Government agencies in Washington state allow new parents to bring babies to work

WASHINGTON (WABC) -- "Bring Your Child To Work Day" has taken on a whole new meaning as a growing number of companies are allowing parents to bring their babies to the office.

Two Washington state agencies are offering this perk to new parents and their children. The perfect candidates are employees with babies from 6 weeks to 6 months old.

"It was really exciting to know that I wasn't going to have to be bringing her to daycare after eight weeks of being on maternity leave," first-time mom Erica Stineman said of her 4-month-old daughter, Lydia.

Stineman brings Lydia to work three days a week.

"Having this extra time with her has just meant the world to me," Stineman said.

State officials say both parent and baby win, saying "research proves that allowing a parent and infant to remain together in the earliest stage of life supports critical bonding, healthy infant brain development and parental wellbeing."

And so far, coworkers say baby Lydia is the perfect colleague.

"In a lot of ways it's helped productivity," employee Chris Madill said. "Morale is high, and it's been a good thing for our office."

Also making headlines and creating a buzz among parents, major companies like Virgin Airlines, Netflix, Microsoft and Adobe are announcing longer maternity and paternity leaves.

"In the policy we do say if baby is having a really bad day or very fussy or gets sick, mom takes baby home," Shelly Baldwin, Stineman's co-worker, said. "We haven't had to do that yet."

The only catch here: when babies start to crawl, they need not apply.