How did your pets respond to you having a baby?

Question

I have a 14 year old cat and a 7 year old springer spaniel.

My cat is old and just kind of sleeps all day, so I'm not worried about him.

But my dog is very friendly and active, and is used to getting lots of attention.

How will having a baby affect my dog?

I am due in december.

Answer 1

I had massive problems with getting my 3 month old son to sleep.  He would just lie awake and cry for hours, then when he finally went to sleep he would wake every hour or two hours through the night and cry again!  Talk about pulling our hair out .... we were absolutely desperate for sleep!

It was a baby sleep audio program recommended by a friend that finally saved us. We followed the advice and began by creating a baby sleep routine which included bathtime, dimming of the lights, putting Paul into his crib, final nappy change and then lullabies. We also made recommended changes to his naps during the day and used some of the other recommended techniques. Within two weeks he was sleeping through the night most nights with just the odd night where he would just wake once!

Definitely start by creating a good baby sleep routine though and you could find that solves most of your baby sleep problems.

Good luck!

If you want to take a look, the audio program is at http://www.babysleepsolution.com

Answer 2

You wont know until you have the baby.  My dogs got very motherly with both my kids when they were born.  Most dogs know that the baby belongs to "their" mommy too LOL

Answer 3

I have three dogs. One is a pomeranian, another is a mutt, and the last is a jack russell/rat terrier mix. My dogs did so well with my newborn. The pomeranian just likes to l**k the babys ears or forehead. The jack russell/rat terrier mix likes to sit in the babies bouncer, and the mutt leaves the baby alone. We try to include the dogs so they do not feel left out and everything is working so well. My jack russell/rat terrier mix is very hyper so he runs close to the baby sometimes but he has never touched him.  

Answer 4

My dog did not have a problem with my baby.  You do need to be careful when you leave the two together - dogs can get excited and accidentally hurt the baby by scratching them and such.  

Answer 5

Is your dog obedient? Now would be a good time to get him lessons if need be, or even just to refresh his memory about who's in charge!

Bring something home from the hospital of the baby's before the baby comes home, and when he/she does have teh dog greet him/her outside of the house...

Be sure to include the dog in as much as possible, but it is very hard and you are going to be very protective of your little one!!! Try not to keep them seperated, this is only going to make the dog more curious and try to get at your little one even more...if you don't make it a big deal, then it won't be....we have 2 cats and 2 big dogs and all is well!!

good luck and congrats!

Answer 6

When I brought my daughter home from the hospital my cat at the time (a Russian Blue, they tend to go psyho) she actually sprayed the baby. Needless to say, kitty go by by... :-)

Answer 7

My Pug was pretty jealous of the new baby when our oldest was born, he was 2 at that time.  He was an angel around the baby but he decided that he was going to go potty in the new nursery to let us know he didn't fully approve just yet.  

It didn't last too long though (we made sure he didn't have access).  

Other than that, he did fine.  Our cats weren't phased at all.

Now w/ baby number 2, there's been no change what-so-ever other than he chooses to sleep on the floor instead of in bed with us (even when the baby isn't in our bed).

Answer 8

my pets loved my son wen he was born and had no problems

Answer 9

some pets like dogs like to hurt or scratch the baby. i would be careful and watch out to see what happens.

Answer 10

my dog princess is at my side 24/7 she knew I was pregnant b4 I did, after having the  baby we just introduced her to him and she's been fine...I think at first she was abit depressed that she wasn't getting all the attention but now she's fine..she just hangs out with me and the baby instead of jsut me.

Answer 11

I don't have a dog but my parents do.  They have a part Great Dane, part Lab mix.  They also have a pit bull mutt.  Both dogs are big, strong and rowdy.  But, around the baby, they are very gentle.  They like to smell her and they licked her feet once, but they are not bad.  

