The Best & the Worst When Taking a Baby to Work 

The sound of a crying baby echoing through the office might make some people cringe, but to a growing number of employees and employers, the sound resembles the “cha-ching” of increased profits and productivity.

For some women and men, parenthood used to come with tough questions, “Can I afford to return to work? When should my maternity leave end? And, “Who will provide childcare when I return to work?” Then there are a host of other worries about finding quality daycare and determining who will stay home if the baby becomes ill.

Working from home used to be the only way business owners could bond with their children during the work day. Today, growing numbers of entrepreneurs, and corporations seeking to keep their most talented workers, are rewriting the corporate rule book to include bringing children to work every day.

Adjust Expectations

Erin Fry, owner of Fancy Fortune Cookies in Indianapolis, Indiana, has been bringing her daughter, Ella, to work since she was an infant. Fry said, “I loved being able to do that. What’s the point of having your own business if you can’t do that?”

Fry equipped her office with a pack’ n play for Ella. She loved the not having to pump breast milk and the ability to pick Ella up and hold her when she cried, even if that meant completing a business call with a baby nursing in her lap. Fry recommends that working moms invest in a solid office door to spare the office some of the baby noise.

Fry acknowledged there are trade-offs, “So productivity goes down and you have to work longer hours to get your work done—but you also get to spend all day with your child. A big emotional advantage is the joy you get from holding your baby close and snuggling and loving on your child throughout the day, which is good for both of you.”

Expect the Best, Plan for the Worst

Sometimes the best intentions don’t turn out as planned. For Omo Alo, Creative Director at Estilo Moda Bridal in Milton Keynes, South East England, having her newborn at work proved more problematic than she anticipated. As a business owner building clientele for her bridal design house, Alo felt compelled to make herself available to her brides within days of her daughter’s birth in October 2013. She gave birth on a Saturday morning and returned to work the following Thursday morning with her tiny baby in tow.

Although Alo had a part time employee to assist, but she wanted to give her personal attention to one bride with confidence issues. Alo said,  “I decided to take my tiny baby in with me for this important bridal fitting for a very sensitive bride who I had observed had confidence issues and who had started to be really comfortable around me. I was hoping that my daughter would sleep in her little car seat for the hour or so that I would be there. That did not happen.”

Alo’s daughter cried and fussed throughout the session, as employees and the client took turns dancing jigs to soothe her.  The experience made Alo feel both unprofessional and a very low as a mother. She opted to find quality childcare soon after, but she is glad she has the opportunity to bring her daughter to work, should she need to.  As her business grows, Alo said, “I would really love for my company to be one where we would be flexible with working mothers as much as we can within reason due to my own personal experiences.”

Hidden Advantages

Zutano, a Cabot, Vermont based children’s clothing and toy manufacturer, has had a baby-to-work policy for eight years. They recently “graduated” their 20^th baby from the program—impressive for a growing company of 33 employees. Steve Kandrac, the company COO called the program, “a natural evolution of the company’s core value system and growth.” But the well-planned program is perhaps more than one might expect, even from a children’s company.

Zutano’s Bring Your Baby to Work program is available for babies up to 12 months old and is applicable for both adopted and birth children. For safety reasons, some employee’s positions cannot be tailored to accommodate an infant. For those parents who choose to send their baby to childcare, Zutano reimburses a percentage of their approved childcare costs for the same twelve-month period.

Zutano headquarters has been thoughtfully modified to accommodate the babies. They have outfitted a few private offices with cribs, toys and hanging mobiles, and added a comfy changing table to the company bathroom. The photo studio has been renovated with wall-to-wall carpet and soft chairs to create quiet corners and private space for nursing moms or the occasional fussy baby.

Obviously, happy parents with continued commitment to their jobs contribute to Zutano’s success, but the hidden perks for the company include subjects readily available to test the products and baby supermodels for the latest catalog shoot.

Businesses aren’t the only organizations benefiting from babies at work. Governments see the long-term benefits as well. The State of Washington instituted a new “Infants at Work Policy” in August 2015 allowing state employees to bring their babies to work. The program’s goal is to encourage parents to bring their whole selves to work, by encouraging the parent-child bond and enabling mothers who choose to breastfeed to do so more easily.

Keep Tricks up Your Sleeve

When Zaida Khaze, entrepreneur and developer of the Wiggletot™ Diaper Changer, realized that childcare in her area would cost an average of $1000 per month, she changed her career path and started her own business to balance her life as a working mother.

To help the “pros” of working with your baby outweigh the “cons,” Khaze offers this advice to women venturing into the work-baby arena:

• Keep a to-do list to track the day’s accomplishments. She recommends the Remember the Milk App because whatever you don’t finish automatically moves to your list for the following day.
• Use baby’s napping and sleeping time to keep up with website, social media, marketing, pitching the press, and fulfilling orders.
• Purchase and attach two sets of outside Play Yards for use inside to create a baby-safe play area.
• Keep baby busy by alternating activities every 15 minutes or so. Khaze moves her baby between Baby Bouncer, Jumper, Kick ‘n Play Piano Mat, and Bassinet.
• Set routines. Khaze used the book “Baby Wise” to get her daughter napping for 1.5 to 2 hours every day at the same time and to bed for the evening by 8pm. A set schedule makes it easier to plan time for telephone calls or meetings.