The crazy germ post got me thinking. If you have pets...

Starfish113 · September 2010

If you have pets... do you limit LOs contact with them?
I don't. My dog loooooves to lay on the floor with Riley and will sometimes lick her hands and feet (I do wipe them after). She also loves to pet the cats. The other day she grabbed both sides of the cats head, and tried to put his ear in her mouth! I thought it was hysterical, but the earlier post made me wonder how everyone else feels about pets and germs....

VampyAuthor · September 2010

I don't. Jake and Bella LOVE Brylee. She mostly goes for their tails and ears right now and neither pup minds.

VanderLaan · September 2010

I dont worry about our two beagles and Aidan. He grabs them, they lick him etc. I did ask the pedi what she thought and she said no biggie that they lick him.

I thought this was interesting- https://healthnews.uc.edu/news/?/3864/

Married2003 · September 2010

No limits here. Our dogs love T.

nestinginjapan · September 2010

nah. DS loves the cats. I don't see a problem with it for now ...

Alyssa102 · September 2010

Nope. Lexi can lick/play with Olivia anytime she wants. We encourage it, so both are used to eachother.

ka2shaz · September 2010

We let Daria pet the cats. The dog has licked her feet and hands before, although we try to limit that. I disinfected her hands after he licked them, but the feet I just let be since she still can't put them in her mouth.

MelonieK · September 2010

Kitty won't get anywhere near baby at this point, so no. I'm not worried in the least. I will be vigilant when Sarah starts moving more to avoid her getting scratched or bitten for pulling hair/tail.

jlthompson19 · September 2010

My dogs can do as they please, but I won't be allowing DD to pull and tug on them, especially their ears. That's a bite waiting to happen.

Stephanie2167 · September 2010

Our golden retriever licks Courtney all the time. All I say is "that's enough" and she stops. The cat just ignores her. Courtney loves watching them though.

mojito14 · September 2010

Nope, I don't limit it. As a matter of fact, I encourage it.

Our dog is the most tolerable animal on the face of the earth having to live with our two kids...lol.

H absolutely giggles with delight when Marley rubs his face against his head or licks his hands and face.

As for the cats, they stay away mostly (although Cilla loves to lay on P's lap when he is watching the tube).

Pumpkin30 · September 2010

We limit contact for two reasons: 1) DH breaks out when the dog licks him, and we don't want DD to, and 2) Our dog routinely eats deer poop. That really grosses me out.

I thought the OP in the crazy germ post was a little obsessive, but my dog eating poop really grosses me out.

PinkPeony6210 · September 2010

I don't limit contact, and as PP said, I try to encourage it. I want both Ella and our dog to be comfortable with eachother.

Pocky873 · September 2010

MelonieK:
Kitty won't get anywhere near baby at this point, so no. I'm not worried in the least. I will be vigilant when Sarah starts moving more to avoid her getting scratched or bitten for pulling hair/tail.

This. Our cat isn't allowed near DD unsupervised. The few times we have let her touch him, we have always wiped down DD's hands and feet.

Starfish113 · September 2010

maiwamoto:
MelonieK:
Kitty won't get anywhere near baby at this point, so no. I'm not worried in the least. I will be vigilant when Sarah starts moving more to avoid her getting scratched or bitten for pulling hair/tail.

This. Our cat isn't allowed near DD unsupervised. The few times we have let her touch him, we have always wiped down DD's hands and feet.

I have to add that the cat that WOULD scratch her does not go anywhere near her. The very relaxed/laid back one does... and the reason he's so close is he is sitting on our laps I wouldn't let DD be with any of our pets unsupervised.. no way!!

ASmallWonder · September 2010

My cat is a special snowflake. So far he avoids Aiden like the plague, which is fine. He's a persian and tends to have messy "pants" which is what I call the back of his leg and butt fur. Damn cat and his fluffy pants and short legs :-p So I would try to keep Aiden from putting the cat's nasty tail in his mouth but I wouldn't care if he pets him. I also know at some point, the cat's nasty tail is going to end up in his mouth no matter what I do. Barf.

lindsleek · September 2010

My DH always says "Phantom give sissy kisses!" and I'm like "No..." as his tongue swipes across her face. She loves it though and giggles out loud when he 'kisses' her. I am not a germ freak and my kid has never been sick... I don't get the whole fuss. She is going to be exposed to it sooner or later!

sabriena · September 2010

We don't really limit it with our dog. However I do have to tell her to knock it off with the face licking because she goes a bit overboard. Duncan loves the dog kisses. I usually just wipe the kiss leftovers off wit my hand. I don't see the problem with it.

Erika6504 · September 2010

We have a dog (Boxer) and 2 cats. I don't really like the dog licking DS on the face, but if he does, the extent of my limiting is to tell him NO and wipe off DS.

tbone22308 · September 2010

We tried to keep him from licking her for the first month or two. Now we don't care--we just started letting him lick her face. She doesn't mind it...she likes to grab his ears while he does it!

kt&charles · September 2010

I do limit some exposure because i want DD to be the "pack leader" so to speak. So when she is on the playmat on the floor or on a blanket they are to give her space and stay off. I do let them lick her a lot but even have to say ok...enough because they love her so much.

