Mum fuming after discovering daycare provider secretly breastfeeding her daughter

She was doing it for months.

A mum has turned to the internet for advice after she caught her daycare provider secretly breastfeeding her baby daughter behind her back. She wrote to Daniel Mallory Ortberg for Slate's Dear Prudence column, looking for advice on what she should do next. The woman began the post by explaining she is the single mum of an adopted baby girl, and had been opting to formula-feed since she can't lactate. She continued:

"I am a working mom as well, and found a home day care provider who seemed amazing—she has two kids of her own (one a little older than my daughter) and has run this home day care for five years or so.

"The only bump in the road was on the first day when I pulled out the formula and bottles, and she wrinkled her nose and said, 'You feed her that slop?' I ignored the barb (I’m used to it), gave a quick rundown, and went on my way.

"Two months later, this past Friday, I got off work early and decided to pick up my daughter early.

"There is a side door where parents can enter without knocking, so I did that. I started the sign-out process, and as I was doing so, the day care assistant walked by and saw me. She tried to engage me with conversation, but I wanted to get my daughter so I brushed by her.

"When I got to the area of the house where my daughter was, I about fell over. The daycare provider was NURSING MY BABY!"

"The provider said that she was saving my baby from chemicals I was trying to force into her body and I should thank her for doing it all these months! I didn’t say anything; I just grabbed the diaper bag and got the hell out of there."

The mum is understandably furious, but also torn on what to do next.

She added:

"Obviously, I am not sending my daughter back there, but should I report her to the umbrella company she is under for home day cares, or should I make a huge blast on social media?

"My sister says I should send out texts to the parents that have kids there so they can do their own check-ins, but that is too much I think."

Ortberg responded to the letter by pointing out what the daycare provider had done was a huge breach of trust - and that the mum should definitely report it.

He continued:

"If this isn’t worth reporting her to a supervising agency, I don’t know what is. Yes, your baby is, in the long run, safe and sound.

"But the whole point of providing day care for working parents is saying, 'You can trust me to keep your children safe and well–cared for, and I will act according to your wishes in your absence,' not 'As soon as you walk out the door, I’m going to raise your child how I see fit.'

"This is a huge breach of trust, a total violation, and absolutely worth reporting.

"Please do it. If you’re not comfortable making a big splash on social media, that’s understandable—this is a very dramatic case, but she should absolutely be reported for this."