Babies of Working Moms Get Just as Much Cuddle Time

by Bethany Sanders (Subscribe to Bethany Sanders's posts) 

Cuddle time is a big part of a baby's day. Photo:ScaleOvenStove, Flickr

Babies of working moms get just as much cuddle time as babies of stay-at-home moms, says a new report out of Australia. Researchers followed parents of 3,000 babies between the ages of three months and 14 months to find out how they spent their time.

While working moms spend less time with their babies -- about 83 minutes less a day than their stay-home counterparts -- their babies often spend those minutes with their dad or grandparents instead. Babies of both groups of moms spent 138 minutes a day being cuddled, and also enjoyed equal amounts of time being read to and talked to as well. 

Interestingly, while having a working mother doesn't have a significant effect on how much attention babies get, breastfeeding does. Babies who nursed spent an extra hour a day with mom, and received an extra half hour of cuddling, holding and talking -- probably while nursing. Then again, breastfed babies also slept about 40 minutes less a day, so that time may have taken place in the middle of the night when moms -- working or not -- would rather be sleeping.This study -- finally -- appears to settle at least one part of the mommy wars. Working moms devote as much time as possible to their babies, and when they can't be there, that other loving parent no one seems to write guilt-inducing studies about -- dad -- steps in. And if he can't, the grandparents are there.