Breastfeeding Baby at Daycare
Parent Q&A
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Infant daycare in Albany/Berkeley that allow drop-in nursing
–Feb 19, 2020Hello all,
We are not loving our current daycare provider, and I’m particularly upset by the fact that our daycare refuses to allow me to nurse our 5 month old during my lunch break. I’m therefore looking for recommendations of daycares in/around Albany and Berkeley that might allow mothers to nurse during the day (in my case it would be only once per day). I would also just be open to recommendations of infant daycares in the area that you love and trust. I know it is very hard to find infant spots, but I would at least like to have a short list of daycares in the area that would be our top choices, in order to get on waitlists or to keep calling to ask about spaces.
As an aside, MANY thanks to those of you that kindly responded to my post a few months ago when I was desperate to find daycare. It REALLY helped and I was able to find a few options because of your kind and thoughtful responses.
Feb 19, 2020
They won’t let you nurse during lunch?? That’s crazy. My youngest is now 12, but I would go and nurse him at lunch sometimes when he was an infant. It was never a problem. He went to Cornerstone, located at the Berkeley First Presbyterian Church. Both of my kids went there and we loved them so much.
Cornerstone Children's Center in Berkeley is great. They actually encourage parents to visit mid-day. They have a room expressly for moms to nurse children during the day that has rockers and nursing pillows, and I know several moms who worked nearby did that at lunch. All the caregivers and the director were very supportive of nursing and special needs in particular. (My son has a few severe allergies and health issues, and they've been good partners along the way.). http://cornerstonechildren.com/
I can't recommend any particular care provider but WHAT!!?? I dont' think it's legal for them to prevent you from stopping by at any time, and it's definitely the law that if you are allowed to be there you are allowed to nurse there.
Center-based programs: https://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/entres/forms/English/pub393L.pdf
Home-based programs: https://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/entres/forms/English/pub394L.pdf
Right to breastfeed: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=43.3.
I realize it might not be comfortable to stay at a place that you're not welcome, but our entire community should be supporting families that choose to breastfeed/chestfeed, and child care programs are part of that.
Resources to share with your provider: http://www.acphd.org/acbreastfeeds/child-care-practices.aspx
http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/p/cm/ld/fid=108
The UC Berkeley childcare program supports nursing for infants. My daughter stopped taking bottles shortly before starting daycare at 3 months. I had been planning on going during my lunch break, but ended up going at 11 and 2 each day, which was awful for me but they were super nice about it. It was also nice to get an intimate view of the classroom because I spent so much time hanging out there nursing my kid. That said, the program is hard to get into, and they just issued admission letters for August. There's always a shakeup because of postdocs finding jobs elsewhere etc, so it's worth checking in.