So far she just likes to stare at them and reach for their squishy chops. My dogs are large so i just want to be safe rather than sorry. No matter how much they love her, i want to set them all up for success:)

As far as germs go...well my dogs are allowed on the couches, so no avoiding them. I do vacuum 2-3 times a week though Embarrassed

teamsweet · September 2010

I try not to let the dogs lick his mouth (the one LOVES breast milk and would lick him all day long). I *try* to reinforce that people will ask for licks if they want them, i.e. give kissing noises if they want a lick on the face from the dogs, but my dogs are a little dumb sometimes.

But I don't care about the germs - they lick his hands from time to time and I don't mind.

sarahlindsay · September 2010

We don't let the dog lick DD anywhere, but otherwise we don't limit their interactions or anything. Of course, as she grows up we'll monitor things very closely so that she doesn't tug or pull on or hit the dog (i.e. plays nicely).

hikerbeth · September 2010

No. We have 2 old dogs and they are part of the family. They have free range of the house anyway, so their hair is always everywhere, so limiting contact would be useless.

mrsfirefly · September 2010

Not really. I don't let the dog lick her but that's because my dog has been known to eat poop. Luckily he's already pretty good on the no licking policy.

Devonanne · September 2010

I don't like it if our dogs lick DS but I don't limit his contact around them. Right now we are living with 6 dogs in the house (2 are ours, 4 are my parents) I never want him to fear animals of any kind so I think it is good for him. I do worry that he may have allergies because he sneezes a lot despite all the cleaning I do.

MelonieK · September 2010

maiwamoto:
MelonieK:
Kitty won't get anywhere near baby at this point, so no. I'm not worried in the least. I will be vigilant when Sarah starts moving more to avoid her getting scratched or bitten for pulling hair/tail.

This. Our cat isn't allowed near DD unsupervised. The few times we have let her touch him, we have always wiped down DD's hands and feet.

Oh, I wouldn't bother about wiping her down or anything. Tink is a very loving and gentle cat, and she's never been outside. She just ignores Sarah for the most part and has since day one. If I have Sarah on her play blanket, Tink will walk up to the edge and sniff her head, but that's pretty much as close as she's comfortable getting yet. As Sarah gets older, I'll just take a wait and see approach.

naturegirl417 · September 2010

We have a boston terrier and she lays on the playmat with DD sometimes. DD loves to touch her and the dog licks her hands and feet sometimes. I try to keep the dog away from her head, though. She loves to give kisses and I don't really want the dog and baby swapping spit.

synchrosally · September 2010

My cat seems to think DS always needs a bath. LOL. She likes to cuddle up to us and is very careful. I try to get DS to pet her so she gets used to rough handling from a baby. DS doesn't seem to care much about the cat right now. I always supervise play between the two and I keep DS's door closed so she doesn't jump in his crib.

Pocky873 · September 2010

MelonieK:
maiwamoto:

MelonieK:
Kitty won't get anywhere near baby at this point, so no. I'm not worried in the least. I will be vigilant when Sarah starts moving more to avoid her getting scratched or bitten for pulling hair/tail.

This. Our cat isn't allowed near DD unsupervised. The few times we have let her touch him, we have always wiped down DD's hands and feet.

Oh, I wouldn't bother about wiping her down or anything. Tink is a very loving and gentle cat, and she's never been outside. She just ignores Sarah for the most part and has since day one. If I have Sarah on her play blanket, Tink will walk up to the edge and sniff her head, but that's pretty much as close as she's comfortable getting yet. As Sarah gets older, I'll just take a wait and see approach.

You're very lucky - my Casey is very possessive and can be a little too playful. He's got all of his claws and isn't afraid to use them on DH and I. He also has a ton of dander on him at all times, which is why I've been wiping DD's hands and feet down whenever they come in contact. Ordinarily I wouldn't mind that much, but my ILs live next door (and MIL is DD's pedi) and whenever they see so much as one red dot on her, the first thing they do is blame it on Casey and try to convince us to get rid of him. I don't want to give them any more ammunition.

Hannibee · September 2010

We don't limit Q's time with the dogs at all. They love to lick her feet and hands, but we try to keep them from licking her face. She loves her interactions with them and we encourage it. However, they are German Shepherds and both weigh over 100lbs, so we do have to be mindful if they get too carried away with the licking because they have no clue how large they are.

cherylnicole · September 2010

mojito14:

Nope, I don't limit it. As a matter of fact, I encourage it.

Our dog is the most tolerable animal on the face of the earth

This! And add our two cats to the mix

bakedlaurabean · September 2010

I love when DS and the dog (very hairy golden retriever) interact. I just have to keep the dog from licking him too much. I think it's great that he tries to pet her and I encourage that by showing him how. I try to wash his hands after the dog licks them, but they are so often in his mouth that sometimes they get there before I've had the chance.

Overall, I think germs are good for DS. I'm the mom who pops the paci back in the kid's mouth without rinsing it off after it drops on the ground.

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The crazy germ post got me thinking. If you have pets...

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