For those who have pets.

[patience]

For those of you who have pets did anyone have any concerns or problems introducing the little one to them? Is it more of an issue if you have a pet first and then a baby or vice versa?

[Seema]

Hi.

Hey i have small puuppy, Though i have not found any kind  of trouble from the puppy towards my kid. However i ensure, that the child shoud not spend more than 5-10 mins at at stretch and 1/2 hour in a day.

Though some people, leave there pets one new member come in the family. But in my view in case proper precaution is taken there is no harm in keeping pets.

[121]

hey Animal Lover.

Please Dont Mind, but in my view the new born should be kept away from the animals.

...................................

[nhockaday]

I have a cat and a dog. My dog was about a year old and my cat was 2 when Gabriel was born.
Babies love animals. They will get a kick out of watching animals play and roll around. Gabriel loves them both, and he always has.

Most doctors and specialists will tell you to introduce the baby slowly. They say to give a dog the baby's hat or blanket from the hospital when you get home. It will introduce the dog to your baby's smell. Just remember that you always need to keep a close eye on your baby whenever there are animals around, even if they are very good with the baby. You never know what can happen.

My dog was very curious and wanted to kiss and lick Gabriel all over. She has always been very good with him. She loves to kiss him (which is gross, but he gets a kick out of it). The only problem is that she is a big dog, and sometimes she knocks him over or bumps into him when she is playing with the cat.

The cat loves the extra attention from the baby. He even lets Gabriel pull his tail and whiskers. Gabriel also loves to snuggle his soft fur.

The good thing about having pets when you have a baby is that they will grow up together. They will be good friends. Plus, you can teach your child responsibility. You can teach them how to feed and brush and take care of the animals. The bad thing is the hair! I vacuum nearly every day now that Gabriel is crawling.

[kmum]

We have pets too.  We also let our pets smell the baby's blanket or clothes & then carefully introduced them & let them sniff the baby. 

It is also a good idea to be sure to praise the pet when they are behaving.  I've seen people constantly tell the pet "No" every time they go near the baby & have the pet begin to resent the child. 

We were also careful for a long time after the baby started crawling to make sure our pets were okay with that.

I agree with nhockaday that pets can teach our kids a lot of responsibility, while helping you take care of the pet or even watching you model proper care.  A pet can also be a great friend for a child to confide in when they are upset.

[Nikolett]

I kept my kids away from furry pets till 1 y.o. (few min. is Ok) to keep them from developing an allergy. Now we have a dog, two cats, a rabbit and just got two hamsters for Christmas. The kids love them all and learned to be gentle and help care for them. The youngest one is not allowed to pick up the rabbit or hamsters as I don't want accidents and animals hurt.

[sb1201]

I think pets are great for kids so long as there is no allergy or safety issue.

We have a min Pin that is only about 5 lbs and he is perfect for the kids. They are gentle enough with him and he loves to snuggle. He stays away from Jacob by his own will because he is to ruff for his liking.

We once found some kittens and after a few hours of play my son came to me and the entire one side of his face was all swollen. So we had to find a home for the kitties.

We also tried having a lab, she was so sweet and loving but very playful. Because of her size the kids were afraid to play with her. So we found her a new home also, I didn't think it was fair to the dog.

So in my opinion, if everyone is happy and healthy there is no reason not to let your kids have pets.

[TABS]

Hi there,

My experience with pets is quite interesting.  We got a puppy when our son was about two - it turned out to be a real cheeky little thing and after six months we gave it away.  However, my son loved it!!!  I took lots of photo's and still have them stuck up in his room.  We were then given four tortoises of which got lost...  he would take them out to play and expect to find them in the same place!!!  Just two weeks ago one of them was found and he has a pet again!!  I do think though that the advise I got from another mom was quite good.  She said to try to delay the whole pet thing until they understand how to look after and care for them.  With her kids she only let them have a pet a 10 years old!  But she said she never had to remind them about feeding or cleaning the cage - they were just so pleased to finally have what they always wanted -  which was her whole point - kids need to appreciate and be able to care for their pets.

TABS

[THen]

We have a dog and a cat.   We got the dog from someone a couple of months before I knew I was expecting a baby.  I was concerned, too.  Have you ever heard of the Dog Whisperer?  He has a TV show or something.  I found the DVDs at the library and he had an episode where a couple wanted to introduce the baby to the dogs (who had been there first) to respect the baby.  He taught the people to let the dogs sniff things that belong to the baby, but to teach them not to touch/play with the baby's things.  They then introduced the baby to the dogs by taking a stroller and walking the dogs, always making sure the dogs were behind the stroller (I guess to dogs, the one who is in front is in charge).  The dogs were taught to keep a respectful distance unless aproached by the baby. 

