Do Babies Belong in the Office?

Wow. Who knew that babies could be so polarizing?

Okay, that's a bit disingenuous -- of course babies and children bring out strong feelings in people. But I was still surprised that my post on Monday about babies in the workplace spurred such an outpouring of feedback.

And most of the feedback fell into the category of "keep your kid out of my office." For example:

I work with an employee who brings her 2 children to the office every afternoon/evening. She may get more work done but the rest of us do not get any work accomplished. - KimberGreen

Working at home is difficult enough with kids around, but babies in an office??? You must be joking. - dfairhurst

What an absolutely dreadful idea. It may be great for the parent who gets the perks, but what about their poor single colleagues who would have to put up with crying smelly babies in the workplace...I know all the parents will cry that they have to work hard to juggle work and family, but it is their lifestyle choice to have kids and not everyone wants to be around them. - jekoz

Having raised my kids and paid my dues (childcare), I looked forward to the peace, quiet and kid-free zone of the workplace. If I wanted to work with babies around I would work in a daycare. - chiliwilli

While I am all for work life balance, this is going a bit too far. Most moms I know can't get work done at home with children around; I can't imagine it's any easier if they are brought to the workplace. - Nag222

I find most people are tolerant of the presence of children in practice, but of course you must make very clear agreements so that they will not harass and distract others...I would challenge those who say it would be a terrible idea as to whether they have any experience of children in the workplace or are they just theorising. - Tim Noyce

What a relief it would be to work for an employer with the flexibility to allow employees to have lives that work for their families...The sterility of the 1950s model of corporate life is as fundamentally bankrupt as the economic system it produced. It is seriously time for change, and this sounds like a humane, harmless low-cost benefit to me. - Ixax

I brought my (ill) daughter to work with me. She slept by my side, came to meetings with me, and I was able to work and keep her happy and comfortable at the same time. I wouldn't do it every day but I'm very grateful my employer gave me the option. And the reaction from my co-workers? Everyone had a much bigger smile on their face that week and one young childless woman told me "I'm so proud to work for a company where people can bring their babies to work." - mmmallory

I worked for the US Senate in Washington, DC and had both of my boys at work with me from 3-6 months...Because I felt that I was getting special treatment to be able to bring my son to work with me, I made sure to do more work than was expected. I never felt that anyone on staff was jealous of me, or that my boss felt I was too distracted to work. - Firefly7071

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(image by Missty via Flickr, CC 2.0)