New Child Care Option: Bring Baby to Work?

Although it obviously doesn't work for everyone, a small but growing number of employers reportedly have found an unusual solution to the problem of losing a valued employee to parenthood. They allow the worker to bring the baby to the office, not just occasionally but on a regular basis.

Babies, of course, need attention, and can be distracting not only to the working parent but to other employees. "And so the practice remains quite rare," reports the Boston Globe. However, Carla Moquin, a Framingham, Mass., legal secretary who runs a consulting business about babies at work, "found about 85 employers across the country with such policies, although she believes there are many more."

Even those who seemingly benefit from this flexible approach can see a downside:

"The kid needs to eat. The kid needs to poop. It's a distraction. You won't be doing as much work as you normally do," says David Yas, a father of two boys who is publisher of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. And, although he himself occasionally works from home, he doesn't get as much done as he does at the office.

"There's a reason why there are day-care centers," Yas says. "There's a reason there are nannies."