Opponents of bringing babies to work cite distractions and decreased productivity

There’s no question where babies come from. But there are plenty of questions about where they belong.

In a bar?
With a nanny?
Starting a new life with someone else?

Your recent comments here on other posts show there’s lots of spirited debate about responsibility when it comes to how and where we care for our kids.

So, do babies belong at the office every day?

Yes, say employers at more than 80 companies across the U.S., where parents are allowed and encouraged to bring their babies to work on a daily basis--keeping, feeding, and caring for them right at their desks.

Bosses who back the controversial new trend say it helps them retain vital employees who might otherwise not return after the birth of a baby.

After four employees at an Austin advertising firm got pregnant at the same time, the company’s president feared they wouldn’t come back. So she turned the workplace into nirvana for new parents. Baby mamas—and daddies--are offered private offices in which to work while tending fulltime to their infants, who are welcome to clock in every day until about nine months, when they usually start crawling. Babies regularly attend meetings and are frequently fed on the conference table.

The company says having babies on board is good for morale.

Not so for everyone, critics counter. They say babies at the office bring increased distraction and decreased productivity for both co-workers and parents, who can’t possibly focus fully on the job. And those without children, a job recruiter notes, “often come to resent the perception of coddled working parents.”

Tell us what you think: They say it takes a village to raise a child, but should it take an office, too? Do babies and work make a responsible mix?