I just did a quick search trying to find the episode, but found this instead - http://www.wikifido.com/page/Cesar's+Way:+Bringing+Home+Baby?t=anon

Our dog is mostly an outside dog, so we haven't done much of this training.  We do teach our dog to keep a respectful distance, but we never leave the baby with the dog without supervision. 

The boys love the dog and cat and are learning to be responsible in their care for them.  And Dad just loves having cats around (we're actually both allergic to animals, so they are usually outside).   

[Malma]

At the moment we have three sausage dog girls. They were here long before we brought the baby home and the reaction from each dog was quite different.  One loved her from day one. She licks her to death which is quite gross as nhockaday says, but both cant get enough of it!! One is still weary of her and moves away. The other one is such a gentle old lady she lets Sive do anything with her.  Have attached a picture of the 4 of them looking for food from "dad". 

She is always supervised with the dogs and is not allowed near them when they eat.  What she does love though is the dog's water bowl!!!

Ever since my first child was 5 years old, we have always had dogs and cats in our home. (Sometimes some other furry things too!!).   

[paolita]

I love animals specially dogs, there are three dogs in my parents house,Marcia likes them because she has always seen them but the oldest dog is jelous about her maybe because I cant get her close to me as I just to do it before Marcia was born.You can love animals but remember animals have always a wild instinct and you have to prevent any accident could happen

[jayb]

Our dog was 7.5 years old when we bought our little one home. Before teh new baby, the dog was our baby, We tried to keep things as normal as possible for our dog so as not to make him feel left out. Our little one is now 7 months old, and our dog sits in the bedroom doorway during the day and is quite happy to be around the little one.  Whenever the bub sees the dog he gives a big smile and always wants to touch him.  The only problem we have is that the dog likes getting his bottom rubbed, but little hands seem to want to go to the smelly section of the dog.  We also let the dog sniff the bub often, and if I'm going to bath the baby, I'll let the dog lick him gently on the legs or arms.  In saying all this, even though the 2 seem like good friends, I would still never leave them alone together.

[PokerDad]

I got a new puppy , but I have no idea how much puppy food should I get and is canned food a good choice or should I get hard puppy food and soke it?  Some advice would be appreciated....

Thanks!!

With our puppy, we started off using the same stuff the breeder was using. However, had the breeder been using something I didn't like or thought was impractical, I would have switched the food sooner than later. I personally would not opt for canned or wet food. I suppose there's benefits to this kind, especially with a larger breed perhaps, but I would stick to Eukanuba or similar dried. The dry food is far better for their teeth IMO. I would not soak the food unless the puppy has absolutely no teeth, and in that case, it should still be feeding off mom.

As for general pet questions, don't know yet, but my guess is that at first our dog will be obsessed with the new baby, and then at some point will stay away from baby (when baby goes toddler) and then eventually they'll both get along just fine. Little kids are often very rough with pets, and some larger breeds of dog are often rough with little kids! Luckily, our dog is about 10 pounds and smart enough to stay away from rough people... or angry adults when the dog does a no-no. :-)

[nellie]

I have a one year old cat when I have my baby. Used to have 2 but one ran away which made her very sad. She was a kitten when I adopted her from the street. She's a good well-behaved healthy cat. I let go my job so I used to stay with her 24-7 during my pregnancy. When the baby comes she did show her rebel to me, chewing my clothes (not my husband's) and poo under the couch (my husband washed it). For 1month!! I continued ignoring because I cant touch her during my confinement and I was breastfeeding and all. I can see her very sad and lonely. Whenever my baby asleep I would be with her for awhile but not too much because she'll be needy and crave more attention when the baby's around. She's always comes first before but when baby's around I have to put the baby first. I feel so bad sometimes I'd cry. I would always consider her my first daughter and my baby is the second ones. We call her 'big sister' at home that my girl when she was 12mo did confused and confessed that she is a cat. I corrected her, she is a girl but then she said, "no, I am a cat"    Now it's almost 3years both are getting along very well. My girl still breastfeed and would lay her head on my chest next to her big sister who's also on my chest. They have no problem sharing. Though, sometimes, my girl will get this allergy on her face if she 'kissed' her sister too hard. She has eczema (I have eczema) but it's getting a lot less than when she was a baby.

[udk6dodger]

Very interesting topic. Informative and great stuff I have read under this thread. Thanks a lot guys for useful discussion.

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