Things You Need to Know

Business Etiquette

Baby on Board

October 23, 2006

Women rejoining the workforce after a child has been born must feel that life is just not fair. I suspect they experience the same frustration we all feel by the increasing demands that our professions place upon us. New mothers, however, bear the added burden of knowing that there is a little life at home or at the sitter’s, who wants and needs the mother’s time, too.

One solution for some mothers may be to tote their children along on business travel. In today’s less than friendly skies, all travelers should ascribe to certain rules of business etiquette. I think we can agree, for example, that it’s bad form for an individual traveler to spread office papers across several seats on a crowded train.

So what are the special rules of etiquette that a traveling mother should follow? Audrey Walden, a flight attendant and mother, provides a series of recommendations in “Fly Baby,” Travel Girl (September/October 2006, pp. 87-89). Each of her suggestions, from diaper disposal etiquette to apology cards that can be given to in-flight neighbors, paves the way to ensuring that any baby will be welcomed on board. If you can’t find the magazine, visit the web site, www.travelgirlonline.com .