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Original poster

Baby given wrong breast milk

16 replies

Lavender14 · 01/11/2023 07:59

So my 11 month old has just started his settling in days at nursery.

He's so far been refusing bottles of the expressed milk I send in for him so hoping this is a non issue, but they send home the bottle of milk.

However I noticed this morning when I was sorting his bag that his bottle was full of milk whereas I normally only send in 2oz as a little comfort for him before naps. Initially I thought someone had diluted it, but now I'm thinking that he's been given someone else's breastmilk?

I've messaged the nursery to check but I'm wondering how I should handle this at drop off this morning. I know he refused the milk yesterday, but don't know if he took any at all. Obviously now I'm worrying about the potential risk of transmission of illnesses, medication, alcohol etc if he was given someone else's milk... what do I do in this scenario?

OP posts:
SantaBarbaraMonica · 01/11/2023 08:01

He probably wasn’t. And, if he was, there is really no risk.

Soontobe60 · 01/11/2023 08:01

Just wait and see what the nursery say. I should imagine they just forgot to give it to him, especially if he refused it the day before.
BTW, surely his milk isn’t left in his bag all day?

Isthisexpected · 01/11/2023 08:04

I also imagine that they either forgot or decided he wouldn't want it or dropped off so quickly for his nap it wasn't needed. Hear them out.

There is a risk of course which is why breast milk donors have to go through health checks but it will be low and I'd take comfort that any mum pumping for her baby in nursery isn't going to be damaging her own baby's health.

What are the storage facilities and do you label the milk?

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dementedpixie · 01/11/2023 08:09

Do you not label your bottle?
Maybe they just grabbed the wrong one out the fridge

Original poster
Lavender14 · 01/11/2023 08:17

Soontobe60 · 01/11/2023 08:01

Just wait and see what the nursery say. I should imagine they just forgot to give it to him, especially if he refused it the day before.
BTW, surely his milk isn’t left in his bag all day?

No his milk is kept in a freezer bag with cool blocks, and then moved into the nursery's fridge. He's only doing a few hours settling in at the moment so I'd sent a 2oz bottle in, I just had forgotten to take yesterday's bottle out of the bag until this morning. Everything is labelled with his name on it, the cool bag, the bottle, the bag of frozen milk.

OP posts:
ThreeRingCircus · 01/11/2023 08:25

Is it your child's labelled bottle? With more milk in it than you sent?

dementedpixie · 01/11/2023 08:34

At 11 months does he need milk at nursery?
How long will he be in nursery during the day?
If he's not drinking the milk he could have snacks and water instead.
In a few weeks he could try cows milk as a drink too while he's away from you and bf when he's with you.

Original poster
Lavender14 · 01/11/2023 08:34

ThreeRingCircus · 01/11/2023 08:25

Is it your child's labelled bottle? With more milk in it than you sent?

Yes I sent in 2oz but there's 5 oz in his bottle with his name on it.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lavender14 · 01/11/2023 08:37

dementedpixie · 01/11/2023 08:34

At 11 months does he need milk at nursery?
How long will he be in nursery during the day?
If he's not drinking the milk he could have snacks and water instead.
In a few weeks he could try cows milk as a drink too while he's away from you and bf when he's with you.

Yeah to be honest I really dislike pumping and I get very little when I pump. He normally gets a feed or a bottle before his naps as it helps him go over so it was more to help with the transition to napping in nursery. So far he's completely refused to sleep there as well. So I was going to wait and see if he'll get in the routine of sleeping there and then phase the milk out and just feed when he's at home. It was more to give him a comfort as he's only just started and hasn't really been settling well.

OP posts:
Universalsnail · 01/11/2023 08:37

He probably hasn't it's probably that they didn't give it him but tbh if he has I wouldn't worry. It's fairly unlikely another Mum is bothering to express for nursery and is breastfeeding unsafely. Ask them about it if you are worried but your baby will be fine.

Original poster
Lavender14 · 01/11/2023 08:42

Thanks everyone for the reassurance. I figured that the vast majority of mums would be bf safely and wary of their baby's health. I just wasn't sure if I was being too laid back about it tbh because obviously the screening for the milk bank etc are pretty rigorous.

OP posts:
Mischance · 01/11/2023 08:50

It would do no harm even if he had. My DD provided her excess breast milk for a friend who was struggling to feed.

Torganer · 01/11/2023 08:51

I wouldn’t worry about alcohol content in milk, you have to be basically paralytic before there is even a slight effect on the baby. I think most mums who breastfeed won’t be on medication that can be passed on, I know I couldn’t take any hay fever tablets and it was a nightmare!

it seems unlikely they would get them mixed up though, could they have used two bags of milk in one bottle?

Original poster
Lavender14 · 01/11/2023 09:57

Spoke to the nursery at drop off and it turned out he's the only bf baby in that building and one of the new staff has likely added water to the bottle as if making up formula. So it's been a non issue thankfully! Panic over nothing!

OP posts:
Original poster
Lavender14 · 01/11/2023 09:58

Thanks for all the advice though! I hate confrontation and with us only just having started him in nursery I was really worried about coming across badly!

OP posts:
HoppingPavlova · 01/11/2023 10:07

@Mischance It would do no harm even if he had. My DD provided her excess breast milk for a friend who was struggling to feed

Thats incorrect. It can do harm. That’s exactly why there is SCREENING with milk at milk banks. There is not a ‘who cares as it doesn’t matter’ approach, because it does.

If your DD’s friend was happy to accept your DD’s offer that’s great. But that’s an agreement, with consent, and implicit in that your DD’s friend is accepting any risk (which in this particular scenario they have obviously judged to be minimal). A baby getting a random’s breastmilk without any agreement and consent is absolutely not okay.

Good to hear OP had the outcome they did.

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