing and we love everyone that works there .

- - mom290396 said
  - 25 Feb 2020
    10:53 pm
I’m all for wet nursing IF and only if it is agreed upon by both parties AND the breast feeder is properly tested for infections and infectious diseases etc

- - celebrity said
  - 25 Feb 2020
    10:31 pm
That would be a horrible experience to deal with. The babysitter/nanny was out of line.

- - BellaB said
  - 25 Feb 2020
    7:05 pm
Definitely entirely inappropriate. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal without parental permission, too.

- - mom90758 said
  - 25 Feb 2020
    6:52 pm
It was not her place to make such a decision!

- - mom81879 said
  - 25 Feb 2020
    5:35 pm
No no, nope, no way. Totally unacceptable. If that were my babysitter, she would be out of a job after this

- - mom330666 said
  - 25 Feb 2020
    4:29 pm
Sorry but i think that is off the limit…and a little disgusting for me

- - mom160421 said
  - 25 Feb 2020
    1:23 pm
This is just not on. This babysitter has certainly crossed boundaries.

- - serotonin said
  - 09 Jun 2019
    5:41 pm
How could the nanny judge her for not breastfeeding when her daughter was adopted? She couldn’t! I’d be furious if I found someone else feeding my child with their personal milk with who knows what in it.

- - mom350461 said
  - 14 Mar 2019
    9:22 pm
Some people have such nerve to do such a thing. Why are mums judged so much for formula feeding their babies. Formula theses days is made so well with the exception of China of course.

- - tessie said
  - 06 Mar 2019
    1:31 pm
Talk about taking liberties and crossing boundaries. Whether she agreed with the child being bottle fed or not, it is not the nanny’s decision to make.

- - rovermum said
  - 06 Mar 2019
    12:59 pm
Wow! That is so not okay. The boundaries have definitely been crossed and this is not okay or acceptable behaviour.

- - rachel1970 said
  - 05 Mar 2019
    6:03 pm
Oh my goodness, that’s shocking.

- - ella12 said
  - 05 Mar 2019
    12:43 pm
Disgraceful. She had no right to do that with getting the mother’s permission.

- - sars_angelchik said
  - 05 Mar 2019
    8:54 am
I would be very weirded out by this feeding is a very personal and private thing and I think it’s weird ther carer even wanted to.

- - Munkastrap4 said
  - 05 Mar 2019
    12:26 am
I’m sorry, nutritional imbalance???, it’s breast milk. Breast is best, do you think formula is balanced?? It’s the best someone can do when they can’t breast feed, it should by no means be someone’s first choice. I think the mother was insane, be grateful she cared enough to feed your child something decent. Yes a nanny breast feeding a child is crazy, but someone slaughtering their child is perfectly normal. Welcome to Topsy Turvy world!!!

- - mom101628 said
  - 04 Mar 2019
    11:43 pm
Many wet nurses used to used in days gone past – of course that was before the gay brigades and the HIV problems. I guess you’d have to think twice now.

- - cherz said
  - 04 Mar 2019
    8:52 pm
I do agree the nanny was wrong in her doing and yes the mum has no idea of this women’s health but way back there were wet nurses and even when my daughter was born 37.5 yrs ago the nurses would ask mums for their excess milk for other struggling mums/bubs.
- Blossom replied
  
  04 Mar 2019 , 10:28 pm
  The hospitals were able to have excess breast milk tested before using it. At least I do know one hospital did that.