speaking of pets...

redshoegirl

Ladies who have babies and pets, how do you still give your pets attention?

Our cats are fine because they snuggle with us in bed at night etc, but I feel a bit sorry for our dogs - I don't have time/energy to play with them or take them on walks or anything. Basically they just get food and the occasional pat right now and that's it. I know things will get better with time but I feel so guilty right now!

mrs.winter

It is hard.  Adam has always made sure that he gives our dog one on one time.  Makua was really bummed and sad, but now that he can somewhat plan with Ashton, Makua is a bit happier. 

sanae78

redshoegirl:

Ladies who have babies and pets, how do you still give your pets attention?

I don't.  Poor Ellie.  I think she's depressed.  B tries to play with her and we try to walk her but it's rare.

HulaLove

In the beginning we didn't.  There's no time.  Russ and I both felt terrible, but neither of us had energy to do it. 

Now Jackson (our lab) comes for walks with me all the time and I run with him.  When Russ is away he sleeps with me.  I also make sure that I snuggle him on the floor and talk to him and Elyse at the same time.  So he has more attention now, but nothing like what he used to have.  He was basically our furry child before. 

 

vanceandlori

Ugh. I posted this EXACT question a week or so ago, but deleted it because I couldn't figure out how to word it correctly. I swore I'd never be one of "those" people who neglects their pets once a baby comes-- I thought, well one of us will hold/entertain the baby while the other gives the pets attention, DUH!

So wrong. My poor furbabies were neglected for awhile. Now, once Brooke is asleep, we take time to pet them one on one for a few minutes before we go to sleep. Sometimes it's for 1 minute, sometimes for 5 or more. It helps that Brooke is older and interacts with them-- they have decided that they LOVE her and are constantly getting in her way.

I have also started walking with them (Buddy, Zoe + stroller), but it's nothing compared to what it was before.

Excited to hear what others have to say.

redshoegirl

vanceandlori:

I swore I'd never be one of "those" people who neglects their pets once a baby comes-- I thought, well one of us will hold/entertain the baby while the other gives the pets attention, DUH!

.....

It helps that Brooke is older and interacts with them-- they have decided that they LOVE her and are constantly getting in her way.

I know, right?! I feel like such a bad pet owner!

Luckily our dogs are the same - they loooooooove the babies, so I'm looking forward to when they're older and can interact a bit more.

sanae78

Ellie always sniffs the baby and wants to lick her but i'm paranoid about her licking kaya's hands because Kaya constantly has her hands in her mouth now. Anyone else worry about that?

redshoegirl

sanae78:

Ellie always sniffs the baby and wants to lick her but i'm paranoid about her licking kaya's hands because Kaya constantly has her hands in her mouth now. Anyone else worry about that?

Yeah same here. We let them lick their feet occasionally but not hands or faces.

HulaLove

redshoegirl:

sanae78:

Ellie always sniffs the baby and wants to lick her but i'm paranoid about her licking kaya's hands because Kaya constantly has her hands in her mouth now. Anyone else worry about that?

Yeah same here. We let them lick their feet occasionally but not hands or faces.

HulaLove

oooops funny double post?

I try not to let Jackson lick her, but it's going to happen so I don't get too worried about her.

I'm jealous of your pets who like your babies!  Jackson pouted (seiously) on his bed for weeksafter we brought Elle hope.  He still does't love her.  I really want them to be friends later!

redshoegirl

HulaLove:

oooops funny double post?

I try not to let Jackson lick her, but it's going to happen so I don't get too worried about her.

I'm jealous of your pets who like your babies!  Jackson pouted (seiously) on his bed for weeksafter we brought Elle hope.  He still does't love her.  I really want them to be friends later!

Oh it will definitely happen eventually, and when it does I won't freak out - but I'm not going to offer up their faces as a buffet either lol. 

I'm sure Elle will grow on Jackson, especially once she's big enough to really play with him!

Married2MrWright

Chiming in late...luckily our pets love Libby.  So much so that they look for her each morning AND all of the dogs start howling when she cries.  It's hysterical (I need to get it on video some time).  We have 2 pugs and 2 chihuahuas (my mom's dogs) and a cat...the cat could care less about Libby.  The dogs want to sniff and lick her and we do let them lick her feet.  Once, Regina licked her hand and I just washed it, because like Kaya, Libby has her hands in her mouth constantly.

Because there are three of us (my mom, J and me) we are able to rotate "puppy" time.  Luigi is the most needy as he is still a baby (just turned 2) and wants to play, chase balls, etc.  J or my mom usually play fetch with him in the backyard once or twice a day.  Walks have been here and there, but being smaller, temperature-sensitive dogs they don't usually get walked daily anyway (depends upon the weather and our schedules). 

They do love to cuddle and we've worked out a system so that they can get some lap time each day...in fact Luigi loves to tuck himself under my arm while I am nursing Libby.  He lies under my arm and her feet and is my "arm rest."  At first I was sad when we kicked them out of our bed (in January, before Libby was born) but they've adjusted to it just fine and sleep together in our living room...either in their dog bed or on our couch. 

Now that the weather is nicer, J has been putting Libby in the stroller and leashing up the pugs and taking all three of them on a stroll around the neighborhood during the late mornings, before it gets too warm out.  He says they handle walking near the stroller just fine.  For us, our pets were our first "babies" so we do our best to continue to treat them like members of the family.

mrspresley

I agree that it's really hard. they still get attention but not nearly as much as they used to...and like pp said, as the babies get older you'll have more time to spend w/them and they can play together