Teen mom not allowed to bf at school! - Page 4

[tireesix]

Teen pregnancies have been going on since forever so I don't understand how people not agree with them etc, they are just a part of life (I can understand people not liking the LEVELS of teen pregnancy though).

Anyhoo, as for the breast feeding thing, I thought that we were supposed to pushing to make breast feeding normal, to make breast feeding easier, to improve the rights of breast feeding mothers? Yet it seems that if you are a teen mum you just have to suck it up.

10 minutes missed before lunch isn't going to make a huge difference, when I was at school it would be at that point that kids were starting to tidy away etc and usually, p1ssing about started about 30 mins before lunch.

As for can she do this and that while breastfeeding? I have had 3, my first was a dream in that I could do quite a few things while feeding BUT feeding her took around 40 mins every time (and it was a lot of times). As for the other two, they had colic, one so severely I seemed to spend most of my time holding her and crying for literally 5 MONTHS. Feeding a colicky baby isn't easy, feeding a fussy baby isn't easy, sometimes feeding a baby isn't easy.

The school should give her the 10 mins, I would rather give her the 10 mins than having her quit school OR start formula instead and end up being miserable at school because she felt she had to give up on something that was important for her and her baby.

Its just 10 mins, 50 mins per week and I missed a lot more than 50 mins per week from school due to health problems.

[caro113]

To JacquelineR and Pirogi:

I have to admit, that I do feel the school having a day care does, to an extent, promote it, but at the same time, I realize it is completely necessary to help keep children in school after having their own children. When I was in high school, I was completely against it, but as I've grown and matured and ventured into the world, I realize that it does help those who really want to stay in school, because those kids don't have any other options. They can't be home schooled and most of them don't have access to a computer, let alone the internet, to do cyber school. It's really sad because everyone has already given up on those kids. At least the day care gives these kids some hope.

But yes, my main implication was: How have they not had this problem before? I realize I only know of one school with a day care in it so I don't have much of a reference, but with the assumption that they have a lot of teen moms, I find it hard to believe that all of them chose to formula feed their babies. (Of course, if their "personal resource management" type class is anything like the one I had in high school, they are taught to formula feed their babies.)

Does anyone know of an update? I'd like to know if anything has been resolved. If anything, she can file a complaint saying they are making school a hostile environment when it comes to breastfeeding and force the school to either give in to her or hire a private tutor so she can stay home with her baby.

[AAK]

Would she be allowed to eat her lunch in class so that she can nurse baby during lunch? I think that could work if she brought her own lunch. But, if she brought her own lunch, she might be able to eat and nurse at the same time. So, is the mother receiving state funded lunches that require her to wait in line to get her meal (thus, taking up a large portion of her lunch time, and most likely resulting in a hot lunch that may not be safely eaten while nursing)?

I agree that it is being used a punishment, but if the school won't budge on the issue and the student does need to wait to get a free hot lunch, then maybe the school would allow a friend to pick up her lunch for her while she nurses the baby. By the time the friend came back with the lunch, the mother would probably be close to finished nursing and she could safely eat her lunch while still being with her child.

Amy

[waiting2bemommy]

I just saw this and as someone who just graduated four years ago, is young and VERY sympathetic to young (and single, and struggling) moms, I have this to say:

Lunch breaks in school are NOT long enough. there are so many problems with public high schools I don't even know where to start, but the short lunch breaks are a problem. some kids don't even get to eat ebcause they spend the whole lunch period in line in the cafeteria.
So I am totally on her side here. BUT...
This is the way life works. It's not fair and it usually sucks when you have a nursing baby and you have to leave it, for any reason. I think she is going to have to eat a big breakfast and snack on the bus on the way home from school. Either the baby eats, or she eats. Or if she can't stand that, she can grab something from home in the morning--an apple, a banana, make a sandwich or even a bag of chips.

I worked at a school from 7-3, had ONE 10 minute pumping break a day, and a 30 minute lunch break, and I had to drive home, feed my baby for 10 minutes, and then drive back in that 30 minute period. I tried for a few days to get something down my own throat while nursing, or while driving and eventually I just decided that ds was th e priority and I'd just have to be hungry until I got home from work.

