Daycare difficulties

It seems that Ya's two week vacation-turned-illness has left his daycare attendants at a loss for how to feed him. Something so basic as using the provided frozen bottles of breast milk has suddenly become an impossible task. Perhaps it is my fault. I mean, I did provide a container of formula mix labeled "For Emergencies Only" and a bottle of water. But seriously, I intended the mix for emergencies - times when I come later than my 2:30 p.m. pick up and Ya needs a hold over meal.

And then there is the issue of over-feeding. If you give a baby a Stage 2 container of veggies/fruits at 11 a.m., he's not going to accept a bottle twenty minutes later. Ya's little tummy would explode, and he rightly refuses to eat whatever they give him. Yesterday, apparently, that was the sole bottle of breast milk they attempted to feed him, so now I am told he refuses all breast milk unless formula is mixed in (yuck, and not according to feeding instructions of mine or the formula company).

Who on earth would prefer the nasty smelling, thick concoction that is formula over the smooth and sweet milk of the breast?

But then, if I'm preparing bottles at home and bringing them in each day and they're not being used? It would seem logical that one would refuse a bottle of milk left in a fridge 48+ hours that has defrosted and then been subjected to 100 or more fridge openings as the 30 or so daycare kids' meals are prepared throughout the day. That's a set up for spoiling if ever there was one.

I find it interesting that this milk refusal is only at daycare, but does not extend to staying with Grams, Oma, or Daddy. Ya certainly has not gotten to the "nursing refusal" stage common at this age... in fact, he can have a 1/2 cup of fruit loops, a handful of animal crackers or a cup-size bowl of rice and will still hurl his head and torso into nursing position as soon as he's in my arms.

And so I am feeling like the guilty working mother who is allowing people to disturb her baby's health by altering the way he is fed and what his diet is while I am at work. I can't be a stay at home mom  - -scratch that - - domestic engineer because of financial responsibilities. I don't have a relative willing to adjust his or her daily routine to care for an infant. I am forced to entrust a daycare facility with my son's health and well-being... and I'm not feeling very trusting anymore.