Babies in the Workplace

Companies with structured baby programs make clear that the babies cannot be disruptive to the work environment. The result of this provision is that parents become highly responsive to their babies' needs, responding quickly to the first sound of distress. This sort of care is actually ideal for babies' development of trust and for healthy emotional and physical development.

Babies only cry when one of their needs is not being met (for food, comfort, security, stimulation, social interaction, etc.). In structured work programs, where babies have their needs met quickly, they tend to cry only minimally (except for rare situations in which a baby has an unresolved problem that is causing pain or discomfort). In some cultures, colic doesn't exist. In those communities, babies are held nonstop, their needs are met immediately, they are around lots of people to interact with and learn from, and they are generally breastfed frequently. These dynamics are often replicated (to varying degrees) in structured babies-at-work programs, explaining much of the "unusual" happiness of babies in the workplace.