Pets and the new baby...?
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Category: Pregnant
Forum Name: Pregnancy
Forum Description: Pregnant! Wanting to chat to other mums-to-be (or dads-to-be)? Share your thoughts, experiences, and ideas... This is that place!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=35240
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Topic: Pets and the new baby...?
Posted By: ALittleLoopy
Subject: Pets and the new baby...?
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 6:54pm
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How did you introduce your newborn to your cat and dog?? I have a lil moggy and a bolshy border collie both are about 2 years old and have only known lots of love from mum and games from dad....he dog also gets a lil jealous of me even holding the cat let alone a baby... how can i make sure that they and the new baby get along and that they dont hurt her...tips please? -------------    CHEM 6/12+ |
Replies:
Posted By: HuntersMama
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 7:15pm
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My dogs took to DS surprisingly well. One of them is quite possessive and he just adores DS, its so cute!
We just let them have a sniff around and keep things as normal as possible. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: SpecialK
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 7:37pm
Hmmm, one of my cats did not take to DS very well at all... she used to poo in his cot and on his change table  Then I banned her to the outside, and even now she doesn't like being inside and she either hates or is terrified (or both) of DS. My other cat though is generally more chilled out, and he is pretty patient with DS, hasn't ever hurt him or anything... I treated them both the same, let them sniff DS's things and him when we brought him home. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Plushie
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 7:45pm
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My moms cat used to pee on my things at every chance and her pet magpie (i wish that was a joke) was so aggressive they both had to be given away. The dog however, was laid back and i learnt to walk hanging from her fur and we were best friends until she died when i was 16!!!
I think the main tips are really obvious things like bring something of the babies home from the hospital in advance for the pets to sniff Ban pets now from the nursery so they get used to not being allowed in the nursery Train them not to jump up on you now And keep a careful watch on things but don't get too crazy about keeping them apart since it'll just wear you out faster. |
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 8:19pm
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Yep agree with maebee,
Also when you get home leave bub with DH & go out and make a fuss of the dog if they are outside. They'll have missed you while you were in hospital. ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com"> 
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: MrsEmma
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 8:46pm
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Our cat didn't take it very well in the beginning, he's very much a lap cat (he's a Persian) and quite possessive. In those first few weeks hid out under the spare bed and in places we couldn't get to easily. Poor thing, I felt really bad but eventually he got used to DS and although they aren't quite good friends yet, Merlin only ever leaves the room when DS gets really loud.
We also chased Merlin from DS's room ever since the cot went up and he knows not to go in and sometimes just sits outside the door at night. We give him as much attention as possible when DS is having a nap or in bed for the night. We also bought him some new toys to give him when we got home from the hospital to keep him occupied. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: LMSunshine
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 9:03pm
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I was quite surprised how well the cat actually took to bubs. I thought she'd be mortified. She doesn't go in his cot although she will go in his room occasionally.
She's also fairly tolerant of when his limbs hit her randomly. She's also got accustomed to his crying. She actually puts up with alot really. She used to get a lot more attention. ------------- <a href="http://lilypie.com/"><img src="http://lb2f.lilypie.com/1ytlp10.png" width="400" height="80" border="0" alt="Lilypie Second Birthday tickers" /></a> |
Posted By: High9
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 9:05pm
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We have 6 cats and 3 dogs here. We found they were really interested the first maybe 2 weeks then they lost interest and now completely ignore her! But one of our dogs would sort of 'guard' her and if she cried would come to me as if to say "Hurry up she's crying!!"
