Breastfeeding Support

Supportive environments can help mothers breastfeed for as long as possible.

Child care providers can support child and maternal health by empowering mothers to breastfeed for as long as possible. By making sure mothers have a designated space to breastfeed and store milk in at the program site, as well as by sharing resources about breastfeeding topics and program policies with parents, providers can support the nutrition of infants in their care. 

Best Practices

The resources on this page can help child care programs reach all of the following best practices:

  • "Always make sufficient refrigerator/freezer space available for mothers to store expressed milk." 
  • “Display in several areas all of the following types of culturally appropriate breastfeeding support materials: pictures, posters, brochures, other print/media resources. Do not include those from commercial entities, such as infant formula manufacturers.”
  • “Ensure that feeding plans filled out by parents/guardians and/or healthcare providers are posted, regularly updated, and daily reports are made to parents.”
  • “Include explicit support for breastfeeding in the feeding plan completed by the parents/caregivers. Plan includes age-appropriate introduction of solid food, feeding in response to baby’s cues, and invitations to the mother to nurse her baby onsite.”
  • “Provide a designated area for mothers to breastfeed their infants, other than a bathroom, that is always available, has appropriate seating, is shielded from view and free from intrusion, and has an electrical outlet.”
  • “Provide learning and play materials which normalize breastfeeding in all areas where children spend most of their time, including books that contain pictures of breastfeeding and baby dolls that are nursing.”

Resources to provide breastfeeding support:

  • Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAPSACC) Bilingual Self-Assessments

Summary: Contacting a consultant and completing the online version of the Go NAPSACC assessments opens up a suite of planning, learning, and implementation tools to understand further what the health best practices are and how to reach them at your child care.
Source: Go Nutritional and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAPSACC)
Access: https://gonapsacc.org/our-focus-areas

  • Healthy Beverage Consumption in Early Childhood: Recommendations from Key National Health and Nutrition

Summary: The CDC’s Early Childhood Nutrition: Resources page contains toolkits and resources to help advance nutrition, including through breastfeeding, in child care settings.
Source: Center for Disease Control
Access: https://healthyeatingresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/HER-HealthyBeverage-ConsensusStatement.pdf

  • Healthy Kids, Healthy Future

Summary: Click on the "Support Breastfeeding" circle to get information about how to support breast feeding in a day care setting as well as tips for setting up a breastfeeding area. Use the menu to the left to find more activities and resources.
Source: The Nemours Foundation
Access: https://healthykidshealthyfuture.org/5-healthy-goals/support-breast-feeding/  

  • Storage, Handling, and Preparation of Breast Milk in Early Care and Education (ECE) Programs

Summary: Simple tip sheet storing, handling, preparing, and disposing breastmilk.
Source: Center for Disease Control
Access: https://www.cdc.gov/early-care-education/media/pdfs/ECE-Storage-and-handling-Breastmilk-ECE-082022-508.pdf  

  • Supporting Breastfeeding Families in Early Care and Education (ECE) Programs

Summary: Simple tip sheet for handling and storing breastmilk and how to support breastfeeding moms.
Source: Center for Disease Control
Access: https://www.cdc.gov/early-care-education/media/pdfs/ECE-Supporting-Breastfeeding-Families-ECE-082022-508.pdf

  • Ten Steps to Breastfeeding Friendly Child Care Centers Resource Kit

Summary: A resource kit to promote breastfeeding in child care centers in 10 simple steps.
Source: Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services
Access: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p0/p00022.pdf

  • Toolkit for Childcare Providers

Summary: Training materials and handouts for child care providers can guide them on how to promote breastfeeding with families and communicate program policies and practices. 
Source: Michigan Breastfeeding Network
Access: http://www.mibreastfeeding.org/toolkit-childcare

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