Baird continued to act in television and film after moving to Los Angeles in 1991, and became a member and teacher at the Groundlings, a troupe and improvisational theatre school.

She wrote and co-starred with her son Finneas in the 2013 film Life Inside Out, which garnered Baird critical acclaim for her performance.

Baird made her debut television appearance in 1981, playing a supporting role in the American soap opera Another World.

[12][8] After several years in New York City, Baird was cast in a play that took place in Anchorage, Alaska, where she met her future husband, Patrick O'Connell on set.

[13][14] She played Taylor Baldwin on the soap opera As the World Turns in 1987 before making her film debut as Stacy in An Innocent Man in 1989.

[18] Some of her notable acting roles from the 2000s to 2010s are Sharon Pearl in The X-Files in 2000, Sandra Hicks in Bones in 2009, Andrea Kuhn in Six Feet Under in 2005, and the asari Samara from the original Mass Effect trilogy.

Gary Goldstein from Los Angeles Times wrote "A beautiful demonstration of a mother's love concludes this special little film on a hugely touching note.

[24] In 2020, amid the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Baird, with the help of her two children, launched Support + Feed, a nonprofit organization that aims to provide plant-based meals to those suffering from food insecurity.

[30] On December 18, 2001, Baird gave birth to the couple's second child, Billie Eilish O'Connell, in Highland Park, Los Angeles.