Kids at Work

[meh_too]

We have a lady returning to work from maternity leave shortly. She will be bringing her infant to work when she returns, because she thinks the baby is too young to go to a childminder - the baby is 3 months old. 

I had no family support when my kids were little and I had to pay (alot) in order for me to work, and I suspect thats what is really going on here - she does not want to pay.

I share an office with this woman and I am very upset about it.  I have no wish to become this child's babysitter.

What do you think about this situation?

[i-need-a-martini]

Usually phones ringing constantly is part of office work. A crying baby isn't.

As I said in my first posts, once everyone gets over the novelty of having a baby in the office, it will become part of the environment in the same way that a ringing phone is. It just becomes part of the background that is your environment.

The baby in our office cried today but was quickly lulled into stopping by mum. Normally I wouldn't even notice as having him there has become 'normal' but I noticed today cause of this thread.

I don't understand why so many assumptions are being made - "baby's nappy will smell", "I'll have to babysit", "baby will be screaming", "mother won't get any work done", "someone will step on baby" - honestly it will just turn into the norm and everyone will just get on with their jobs.