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I’ve been keeping tabs on a new trend deemed to make the lives of working parents easier: some companies are providing parents the ability and opportunity to bring their babies to work. According to USA Today,
More than 80 companies across the nation allow babies in the workplace, according to Parenting in the Workplace Institute in Framingham, Mass., which says that number is likely to be low.
I know our country is seriously lacking in the flexible and affordable child care department, but I’m not sure bringing your baby to work is the answer to our needs.
There are some serious pros to the argument, as a study reported byTime suggests.
But even naysayers may be surprised by the results of research conducted by Mary Secret, a social-work professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her 2005 analysis of 55 businesses with baby-friendly policies found that people often anticipate disaster but there is rarely a negative effect on co-workers or productivity. What’s more, she learned that having babies around can boost morale among colleagues.
Having a baby around may make people feel all warm in fuzzy inside, but does warm and fuzzy really get the work done?
I for one, could have never brought my baby to my old job. First of all, the Pack & Play could have never fit in my old office and bottles in the community refrigerator would have gotten in the way with all the food for client meetings. Puffs scattered about my desk and a Gymini mat in the hallway would be a walking hazard to anyone headed to the bathroom. Plus, I can’t imagine how I would have been able to have a coherent conversation with a client with screaming wails of a newborn in the background. Admittedly, experts do say that some careers are not conducive to this type of child care arrangement. (Can you imagine having a surgical procedure done by a doctor with a baby in a Bjorn swinging from her chest?) Robyn, of Silicon Valley Moms Blog, remembers the “rare days I brought my child to work… the day was HELL for me.”
However, those who are advocates say the ability to bring their babies to work “deepen their loyalty to their companies.” I do know of situations where this would work really well - with moms who work with other moms out of their homes. I have plenty of friends who are all business partners together and let their kids play together while they hash out new business ideas. On the other hand, I also read about another mom who works at home and who’s child care consists of sticking her daughter in front of the TV for hours on end. In that case, maybe putting the kid in a conference room for an hour with a pile of styrofoam peanuts and an administrative assistant wouldn’t be half bad.
For me, though, if I was with my son all day at work, not only would my coworkers be distracted, but so would I. That was the point of me going into the office to work. I’d get to do my thing in my space while my son does his. I’d be much happier leaving him with a trusted child-care provider in a space he is comfortable as I head to work bottle and baby-free. So I ask you all now, would you be happier if you could bring your kid to work?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 2:42 pm and is filed under raising baby, caregiving. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Tags: bringing babies to work, child care, working moms
April 1st, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Thanks for the mention.
I appreciate that corporation are trying to find more flexible options for mothers, but I am not convinced that this is the right solution.
Have affordable onsite child care, allow new mothers to work from home, arrange for an in-home nanny. All of those would be better options.
Dare I say that allowing mothers to bring their infants to work is a cheap way to deal with the issue. Afterall, the corporation gets to look good in terms of being family friendly all while paying absolutely zero for the care of the infant - and they probably get a motivated, loyal employee to boot. It may be all in the vein of flexibility but I don’t think this is really what mothers want. At least, none of the mothers I know.
But again, maybe I’m just not in the right industry.
April 1st, 2008 at 8:58 pm
[…] around this week not hob-nobbing with mommy bloggers extraordinaire, you might find time to read my new post up at Work It! Mom or something. If not, I’m sure we’ll all have something to talk about when this week […]
April 1st, 2008 at 9:02 pm
When I was pregnant I had two other coworkers pregnant. One with twins! I kept teasing my boss to just turn our extra office into a nursery, we’d pool our money for a nanny, and we’d all be back to work in a jiffy.
I agree that most jobs aren’t made for toting baby along. And I seriously can’t imagine running a meeting with a baby attached to me.
That said, I do envision my daughter spending plenty of summers coloring in my office and perfecting her alphabetizing with my files.
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:41 pm
hi. this is interesting as i have to deal with it at my job on occasion. we don’t have any “policy” about children in the workplace..i wish we did!
i have personally never experienced a co-worker bringing their child who is over 8 yrs. the only kids co-workers bring in are young.
when they come in- NO work is done. everyone else comes to chat loudly and poke at the kid. the mom/dad spends all the time either talking to other people stopping in to say hi or telling the child to be quiet.
i’m all for on-site daycare that those workers with children could pay for. i would not be happy paying for it though. I don’t think people without children should have to.
this goes into another subject i’ve thought a lot about-time-off for baby. i get more work piled on me, the mom either never comes back or does it “part-time” even if physically at work all day they’re always on the phone. they’re crisis become everyone elses too.
very frustrating for those of us who choose not to have children and want to work in a peaceful place. we get dogged on many moms/dads. so bizarre
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Very valid points, but I’d like to take a few steps back. Consider how the work would pile up if parents couldn’t use their sick days for when the kids is sick. It happens in many work places.
And I understand the work piling up when someone doesn’t come back from maternity leave. A very good friend did that to me and you know what? I still love her. I understood that she wanted to come back, but once that baby got here, she was just slower to adjust than the law gives you. I remember talking to her at the start of month two of her leave and she was saying, “I can’t even figure out how to shower every day! How am I supposed to go back to work?” She’s now a wonderful SAHM who I know will return to the workforce once the kids are in school.
This is why I work so hard on trying to get all workplaces to be life friendly. Not family friendly, but life friendly. Want to leave early for yoga? Go for it. Want to come in late to drop off the dog? Need a mental day at the beach so you don’t bite everyone’s head off? Please take it!
As much as I hate the mommy wars, I soooo hate the breeders vs non-breeders war. I could go on and on but I won’t.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:06 am
[…] Work It Mom asks:
April 4th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
We allow babies in the office where I work, but we are a small company without many office visitors and a very family-like culture. I had my daughter here with me from 6 weeks to 5 months (at which point she entered daycare) and it was fantastic. I was able to breast feed, bond with my daughter, and get work done. I don’t know if this could work everywhere, but it works here because of our family like culture. In one meeting, where I was presenting, our CEO listened while holding and rocking my daughter.
It can work and has worked, but as mentioned by others above it isn’t a one-sized fits all solution. It will always, in my opinion, depend on the corporation and the business conducted. Once my daughter was more active, I identified that is was time for her to start daycare. I don’t think older, active children would work in an office on a daily basis without some sort of on-site childcare.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
When my son was still an in-the-arms baby, I had to bring him to work a number of times because of daycare conflicts. My employer is wonderful, and there was no problem. I got plenty of work done, and my coworkers were not put out in any way. Now that he’s older, it’s harder. He’s 2.5 and wants to roam around and talk loudly- it just doesn’t work. Now, when there’s a daycare conflict I just work from home.
April 8th, 2008 at 11:01 am
My situation, at the time, was slightly different. The company wasn’t large enough to have an on-site facility, but they let me bring my son to work with me every day for the first year. We set up an area in my office with his bassinet, swing, etc., and although it sometimes made 100% productivity a challenge, it was a great opportunity. Now five years later, I still work for the same company, but now work from … so I guess you could say my eight-week-old daughter comes to work with me now too. Instead of a coffee break, I get a baby break.
April 12th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
I’m with you that I would find it hard to get work done with my baby in my office. And completely agree with Robyn that there’s got to be more reasonable and affordable options for moms that allow her to more easily continue to work after baby comes along.