Bringing your *new* baby to school....

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Problem here all....recent member of class had a baby. Now, so far our school has been VERY strict about pretty much everything. Now, I understand that this student is a single mother, on assistance and struggling (well, who isn't nowadays). But anyways she was recently told by our instructor that she can bring her baby to class with her so she doesn't have to miss time. We have class one night a week and we ALWAYS have a test that night because the rest of the week we are in clinical. A lot of the students are complaining that it is distracting, granted she is pretty quiet for the most part but she gets passed around from person to person to be held for the 5 hours we are there and it IS distracting! Plus there are people in class that have had to miss class time because of "children" problems, babysitter couldn't come or whatever....these students feel it is unfair that she was given the choice to BRING her baby to class but others missed time! Something just isn't right about this situation. I don't want to sound like a mean person because I DO want to see her succeed and finish school but at the same time COME ON!!!!!! :angryfire Am I wrong for feeling this way????

Specializes in Infection Preventionist/ Occ Health.

I am not paying thousands of dollars a semester to have someone bring in a baby and distract the entire class.

While I have compassion for people who have difficulty with their child care situations, it is not appropriate to bring kids to class. Period.

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I don't understand how a newborn, especially if breastfed, is distracting. My newborns pretty much slept in their sling when I was out and about and as someone else said, when they got fussy I'd pop the breast in their mouth and people rarely new I even had a baby in that sling. Even for 5 hours.

I disagree with the baby being passed around for a variety of reason, I'm kinda old fashioned about things like that, but w/o the passing around it seems to me that its the adults that are the problem. If the baby is being quiet, then how can its presence be distracting? It seems to me that it is the adults that have trouble paying attention.

I hope that if you do have any compassion for this mother that you will first, very kindly and respectfully, address it with her while suggesting the excellent alternative of her being able to take tests in another room.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I disagree with the baby being passed around for a variety of reason, I'm kinda old fashioned about things like that, but w/o the passing around it seems to me that its the adults that are the problem. If the baby is being quiet, then how can its presence be distracting? It seems to me that it is the adults that have trouble paying attention.

The adults should never have to be put in the situation to find out.

This whole class is accomodating one person. Who CHOSE to be in this situation. I seriously doubt the class chose to accomodate her.

And it's very unfair to the class as a whole to allow this to happen.

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As a rule I think that kids in class is not the best idea....BUT it really depends on the kid. If the kid is quiet and can maintain without attracting attention, why not? A newborn is pretty quiet (usually) and some older kids are able to entertain themselves quietly and not disturb others. I think the idea of taping lectures is a good one. Could it be taken a step further and be videotaped? That would really be a help to the mother, I would think. Personally I wouldn't bring my kid to class because she couldn't be quiet or entertain herself, but I wouldn't mind if others brought their kids as long as the kids were able to sit without being loud and attracting attention.

I agree with some of the others who have said "if you don't like it, try to find a way to fix it." I am kind of bothered by the attitude of "tough sh#$, it's HER problem. Tough break, but don't ask ME to help out," but I'm not surprised. It's the American Way these days........

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Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
I disagree with the baby being passed around for a variety of reason, I'm kinda old fashioned about things like that, but w/o the passing around it seems to me that its the adults that are the problem. If the baby is being quiet, then how can its presence be distracting? It seems to me that it is the adults that have trouble paying attention.

Well said. I wouldn't care if there were 25 kids of varying ages in the lecture hall during class, as long as they were quiet. Nursing school is difficult to get into, unplanned pregnancies do happen to people with limited means and support, and my own personal philosophy is to treat others as I would wish to be treated if I were in a difficult spot. Who cares why the baby is there, as long as it is quiet. Big deal. The things people choose to get angry about amazes me.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
BUT it really depends on the kid. If the kid is quiet and can maintain without attracting attention, why not?

Then why not allow everyone to bring thier children?

I am kind of bothered by the attitude of "tough sh#$, it's HER problem. Tough break, but don't ask ME to help out," but I'm not surprised. It's the American Way these days........

Ah, now that's not fair. :nono: It's not unreasonable to ask that the rules apply to everyone, nor is it unreasonable to ask for no distrations during class.

Has nothing to with someoen wanting this being selfish. Quite honestly, i think it's a little selfish to expect a whole class to conform to my life. I doubt they were asked if they minded.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
Plus there are people in class that have had to miss class time because of "children" problems, babysitter couldn't come or whatever....these students feel it is unfair that she was given the choice to BRING her baby to class but others missed time!

And this to me would be a huge problem: the inconsistency in the rule enforcement.

Another thing i'm not getting is she can bring the baby to class, yet where is this baby going when she's at clinical?

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

Perhaps you havn't had you mother/baby nursing class yet - but when you do I hope you learn that mothers and newborns should be together.

Now, if that means the prof ahs to make some arrangements to avoid disrupting the class then fine, but you are really being selfish by insisting that she not be allowed to do this. If it was YOU you would WANT the same consideration at least for the first 12 weeks or so.

and hey - if she's breastfeeding and it goes well - thats one less can of formula my tax dollars have to buy...

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
and hey - if she's breastfeeding and it goes well - thats one less can of formula my tax dollars have to buy...

Amen to that.

(and I just discovered that it won't let you post a message if there are too few characters. How odd)

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And this to me would be a huge problem: the inconsistency in the rule enforcement.

This is where I see the biggest problem, too. There are mothers in my class who have to pay so much money to have their children in daycare while they're in school that they are barely scraping by (and some haven't).

I can imagine one of those mothers seeing a classmate bring her baby to class and thinking..."hey, my kids can be quiet, too. Why can't I bring them to class?"

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.
Problem here all....recent member of class had a baby. Now, so far our school has been VERY strict about pretty much everything. Now, I understand that this student is a single mother, on assistance and struggling (well, who isn't nowadays). But anyways she was recently told by our instructor that she can bring her baby to class with her so she doesn't have to miss time. We have class one night a week and we ALWAYS have a test that night because the rest of the week we are in clinical. A lot of the students are complaining that it is distracting, granted she is pretty quiet for the most part but she gets passed around from person to person to be held for the 5 hours we are there and it IS distracting! Plus there are people in class that have had to miss class time because of "children" problems, babysitter couldn't come or whatever....these students feel it is unfair that she was given the choice to BRING her baby to class but others missed time! Something just isn't right about this situation. I don't want to sound like a mean person because I DO want to see her succeed and finish school but at the same time COME ON!!!!!! :angryfire Am I wrong for feeling this way????

Since it isn't that distracting, what's the issue? If she just had the baby, I'm willing to bet this is going to be a temporary arrangement. I imagine those who are holding this baby are doing it because they want to do it. The best solution is to look the other way and get on with your studies. I'm sure there are details you don't know about the situation and the baby will be out of the classroom soon.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
This is where I see the biggest problem, too. There are mothers in my class who have to pay so much money to have their children in daycare while they're in school that they are barely scraping by (and some haven't).

I can imagine one of those mothers seeing a classmate bring her baby to class and thinking..."hey, my kids can be quiet, too. Why can't I bring them to class?"

That's what i'm wondering.

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