When my older daughter was younger, I depended on daycare to care
for her while I worked. Being a single mom, I had no other
options until she was old enough to become a "latchkey child", in
itself not a desireable option either, but she had outgrown the program
and was mature and responsible and we had helpful neighbors, all the
blahdeblah reasons to make it work. Parents do have to make
choices sometimes in order to make things work.
Which is why I
totally understand the dilemma posed in the life of Ohio's Robin Neorr,
mom to her three-month old breastfed infant. Yay to Robin that
she still pumped and nursed when she could, even though she was back to
work and away from her child. Breastfeeding can be challenging
enough without having to work outside the home to boot. However,
a big giant "boo" to her
daycare center, City Kids, for charging an extra $50 per month to
"handle" Robin's breastmilk. An extra $50 per month that parents of
formula-fed babies weren't charged. An extra $50 per month to
label Robin's milk as a "biohazard", to treat it as a "hazardous body
fluid", and to basically send Robin the message that there was
something wrong with her.
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