Furbaby Prep?

eilathen · October 2009

Are you girls doing anything to prepare your furbabies for the arrival of your little one? [Apologies if this is a dead horse issue.]

I plan on the standard "bring LO's blanket home from the hospital" thing, but am curious what you fabulous girls are doing. TIA!

farrellashleigh · October 2009

the only thing we're doing is starting the transition of moving them to the laundry room to sleep (right now they're in our bedroom) soon before the LO comes so that they dont associate this change with the baby...

As far as bringing him home we don't plan on doing anything special really... just letting them be curious and setting definite boundaries with space around the baby so that they respect the "bubble" around the baby and dont try and clammer on him!

That's about it...

Layla116 · October 2009

We took a stuffed animal (cheap one, in case it becomes a sacrifical stuffed animal) and some plastic toys and put a little bit of Johnson's baby lotion on them and put them on the floor with her other toys.

My SIL said to praise the dog highly when they go for their own toys and tell them to "leave it alone" when they go for the baby toys (let them smell the toys, but don't let them pick them up).

Basically, my dog smelled the baby toys and didn't want anything to do with them (thankfully!). We're going to continue to do this until LO arrives. We're also doing the blanket smell thing too.

FWIW-I have an almost 3 year old (crazy) lab.

Dancer6978 · October 2009

I posted this on a few boards yesterday after my little chihuahua pup seemed jealous (barking and growling) about me babysitting our friends' four-month-old daughter. Call me crazy, but I'm going out today to buy this:

https://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11018652

I am hoping she'll get used to the size and the sounds from me carrying it around the house for a few days!

mattandbekah · October 2009

we have done/plan on doing some of the things PPs mentions, as well as making sure that we have the baby stuff set up now, so he (our dog) can get used to it. Things like, the swing in the living room...we let him approach it on his own, sniff it...he acted afraid of it at first then he just kind of accepted it at part of the house and it doesnt bother him anymore.

erinb31 · October 2009

Our cat has always been my baby. We used to have 2 cats, and each of them was more bonded to either me or DH, and the one we have kept (the other needed a bigger place to run and play so he moved to my MIL's), is the one that has always followed me everywhere. Because of this, our first step throughout the pregnancy was to slowly get our cat more bonded to DH. I have increasingly given her less attention (not always the easiest thing because she is my little buddy), and DH has offered her more and more love. I can honestly say she responds to both of us equally now... so that should help when I come home and have to take care of LO. DH can give her the attention she is now used to without her getting too jealous (we hope).

My aunt has a 6-month old, so I had them over a week ago (not just for this reason) so that our cat could get a first experience with a baby. Our cat was seriously freaked out-- not in an aggressive way, just very cautious as if this was a new creature she had never experienced before. I think it was good for her to see/hear a baby that was not in MY arms. It definitely made me nervous, though.

We are also going to do the blanket thing.

I also am thinking when we come home, DH will take LO into the nursery for a couple minutes while I give our cat some love, and then we will bring the baby out for the cat to meet the baby under strict supervision.

luckyabby09 · October 2009

DH is going to get our furbaby from home and bring her to the hospital right before we're discharged so we can all ride in the car together. Instead of greeting her at home with something new, the car isn't her "domain" I'll probably let her ride on my lap in the back seat so she can sniff LO and really get used to his scent.

Vuja_de · October 2009

we are going to do the standard blanket thing, also instead of me bringing the baby into the house my husband will. my dog is more protective over me, so i want to be able to come in and give him attention right away.

as far as toys go, he doesn't like toys.. just beef marrow bones and his kong, which he won't touch or play with unless it is stuffed with a treat lol!

NewToNJBride · October 2009

Here's advice I have read/received from our vet in addition to the items above:

-let them sniff/check out all the baby items

-simulate a dirty diaper (with vinegar, I think) and let them smell it; this is supposed to help reinforce that only baby is allowed to pee/poop in the house so that the dog doesn't think it's now okay

-when coming home, mom should come in first without the baby to give attention to the dog alone, then dad enters with baby

-let the dog sniff the baby (supervised, of course)

-be sure that you don't only give the dog attention when baby is napping - if you do, they may associate baby going away with dog time/attention which is not good

-when people come to your house to see the baby, have them give a treat to the dog as well so that baby = treats

-to the extent possible (DH's primarily role in the beginning), make sure the dog gets lots of exercise because tired dog = good dog

We plan to do all of the above (we hope!). Good luck!

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