Bringing baby to work

I've always known I wanted a big family, and I've always known I didn't want someone else to take care of my baby while I went back to work. This is the reason why a while back, before getting married, I quit my job and set up my own company, Frill Me, which I could run from home. I had it all planned: I would work for my online shop from home while taking care of my children, and the shop would eventually be big enough for my hubby to be able to quit his job as well and stay home with us {or in a small office of our own!}. But then during our wedding, my dad made an amazing speech, in which he asked me to come back home. Five and a half years away from home is a long time, he said. And he asked us both to move back and join the family business in the shoe industry.

We gave it some thought and in November we made up our mind: we were moving to Barcelona. My dad was offering us all we ever wanted: working together for ourselves, with the possibility of bringing our children to the office. No wonder we said yes. I think my idea with Frill Me was a very good one too, but I don't know how long it would have taken for the website to get big enough for the hubby to join the business, so my dad's offer was a godsend.

Liam is 5 months old now, and I started going back to the office part time when he was almost 2 months old. Then when he was 3 months old I finally joined full time, with Liam always next to me. I can't imagine it being any other way. If Liam wasn't able to go to work with me, I would still be on leave. There's seriously no way I'd leave my baby with a babysitter during his first year of life. I don't understand why bringing baby to work seems like such a difficult policy to implement for most companies, specially for those who work in an office. To me it makes perfect sense to bring the baby to work, it allows me to focus on my job knowing my baby is safe right next to me, and it makes the baby feel secure and relaxed knowing I'm right next to him, too. Not only does it make moms happier, it also helps the company's accounts, by avoiding the cost of replacing the employee and being able to retain good employees. I'm not the only one saying this, Forbes says Bringing Babies to Work Is Good Business. 

In today's society, women often find themselves pushing maternity to their late 30s at least, confronted with the reality of having to choose between a career and a family. I think women can have it all. I believe companies should start considering implementing the bringing-baby-to-work policy for the baby's first year of life. When kids turn one year old, they are perfectly able to spend the day in day care, they actually need that extra stimulation and they have fun! But that's not the case for babies under one year old. 

We just decided on Liam's day care starting September and couldn't be more happy about it. We visited the center, and kids have such a great time interacting with the teachers and with each other in all sorts of fun activities. I felt a bit sad for those under a year old, though. They can't really play yet, and I feel like they should be with their mamas. Hopefully companies will start changing their minds about this, although unfortunately I don't think it will be happening any time soon. If you have kids, what did you do with them during their first year of life? I'd love to know.