I lost some weight, but I'm still here to talk about it, and ds never had a drop of formula. I'm sorry she's having to learn this lesson at 14, but this is motherhood, epitomized. When everyone else is a jerk to you and won't help you do what's best for your baby, you suck it up and do it anyway, even at personal cost.

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by waiting2bemommy

I just saw this and as someone who just graduated four years ago, is young and VERY sympathetic to young (and single, and struggling) moms, I have this to say:

Lunch breaks in school are NOT long enough. there are so many problems with public high schools I don't even know where to start, but the short lunch breaks are a problem. some kids don't even get to eat ebcause they spend the whole lunch period in line in the cafeteria.
So I am totally on her side here. BUT...
This is the way life works. It's not fair and it usually sucks when you have a nursing baby and you have to leave it, for any reason. I think she is going to have to eat a big breakfast and snack on the bus on the way home from school. Either the baby eats, or she eats. Or if she can't stand that, she can grab something from home in the morning--an apple, a banana, make a sandwich or even a bag of chips.

I worked at a school from 7-3, had ONE 10 minute pumping break a day, and a 30 minute lunch break, and I had to drive home, feed my baby for 10 minutes, and then drive back in that 30 minute period. I tried for a few days to get something down my own throat while nursing, or while driving and eventually I just decided that ds was th e priority and I'd just have to be hungry until I got home from work.

I lost some weight, but I'm still here to talk about it, and ds never had a drop of formula. I'm sorry she's having to learn this lesson at 14, but this is motherhood, epitomized. When everyone else is a jerk to you and won't help you do what's best for your baby, you suck it up and do it anyway, even at personal cost.

I think this post eloquently captures why the USA needs paid maternity leave. Mothers in the USA should not just have to 'suck it up'. They deserve no less than mothers in the rest of the developed and practically all of the developing world get. PAID MATERNITY LEAVE.

You are no less worthy than we are here in Canada. Our exclusive breastfeeding rates jumped up with a year's paid mat leave, and women now breastfeed longer on average too. Don't settle for sucking it up and living with the status quo. Fight for paid mat leave.

[waiting2bemommy]

Originally Posted by PatioGardener

I think this post eloquently captures why the USA needs paid maternity leave. Mothers in the USA should not just have to 'suck it up'. They deserve no less than mothers in the rest of the developed and practically all of the developing world get. PAID MATERNITY LEAVE.

You are no less worthy than we are here in Canada. Our exclusive breastfeeding rates jumped up with a year's paid mat leave, and women now breastfeed longer on average too. Don't settle for sucking it up and living with the status quo. Fight for paid mat leave.

I totally and completely agree with you. It really sucked. I know I'm not the only one who went through this. And I didn't have a place to pump.....I pumped in the storage closet and then the teacher bathroom, until people started complaining that they couldn't get in there for the whole 12 minutes I was in there pumping. So then I pumped IN the classroom, in the little kindergarten-sized toilet stall (with door) squatting on the floor and balancing the pump on my knees.

The whole setup in my case and in her case is ridiculous. It's a SCHOOL, they are in the business of CHILDREN, but they cna't understand the need for nursing/pumping breaks. It's a shame. I was shocked when I first had ds and came on these boards and discovered that there is such a thing as a pumping room. I have never even seen one; it sounds like something out of an alternate universe to me.

I just feel, though, that even though it is really unfair, she should not allow that to stop her from nursing her baby. Women have been doing difficult things for their children's sakes since the beginning of time. I guess, too I was raised with a mentality of "you just do what you have to do," coming from a long line of really strong women who have suffered through some MAJOR oppression and survived with their children.

But I do hope she gets some support, because I have a 15yo godsister and honestly if she were to get pregnant right now I don't see her even giving bf a try....too much "trouble." So I commend this girl at 14 years old for having the maturity to put her baby's needs first.

I hope I didn't sound harsh in my original post.

[hotmamacita]

This is how I look at it.

She is not being allowed to breastfeed as she needs to. If this were any other establishment, many women would be up in arms and a nurse-in scheduled. A 14 year old has the same rights as adults.

Which HS is this?

[gsd1amommy]

At a trade school, the class she is asking to be dismissed from probably makes a lot of difference. All of the facts would help.