I had a similar problem with my daycare a few years ago.  Actually, It was
the Health Department here in Memphis that told our daycare director that
EBM could not be given to children in sippy cups do to the danger to other
children in case the milk spilled.  If the child need to receive EBM, it
must be contained in a baby bottle with a nipple.  Since Timothy was about
fourteen months and we had just convinced him to give up bottles, I was not
thrilled with this development.  The daycare director understood my
concern, but she needed to go by what the Health Department told her.  I
gave the daycare director and the Health Department lots of information
about CDC (Center for Disease Control) guidelines and it was eventually
agreed that Timothy could get EBM from a cup, although we had to buy some
of those that are supposed to be spill-proof.

My advice would be to talk to them calmly, take lots of references with
you, and make things as little extra work for them as possible.  If you can
bring the milk already in those spill-proof cups, and you can show the
director and the daycare workers that this is the best thing for your son,
they will hopefully listen to reason, and learn something in the process.
It worked for me anyways.  I will also say that when I happen to stop by
the daycare and it's Timothy's naptime, they have no objection to me
breastfeeding him then if he requests it, and he's three and a half years
old now, so I know the daycare is not anti-breastfeeding.  If you can
minimize the daycare workers fears and work, I think they are usually
willing to do whatever is best for the child.

Donna



Donna J. Spannaus-Martin, Ph.D., MT (ASCP)
Assistant Professor, Clinical Laboratory Sciences,
University of Tennessee, Memphis