Daycare gave my child someone else's milk

[sundaygirl]

Ugh. There was a big mix-up at daycare yesterday in which the fresh milk never made it out of his cooler bag and they pulled from the freezer to have enough bottles for him. Only they pulled another child's freezer bag and gave that to him. Eeeek. I know it was an honest mistake by either the new teacher or the sub they have this week because one of the regulars is on vacation but still. . .I brought it to their attention and they couldn't apologize enough. My question is - should I be concerned? What should I look for in terms of a possible allergic reaction? He's 4 months, the milk belonged to a child who is more like 10 or 12 months. My son has only had my breastmilk, save for a few ozs of formula he had right after birth in the NICU. He hasn't had any reactions to dairy or anything else in my diet which makes me think he'll probably be fine. Right?

[ShwarmaQueen]

I would be more upset about the daycare's mixup than the actual BM mixup. The other BM is probably safe. Besides, at 4 mos, your lo is probably past the unsealed gut stage of newborns.

[Raene]

So your child had someone else's breastmilk? I would be really concerned, just b/c that's the kind of person I am, though probably it's not *that* big of a deal. But still...I would worry! Can you talk to the person who it belonged to?

[sundaygirl]

Yeah, it wasn't a great evening. First I discovered the 12 ozs of milk that had been in the bag all day and now needed to be pitched and THEN I discovered the wrong freezer bag. I took the babe to daycare myself this morning (DH usually does drop off/pick up) so that I could talk to his regular teacher. I considered going right to the center director but I think (hope) this was enough to ensure it doesn't happen again.

[Jojo F.]

Personally, I wouldn't be *that* worried about but, I would watch him carefully for the freak chance he does have a reaction.

Remember the story of the newborn baby boy who's mother died shortly after birth and the local LLL mamas nursed him? He recieved milk from at least 10 different women. And what about wet nurses? Or donated milk?

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want it happening again and would bring it to the attention of the staff. But, I wouldn't be irrate or distraught over it. If the other mama is BFing too I'm sure she is making sure her milk is healthy.

I *would* be concerned about what type of formula my baby was given in the NICU. Liquid is for babies in the NICU and powdered can be dangerous.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

This happened to me too once. At first, i thought it was someone elses BM that he was given, and was immediately googling what diseases can be passed thru breastmilk. No sooner was I sitting at the computer, and the girl who made the mistake was calling me from her house (she had left before I even picked DS up) balling her eyes out at the mistake. WE had all become very willy nilly about marking bottles and storage bags, and thats how it happened. Turned out he didnt have someone elses BM (he is the only one there breast fed) but someone elses formula was mixed with his BM. (at the time, I couldnt pump enough to send to school, so I sent a 4 ounce bottle of formula to mix a 3:1 ratio) Fortunatly, the formula he was given was hypoallergenic for a baby with sever excezma, but the girl, and I, were both still shaken up quite a bit from it. NEEDLESS TO SAY, we make sure EVERYTHING, and I do mean everything, now has his name ALL OVER IT!

[sundaygirl]

I did get a call from the center director as soon as she heard about it and she was very upset that a mistake had been made. She assured me they spoke to the teachers in the room and is working on a system to prevent it from happening again.

Thanks for the reassurance. The baby is fine, no reactions thus far. I'd be more upset if they had given him formula, actually!

[jecombs]

I think your baby will be fine. I would be more concerned about the training the "subs" are receiving. Proper training in the schedule and procedures of the room are essential to preventing these type of errors. If the center seems concerned, responsive, and is addressing this issue, I would probably let it go. If the center seemed at all to be taking the situation lightly, I would probably report them to your state licensing folks and let them sort it out. I had a similar situation where my DD at something she was allergic to *off the floor* after lunch at daycare. The Director blew me off and made light of the situation, so I called DHHS and reported them. We also got a new daycare.

[birdie22]

I'm sure the milk was fine. *I* would be totally cheesed about losing all that milk that sat out all day!

[kriket]

Originally Posted by birdie22

*I* would be totally cheesed about losing all that milk that sat out all day!

: and I would be calling the other mom to tell her she doesn't have the freezer stash that she thought she did so she knew to bring more!

You have a milk sibling now!

and what kind of rocking daycare do you go to where mamas not only still breastfeed, but still pump for their 10-12 month old!

[*MamaJen*]

My baby has had breastmilk from three different mamas -- me, obviously, and my sister nursed him once when she was watching him (we discussed it beforehand and we both were fine with it), and then once he grabbed a sippy cup of expressed BM from his babysitter's daughter and chugged down.
There's a very, very tiny risk of disease sharing, but I think just about every non-poverty stricken mother got an HIV test before or during pregnancy.
I think that cross nursing was probably pretty common not too long ago. It actually doesn't bother me at all.

[Thankful'n'Blessed]

Yeah, that would definitely freak me out a little, but then, I realize too that it's not all that big of a deal. And like pp said, it wasn't too long ago that it was extremely common. I would just watch you LO extra close for a day or two...he'll probably be just fine!

[sundaygirl]

Originally Posted by kriket

:

and what kind of rocking daycare do you go to where mamas not only still breastfeed, but still pump for their 10-12 month old!

Ha! I didn't think of that. I intend to pump for a year so it doesn't sound odd to me. The infant room is quite big though and I think most of them are FF.