Employee brings her crying baby to the office, coworker tells HR, and immediately regrets it: 'What if she isn't supposed to have the baby with her? Did I just tell on her? Should I have tried to resolve this myself?'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jun 18, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

It's unfortunate that the United States has such limited maternity leave policies compared to other similarly developed nations. Mothers are forced to go back to work less than 2 months after their babies are born because they can't afford to take more than 6 weeks off from work. That being said, an office is not a daycare. Offices are professional spaces where productivity is the top priority. 

Unless your job consists of sending two emails every day, there's no way you can properly supervise a kid and get your work done at the same time. You will always prioritize one of these things over the other, to the detriment of the other. Of course, some bosses are okay with their employees keeping their babies in a car seat underneath their desks as long as they don't disrupt the rest of the office, but that disruption is bound to happen sooner or later.

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  • 01

    AITA for reporting a crying baby to HR?

    I am second guessing my decision to report to HR. There is a person in my building who brings their infant to work with her, and it cries and screams and fusses, as babies do. She does not close her office door but leaves it open like an echo chamber resounding through the halls. It is
    via u/No-Ad6500

  • The mom in this story is causing a significant disturbance in the office. She brings her baby into her office, keeps her office door open, and doesn't close it when the baby cries. One of her frustrated colleagues reported this to HR, but felt a great deal of guilt about doing so.

  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10518568960
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 03
    incredibly difficult to focus on anything at all with a crying baby in your ear. Closing my door helps a bit, but we have a culture of leaving doors open to signal that you're available for an impromptu meeting. I leave mine open about half of the time. I decided today that something's gotta give. I do not know her and
    via u/No-Ad6500
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    Cheezburger Image 10518573568
    via Wesley Tingey (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 05
    we do not work for the same department. I work in an office with a lot of touchy personalities and egos, and I was not confident that I could simply ask her to close her door, without setting off WWIII, either with her individually, or between our co- located departments. Instead I sent a very nicely worded email to HR asking if someone can send
    via u/No-Ad6500
  • 06
    her an anonymous request to please kindly keep her door closed while she has her baby with her. I assumed the woman has some kind of "Reasonable Accommodation" for having the baby at work, but now I'm second guessing myself. What if she doesn't, and isn't supposed to have the baby with her? Did I just "tell" on her? I am feeling quite
    via u/No-Ad6500
  • 07
    sheepish about it at the moment. Should I have tried to resolve this myself? HR has already responded with an emphatic "good job in bringing this to HR, as this is an HR issue, and not something to handle yourself," but I still feel like maybe I'm the AH here.
    via u/No-Ad6500
  • 08
    Cheezburger Image 10518574336
    via LinkedIn Sales Solutions

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 09
    Aggressive_Desk_4335 NTA. You didn't march in there and say, "Get that baby out of here." You didn't slam her door shut mid-wail. You didn't CC her boss or post on Slack like “Hey, whose baby is this??" You went through the exact channel you're supposed to. HR even gave you a gold star and said "Yes, this is our thing." That's not tattling. That's... procedure. That's literally what they're paid to handle.
    via u/Aggressive_Desk_4335
  • 10
    TaziraNook You have said it all, when the baby is crying is hard too focus, she did the right thing by reporting it to HR .. NTA
    via u/TaziraNook
  • 11
    YourWorstNightmar3e exactly, like why the baby dad's didnt do anything about it
    via u/YourWorstNightmar3e
  • 12
    abcdef_U2 Without knowing that baby's situation, or what this woman is going through. You can't be blaming the daddy or anyone else. Who to say something extreme happened to this family and she is just trying to get it all figured out and doesn't have the resources to get childcare. There is definitely a problem with the dads not being there, but not every situation is associated with deadbeat dads.
    via u/abcdef_U2
  • 13
    Ordinary_Struggle564 It's a business! If you have a personal problem, deal with it outside of work.
    via u/Ordinary_Struggle564
  • 14
    joseph_wolfstar Agreed. Hijacking to add that if op or anyone else with this door culture wants to still show they're open to people approaching but enjoy the noise blocking of the door, they could try a double sided sign hung on the door.
    via u/joseph_wolfstar
  • 15
    Side A (green): feel free to knock and come in to ask stuff, I just have the door shut for noise blocking Side B (red): focus time, please wait or slack/email for non urgent stuff
    via u/joseph_wolfstar
  • 16
    smcurtis09 A lot of people at my work have little spinning signs with things like "welcome come on in" or "working remote" or "out of office" things like that so they just set it to whatever is applicable, especially since they've updated a lot of those offices with doors you have to badge into so they don't leave them open anymore
    via u/smcurtis09
  • 17
    Darling Whimsy It's understandable to feel conflicted but you're not responsible for managing someone else's situation
    via u/Darling_Whimsy
  • 18
    Gilded_Giggles It's a workplace not a daycare
    via u/Gilded_Giggles
  • 19
    Au ticTumourGirl Right? Like.... Reasonable accommodation? A baby isn't a di ; it's a life choice she made and now she needs to handle the reality of being a working mother appropriately.
    via u/AuticTumourGirl
  • 20
    tuxedovic Not a life choice but America is cruel to patents. Mom and baby should be home on paid parental leave like all other countries.
    via u/tuxedovic
  • 21
    Adorable_Tease It's not your fault if she's not following office policies
    via u/Adorable_Tease
  • 22
    Starfoxy If she was bringing the baby to work on the down low, you'd think she'd be a bit more proactive about making sure it wasn't drawing attention (ie shutting her office door).
    via u/Starfoxy
  • 23
    Fun_Organization3857 It's probably with consent of her boss and not hr. Or she is a boss.
    via u/Fun_Organization3857
  • 24
    bill-schick Or she is simply clueless.
    via u/bill-schick
  • 25
    Fun_Organization3857 There are so many people who have 0 social awareness
    via u/Fun_Organization3857

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