Babies in the Workplace

Babies in the Workplace  38

39  Why it Works

which kept the babies feeling safe, secure, and happy.    These work babies tend to sleep much of each day for the first few months, and when they wake up, their parents and other people are available to meet their needs for food and social contact.  Parents in the workplace take advantage of their babies' long naps to get work done as efficiently as possible. Parents Make it Work    Parents who participate in these baby programs tend to be incredibly grateful to their companies for giving them the chance to have those extra few months of time with their babies before moving to a day care situation.  As a result, these parents tend to feel tremendous loyalty toward their companies, and they work hard to show their gratitude.

This is a huge reason that baby programs at these companies worked so well.  As Carolyn Gable put it, "The parents go out of their way to make it work."  Carolyn said that the parents were ultraconscious of making sure the babies didn't disrupt the work environment. She said that when babies started getting too active, or too fussy, "the parents are the ones that say, 'I need to get a babysitter.' They know when it's not working."    Parents in these programs tend to be very careful to avoid letting their baby's presence disturb coworkers, and they tend to be extremely productive and efficient in getting their work done--primarily to ensure that the company won't see a need to ask them to stop bringing their baby to work.