It's funny, but my parents got both dogs after I had moved out.  But the dogs seemed to know that I was part of the family.  I guess we have a similar smell.  It's the same way with the baby.  But my fiance, who lives with me and you would think smell similar to me, got growled at like a stranger.  Now they are better with him, but still standoffish.

I have a cat.  He is very finicky and only likes me.  He is very pushy and would get up on my lap and insist on being pet.  He gets in my face while I'm sleeping and pushes his head against my chin, licks my chin and meows in my face to get me to pet him.  Pretty annoying.  And no one else in the house can even pet him.  He will bite them and run away.  Needless to say, I was worried about my baby.  I'm breastfeeding, so she will be in my lap a lot.  

Since I had to stay in the hospital for 9 days, my cat missed me a lot, but let other people in the house pet him more than usual.  When I got back, he was very curious but very cautious.  Now, he is better.  Just a little interested.  He's only tried to get on my lap with the baby a couple of times. She's only 4 weeks now, so I'm sure things will change when she can move around and grab handfuls of fur.

We also keep him out of the nursery so he doesn't think he can cozy up in the crib.

Answer 12

i have 4 children, and 4 dogs.

2 of my kids were around before these dogs were part of our family, 2 children were born long after these dogs were part of our family.

my older kids were also around 4 and 6 yrs old before my dogs came to live w/us so my older 2 dogs had no idea what a baby was like until recently!

my kids and the first 2 dogs we got, got along great! they were fast buddies.

later when i had my last 2 kids, my dogs seemed to know changes were happening. they sulked around the house before my last child, but had no real "clue" w/my 3rd.

we made sure to let them sniff around the baby's things and we played sounds off youtube of babies crying, laughing, making cooing noises and things every single day to get them used to the noises they would hear.

we made it very clear they were not allowed in ANY bedroom of the house, but set up places for them in other areas where they could get away.

when my little ones started crawling i would watch like a HAWK!

a baby is a strange thing for a dog to get used to, especially if they have never been around them before. DO NOT EVER leave the dog unattened w/your child.

I have very tolerant dogs, but an ear pulled too hard will trigger a flight or fight instinct in the most well behaved animal.

it's important to teach your kids from the very begining to respect any animals space.

young babies are facinated by dogs and cats, so dont be surprised if you are busy chasing your baby all day while he goes after your dog or cat. you might need to consider obedience classes for you dog, not just for control of your dog, but for bonding time one on one. they can get a bit jealous.

we as a family walk our dogs every evening after dinner. this strengthens our "pack" and allows us to do a fun activity while including the dogs (plus is helping me w/the baby weight).

invest in baby gates!! keep your baby away from the dogs food dishes once he/she is crawling. just common sense stuff.

you might notice your dog acting a bit nervous or just "shy" hiding in a room somewhere. it can be confusing for him. so take some time out of the day to spend one on one w/your dog.

i dont think the cat will be too big of a problem. more curious than anything. DO keep the cat OUT of the baby's room though. they love to snuggle w/baby (not saying he's get smothered) but cats can carry ring worm, and they use their feet to scratch out a palce to use the rest room, and he can bring those germs into a clean enviroment.

i still have to watch my kids w/my dogs. my dogs would die for my children, and have put themselves infront of danger for them before (burglar, rattle snake, vicious dog in the neighborhood), but i know better than to let them babysit my kids.

have patience and understand that this is a big change for both you AND your pets.  

Answer 13

My when son was born I had a 14 year old dog and a 1 year old puppy. The dog sniffed him when we brought him home and then pretty much ignored him.

The puppy sniffed him and fell in love! They cuddle and play together! They are best friends. It's really sweet too, because you can see how gentle the puppy is when they're playing together. And the puppy gets all worried whenever the baby cries.

One way to get pets used to a baby is to get a doll and start carrying that around the house. That way they'll be used to seeing you holding something like that all the time. You can also get a tape of a baby crying and play it. And if you can, have someone bring home a blanket from the the hospital that your baby has been wrapped in. That way they know the scent when you bring the baby home.