Babies in the Workplace

deserving of love; and they learn that the world is a kind and welcoming place.

Although parents in the workplace may be highly responsive to their babies primarily to keep their coworkers happy, this sort of care directly leads to well-adjusted and happy children, and thus happier and healthier families. (For a more thorough analysis of these ideas, please see the Why It Works section.)

Socialized and Happier Babies

Many people in these companies commented that the babies who came to work grew to be unusually social and independent. This held true as the babies grew into toddlers and preschoolers. Research has shown that babies who develop a secure bond with parents grow to have higher self-esteem, be better adjusted, and be more independent than

babies who do not develop a trusting relationship with their caregivers. It makes sense that these work babies, who weren't away from both parents for 8-10 hours a day in those first crucial months, developed secure bonds. In addition, since they were surrounded by many people all day and had lots of adults interacting with them on a regular basis, these children became comfortable around other people and learned social skills as naturally (and sometimes at the same time) as learning to walk.

   Babies are designed to learn social cues from a very early age, and being around many people on a regular basis gives babies plenty of opportunities to do this. Susan Matthews of Borshoff explained that she felt like

   It is a great environment for babies. They
   are comfortable with people as a result.