A furious mum is hoping police will press charges against a daycare worker who breastfed her three-month-old son without permission.
Kaycee Oxendine, from Carrboro, North Carolina, works at the daycare centre as a pre-kindergarten teacher. She says that when her son's carer told her that he was suffering from constipation, another worker jumped in and offered to breastfeed him to help treat it.
"She said that she had a son and did I want her to put my child to her breast and breastfeed? And I said no, that's nasty. We don't do things like that," Oxendine told ABC11.
In fact, Oxendine says she twice told the woman she didn't want her to breastfeed her son.
Nevertheless, surveillance footage shows that when Oxendine left the room, the worker adjusted her top and brought Oxendine's baby to her breast. The worker stoped breastfeeding when another worker who was in the room stood up to leave.
Oxendine later rushed her son, who was born prematurely, to hospital because he was vomiting. She says that he is lactose intolerant and can't tolerate any milk products. She suspects that the worker's breast milk made him sick.
Although the worker has already been fired, Oxendine wants her to be charged with child abuse.
"To me, a criminal act was committed against him," she said.
"Not only did you put your breast to my son, you also made my son sick because he's lactose intolerant. So you've put something in his body that his body can't digest."
The daycare director commented that it was a one-off experience, and has informed all of the parents of the children who were cared for by the worker. The incident has also been reported to the local health service.
Oxendine says that her anger is reserved for the worker and not the daycare centre. "He's done everything in his power that he can do so I'm not angry at the director," she said.
"I'm not angry at the childcare centre. I'm very angry at the employee. I do hope that there's justice for my son."
Oxendine says she feels victimised. "As a mum, you've taken something from me, because I wasn't able to defend my child," she said. "I wasn't there."