Woodlands - Bottled Breast Milk Policy
Breastfeeding is important for an infant's nutrition. Australian and international health authorities recommend exclusive breastfeeding until around 6 months. At around 6 months, solid food can then be offered while breastfeeding is continued until 12 months or longer if the mother and baby request.
Early Childhood Education and Care Services have an important role in supporting mothers to continue to breastfeed, as returning to work is a common reason given for stopping breastfeeding. Educators will inform mothers that the provision of breast milk is supported at our Service.
National Quality Standard (NQS)
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Quality Area 2: Children’s Health and Safety |
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2.1.1 |
Wellbeing and comfort |
Each child’s wellbeing and comfort is provided for, including appropriate opportunities to meet each child’s needs for sleep, rest and relaxation |
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2.1.2 |
Health practices and procedures |
Effective illness and injury management and hygiene practices are promoted and implemented |
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2.1.3 |
Healthy lifestyle |
Healthy eating and physical activity are promoted and appropriate for each child |
Education and Care Services National Regulations
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Children (Education and Care Services) National Law NSW |
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77 |
Health, hygiene and safe food practices |
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78 |
Food and beverages |
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168 |
Education and care services must have policies and procedures |
Related Policies
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Purpose
To ensure Woodlands maintains hygienic premises for all infants requiring breast milk, Educators will certify that bottles are prepared safely and hygienically maintaining Work Health and Safety Standards, and current Food Safety Standards.
Scope
This policy applies to children, families, staff, management, and visitors of the Service.
Implementation
Breast milk contains the mother’s antibodies, which help prevent illness in infants. It is important to encourage and support mothers of infants up to 12 months old to provide expressed breast milk or to visit the education and care service to feed their infants.
Management will ensure:
- Nominated Supervisor and Educators are aware of the procedures for preparing, heating, and storing bottled breast milk.
- Procedures for the safe storage and heating of food provided in bottles is developed.
- Parents are aware that the Service is a ‘breastfeeding friendly’ service.
- Families are provided with breastfeeding information during enrolment and orientation.
- A welcoming environment is provided for mothers to comfortably breastfeed or express breast milk.
- Breast milk can be stored and handled safely at the Service.
- Families are provided with accurate nutrition and feeding information.
- Culturally appropriate pictures and posters of breastfeeding are displayed.
- Easily accessible brochures, pamphlets, and other resources about breastfeeding are displayed.
- Staff and families are educated that a mother may breastfeed their child at the Service, as this is their legal right.
- An individual breastfeeding support plan is developed in consultation with families, including arrangements for what we as a service do if we do not have enough expressed breast milk to meet the child’s needs.
- Literature is updated and distributed to staff as required to support ‘best practice’.
A Nominated Supervisor/ Responsible Person will:
- Ensure that Educators implement the procedures for preparing, heating, and storing bottles of breast milk.
- Adhere to the procedure for the safe storage and heating of food provided in bottles.
- Provide mothers with a private, clean, and quiet place to breastfeed their children or express milk. This will include an electrical outlet, comfortable chair, change table, and nearby access to handwashing facilities.
- Stimulate participatory learning experiences with the children related to breastfeeding and offer children’s books that contain pictures of breastfeeding, play dolls that are nursing and other learning experiences that normalise breastfeeding.
- Establish and maintain connections with local breastfeeding support networks, including NSW Health and the Australian Breastfeeding Association.
- Maintain currently printed or electronic lactation resources available to families and employees.
- Refer mothers with breastfeeding concerns to appropriate resources, including support services offered by NSW Health, Australian Breastfeeding Association groups, or private lactation consultants.
Educators will:
- Ensure all bottles are stored in the fridge at all times until heating is to commence.
- Ensure frozen breast milk is defrosted in the fridge until heating.
- Ensure, for occupational health and safety reasons, while bottles are heating in their containers, they are to be placed in a sink where possible or as far from all bench edges and workspaces.
- Ensure that bottles are not to be reheated at any time.
- Discard bottle content if not used after 30 minutes.
Families will:
- Be informed during orientation that children’s bottles must be clearly labeled with the child’s name.
- Label bottles containing breast milk with the date of preparation or expression.
- Be encouraged to supply breast milk in well labeled, multiple small quantities to prevent wastage.
- Be encouraged to communicate regularly with Educators about children’s bottle and feeding requirements.
Storing bottles
Breast milk needs to be kept refrigerated or frozen. Keep a non-mercury thermometer in your fridge so that you can check that the temperature is below 5°C. All bottles need to be labeled with the child’s name and the date the bottle was prepared or brought in by the parent.
Breast milk can be stored in several ways, which include:
- Refrigerated for 3–5 days at 4°C or lower (4°C is the typical temperature of a standard fridge). Store breast milk at the back of the refrigerator, not in the door.
- Frozen in a separate freezer section of a refrigerator for up to 3 months; if your freezer is a compartment inside the refrigerator, rather than a separate section with its own door, then only store the breast milk for 2 weeks. Frozen in a deep freeze (–18 °C or lower) for
6-12 months.
Frozen breast milk can be thawed by:
- Placing in the refrigerator and used within 24 hours.
- Standing the bottle in a container of lukewarm water and used straight away.
Staff Training
Woodlands will:
- Provide orientation for new staff of the breastfeeding policy and offer appropriate training, including using a cup or spoon for feeding, where an infant will not accept a bottle.
- Ensure all staff that has responsibility for care of infants and children are able to provide basic breastfeeding information and are able to refer mothers with breastfeeding concerns to appropriate resources, including support services offered by NSW Health, Australian Breastfeeding Association groups, or private lactation consultants.
- Ensure staff encourage parents to develop babies’ individual breastfeeding support plans and regularly update their plans, with support from NSW Health, Australian Breastfeeding Association groups, or private lactation consultants where appropriate.
- Ensure all staff promotes exclusive breastfeeding until babies are about 6 months old with continued breastfeeding to one year and beyond.
Support for Educators and Staff who are Breastfeeding
Woodlands will:
- Treat requests for support to continue breastfeeding sympathetically and reasonably, and make all reasonable efforts to support the staff member.
- Provide breastfeeding employees with a flexible schedule for breastfeeding or pumping to provide expressed breast milk for their children.
- Provide breastfeeding employees with a private, clean, and quiet place to breastfeed their babies or express milk, including an electrical outlet, comfortable chair, a changing table and nearby access to handwashing facilities.
Source
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Review
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Policy Reviewed |
Modifications |
Next Review Date |
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October 2017 |
New service policy Updated the references to comply with revised National Quality Standard |
February 2018 |
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February 2018 |
Added ‘related policies’ list |
February 2019 |
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January 2020 |
Branding and formatting updated Policy links added Service-specific information amended not affecting the delivery of policy |
February 2021 |