Absolutely, teen moms should be encouraged to bring their babies with them
to school, and to have a childcare room for them, and be encouraged to nurse
whenever the baby's hungry. But I can see why carrying the baby with them
all day might not be the best way to manage the situation. In addition to
Jay's thoughts (need for moms to concentrate in class, etc.), in my
experience these young parents also need the experience of being high school
(or middle school, unfortunately) students, and I think that there's a lot
to be said for having their babies there at school, and being able to nurse
ad lib, but being able to go to classes baby-less. After all, they're still
teenagers, and they need the chance to be seen as "regular" kids and not
just "teen moms". And I think Jay's right - they DO need to pay attention to
their classes, if they ever want to graduate. BUT (here I go again, giving
people too much credit), I guess ideally the choice of which way to handle
it should be up to the student; seems perfectly conceivable to me that some
would be better off one way and some the other, and/or some days she might
choose to leave her baby in the nursery & other days keep it with her in
class.

I too have an awful soft spot for these young mothers! I love working with
them - I have 5 teenage daughters & step-daughters in my household (and a
21-yr. old son away at college), so I guess it's a good thing I like
growing-up girls! Life is never dull, with all these kids and all their
friends around - why do you think I spend so much time on lactnet?! Got to
stay out of their hair!

Cathy Bargar