Coming from pregnancy board...New moms with pets...

I love my dogs more than anything in this world, they are my children. I am worried to see how this will change after my DS is born.

I dont want to leave them out and I dont want them to be jealous..any suggestions..thanks!

Re: Coming from pregnancy board...New moms with pets...

It def does change! My chihuahua was always what I called "The Love of My Life"....well that has without a doubt changed since my precious son has entered my world!! he is now the love of my life and he obviously comes first! My chihuahua is without a doubt jealous and craving attention but it's been hard to give it to her! At least not the way she is accustomed to.

Re: Coming from pregnancy board...New moms with pets...

The biggest thing I can suggest is, when you have a free moment here and there, pay them a little bit of attention. We have a cat that ADORES my DH, but is afraid to come near the baby (I'll take it!). Sometimes while the baby is napping (like right now), he picks Nugget up and lets him sit on his lap while he works. He doesn't get the same amount of attention that he did before, but he has adapted well.

Re: Coming from pregnancy board...New moms with pets...

I try. I take my dog on walks with the baby and me (I always keep him next to or behind the stroller VIA Cesear Milan) Sometimes I bring the baby out on the deck in his carseat to play ball in the yard, or do it during naptime. The winter mos sure havent helped, but I am trying.

Re: Coming from pregnancy board...New moms with pets...

I feel the same as you. My dogs are my furry children. Dh and I were worried they would feel left out, jealous, wouldn't have time for them, etc. My dogs are also high energy and crazy...so that added to the matter. I knew they would not really be able to be trusted around baby b/c they get rough when they play and they go crazy when they see kids on the street.

Well, all we did was start setting up the baby stuff early, so they would get used to the stuff, the clutter, the music and noise from the large toys, etc. Then DH brought home a baby blanket when DD was born.

My girl dog responded with love and sweetness, my boy was crazy and excited (all to be expected of them). They circled the car seat like sharks when we brought baby in for the first time, so DH sat with them and let them sniff from afar.
Baby is now 3.5 mths and my dogs barely blink at her. We take them for walks with the baby and we try to do all the same things we did before, when we have the time. We still let our dogs sleep with us, we let them in baby's room, etc. It seems they just accept she is part of the pack now, and they do really well with her. We still don't let them go up to her b/c we don't fully trust them until she gets larger, plus, we don't want them licking her hands or face due to germs they pick up outside...so that is a challenge as I can never leave baby unattended on the floor, or in a bouncy let's say, with them in teh room. So it does add extra work but I don't want to exclude my dogs, ban them from rooms they have been going in for years, etc all b/c of baby. So besides a bit extra work, it has worked out better than I could have hoped for. FM me if you would like to chat some more or want to know more.

I would never be happy if my dogs were sad or felt left out b/c baby arrived. We treat them like our furrry children.

Message edited 3/10/2009 2:53:23 PM.

Re: Coming from pregnancy board...New moms with pets...

my cat stays away... there haven't been any problems at all.... she merely looks at DS from a distance with a look of disdain gotta love a persian cat!

Pets are great for babies... they provide sufficient immune stimulation to reduce the risk of allergies in your DC w/o the risk of a dangerous illness