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October 2021 Moms
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Introducing baby to pets

tari_saratari_sara member
in October 2021 Moms
Hi! I'd like to start a thread to discuss tips/tricks on introducing pets to babies. For non FTM- any words of wisdom to share or lessons learned? For FTMs, any questions or concerns?

I'll start this off- I'll be a FTM with a cat we love so much. Kitty cat is 4 or 5 years old,and we adopted him about 2 years ago. He is the sweetest cat but he is still a cat. He bites our ankles if he wants to play, hungry, or overstimulated (e.g. let's say we're putting together an IKEA cabinet he gets overstimulated). He doesn't like his belly touched and will swipe if you do. But he is super sweet and calm otherwise. We're planning to just keep up with getting his nails always trimmed and plan to keep him away from the nursery and no unsupervised play. Any cat moms out there with words of advise?
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Re: Introducing baby to pets

  • aztecashaztecash member
    My furbaby is a dog, but she can sometimes act like a cat... We happened to have her in obedience training when I found out I was pregnant with DS, so we got a few pointers from a professional.
    • Introduce furbaby to other babies if you can (friends/family with babies) - harder to do safely during COVID
    • Play YouTube videos of babies crying to get furbaby used to the new noise - start softly and get louder over time
    • Discourage (or at least don't encourage) biting behavior even if it's playful
    • Don't try to train your pet to tolerate behavior/actions they are not comfortable with; train your tiny human not to do those behaviors
    All animals are different and will react differently to this new intrusion. Our pup loves babies and kids, but hates change. She was awesome with DS but acted out in other ways and only in his room. She loves to play bite, but she just seems to know what is appropriate. She's pretty rough with DH, she's moderately rough with me, and she only recently even started letting DS put his fingers in her mouth and she just licks him. Our biggest thing, though, was teaching DS from birth how to interact with her. No tail or fur pulling, no touching her feet, only soft open-handed petting. Now she trusts him enough to let him hug her. 

    I know this was all about a dog, but hopefully some of this might help. Also, take all this with a grain of salt because we only unintentionally did #1 and very intentionally did #4, but didn't bother with the other two.
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  • chindimples04chindimples04 member
    We kept baby products around the house and played baby crying sounds randomly throughout the day, at night. We also started grabbing at them or interrupting them eating to make sure that wouldn’t be a trigger. After she was born, we had my parents bring her dirty clothes home and let them sniff and snuggle them. When we got home, we left her in the car seat. We kept it on the ottoman for them to sniff her, then slowly brought it down to the floor to let them sniff her. She started crying and our male dog was v confused by this, but it was perfect. They immediately knew their place, became her protector, and listen to my husband and I as alpha. Pictures of their meet and greet because they are precious.


    TTC History

    Me: 26 DH: 27

    TTC #1 | June '18-August '18 | DD | Born April 21, 2019 | Due May 10, 2019

    Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

    TTC#2 | June '20-February '21 | DS | Due October 27, 2021

    Lilypie Maternity tickers

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  • vampirinavampirina member
    Some tips for dogs:

    - when you come home after giving birth give yourself and your partner a moment to say hello your pet properly if you can. They've missed you while you were gone. They don't know why you've left or when you were coming back. Take a moment to greet them before introducing your baby. 
    - give your dog plenty of space to get away if he's not feeling an introduction. Don't force it. 
    -give your dog treats and praise for positive interactions (and associations) with the baby. 
    -give your dog a safe retreat like a crate or closed off room where he can relax without being bothered. As your baby grows, teach them to leave this space alone (no playing in the dogs crate - ever). 
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  • heatherdubrowheatherdubrow member
    My husband brought home the hat they put on our babies right after birth and let our dogs smell them. Then shortly after coming home we took them on a walk with the baby in the stroller (on the advice of our vet). Supposedly this lets them know the baby is part of our pack. Our German shepherd and golden retriever have been amazing with our kids.
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  • tingsmomtingsmom member
    I second the advice previously given and add one thing to consider. I read an article that said often we want to give more attention to our pets before baby comes because we know our pets will get less attention, once baby arrives. The article said we should do the opposite because if we give them more attention than they will feel more of a loss when baby actual comes. 
    Also while this is cute in some ways, my dog howls when my son cries, he still does it now. 
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  • noprobalonoprobalo member
    @chindimples04 Aw! Treeing Walker Coonhounds? Our dog has a little bit in her mix.

    @tari_sara Great thread!

    I'm not too concerned about our dog. She's a gentle soul and just has to be kept from getting too excited. I am a little worried that she will feel like she needs to participate in all the baby care and won't be able to relax, ever.

    I'm more worried that the baby will hate our cat than vice versa. He likes to be all up in everyone's business and doesn't get bothered by anything, but he loves to sit on my shoulder (and will use claws to hang on), and biting is an expression of affection. He's very lovey but in a rough way, so I'm hoping I don't have to enforce no contact. He is very much my cat and will not like not having access to me.
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  • dlilykdlilyk member
    Not to be the bearer of anxiety/crap situations, but when we brought our daughter home, our dog did not adjust well. We took dirty clothes/blankets home prior to baby coming home so he could smell them. He had never been aggressive with anyone and is a typically very loving dog. When we came home, my husband and I first went in and greeted him and then let him sniff her while she was in the car seat. We took everyone for a walk.  Everything seemed fine until the evening. I was sitting on our bed feeding our daughter and our dog jumped up to attack. Thankfully my husband was there to grab him. It took about two weeks for our dog to learn that she was a part of the pack. He loves her dearly now, but it was definitely a scary time. I don’t say my story to scare people, I just want to let people know that our pets are animals and we don’t always know or can pre-judge how they will respond to certain things. 
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  • noprobalonoprobalo member
    @dlilyk Very good point!
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  • chindimples04chindimples04 member
    @noprobalo American Foxhound and the other is a hound mix of some sort.
    TTC History

    Me: 26 DH: 27

    TTC #1 | June '18-August '18 | DD | Born April 21, 2019 | Due May 10, 2019

    Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

    TTC#2 | June '20-February '21 | DS | Due October 27, 2021

    Lilypie Maternity tickers

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  • mac-n-cheesemac-n-cheese member
    @dlilyk I’m afraid of this happening. Our German Shepherd is 10 months, gets excited easily and wants to be involved in everything. I’m going to see how it goes but it’s going to take me a long time to feel comfortable. Athena, our dog, is just a little to unpredictable and still just a big high-energy puppy!
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