One thing you could do is get an item of clothes she's been wearing and get DH to bring it home and show the pets so they can smell it and sort of know the smell when the baby comes home if that makes sense. Introduce them slowly, maybe you hold the baby and get DH to bring the dog in on a leash so he can see. They're pretty smart and will 'click'. Remember to give the pets attention too and maybe take the dog for a walk with the baby in the buggy or whatever, dp could walk dog while you take baby... Try not to get too upset with the pets either if they do something annoying or naughty because they can get jealous. One of our kittens has taken to sneaking into babys room or attacking my feet when I feed baby. The other one has taken to peeing on our bed 
Just remember to not be too trusting though, just because your dog has never bitten anyone or anything before, for example, doesn't mean he won't... ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: ALittleLoopy
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 9:46pm
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cat has already sorta got the hint to stay out of nursery since we caught her a few months ago in the cot (grrrr) and we will be shutting the door between her if shes in at night and the nursery but the dog sleeps in his bed next to ours and the only thing that seperates us and the nursery is a baby gate that he will stay behind really well and has never jumped it (even though he loves jumping things like agility dogs) so arent too worried its more during the day when i have him inside with me and bubs in the living area, im worried about putting her down on the floor as hes so big compared to her and he can get quite pushy when he plays...i dont want to shut him in our dog run alot as hes not used to that and he does see it as a sort of punishment or that we are leaving him for a bit.... ------------- CHEM 6/12+ |
Posted By: High9
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 9:54pm
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Yeah, one of the ladies from my AN had a foxy and she was changing baby on the floor when he ran in bit the baby on the arm and ran off and hid. She couldn't find him for a couple of hours and luckily baby was OK but she got rid of the dog after that.
I guess try treat the dog as normal as possible. I often leave Lily on the floor in the lounge but we have a door to the kitchen and one to the hallway and we trained out dogs to stay out and I generally shut the door if I have to go toilet so they can't come in so I know she is 'safe'. Or I will put her in the cot. I suppose you could always hang about if she is on the floor or always keep her within eye sight. Does you dog respond well to your commands? Or if you tell him no for example he will stop what he's doing? ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Babykatnz
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 9:56pm
One of my cats was really not bothered either way, and just carried on being his big ol' sookful self (smoochy boy lol) and now will walk right up to her and rub on her in affection (she loves it!) the other one is really high-strung, and always does a runner when anyone other than myself, DP or DS is in the house, 14 months on, she is still like that with DD... but for some reason she will take every opportunity to sneak into DDs cot!  we keep Jaes door shut when shes asleep, or we are out of the house so she cant get in.
To get the cats used to her, we put Jae on her playgym on the floor, sat beside her and just called the cats over, they came running expecting their usual fuss and pats, and caught a whiff of Jae, had a little sniff then carried on as usual ------------- Brandon - 05/12/2003  
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Posted By: ALittleLoopy
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 10:09pm
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nicky he is usually really good, he picks things up after like two-three reps (blardy smart collies) like we ask him "what do you do?" and if hes around us he knows that means to sit, if we out walking and about to cross the road hell sit and wait for the OK and if we in the kitchen it means leave the kitchen and lay down and wait....hes pretty smart...jumping up is his only real major downfall...
------------- CHEM 6/12+ |
Posted By: Jelly
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 10:22pm
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My dog is rather hyperactive un-neutered huntaway (NZ herding breed) and we expected to have a bit of trouble, but he was actually quite good. I haven't yet allowed him near DS when he's playing on the floor but he'll sit next to me and sniff Caleb (which makes him laugh hysterically) while he's on my knee and he is definitely not aggressive or jealous towards him.
They way Bud "met" Caleb was basically an occasional sniff here and there, and of course he could hear C cry. As C gets older we are allowing more contact. C can now pat Bud on the head and Bud sniff C as much as he likes, as long as he doesn't lick his face. I think over-friendly dogs like mine won't intentionally hurt a baby, but you can never be too careful. I'll always remember when we got our third cat, he was the size of Bud's paw and ended up being stood on a few times because Bud didn't know how to play with someone so small. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: Jelly
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 10:24pm
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Ooh if your dog is that clever you should be able to teach him to stay out of baby's room before she arrives. You could also give the "gentle" command a go, that one might be a bit trickier though. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: High9
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 10:31pm
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The only dog we keep away from DD is our Corgi as he's just way to hypo and his ears appear to be painted on lol!
BK had a good suggestion about calling the cats over one by one. I do that with my chihuahua but as Lily is much bigger than her she's rather scared of Lily. Our foxy sniff Lily and is the one that guards her but I don't trust him as he is very over protective with his toys and always trying to pinch hers. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: ALittleLoopy
Date Posted: 13 August 2010 at 10:33pm
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jelly, he does sort of know gentle and has a very soft mouth and is very controlled, i can rub the ball on his muzzle and he wont touch it without my say so and i can put a treat in his head and tell him to wait and hell sit there till i give him the OK or release command... hes also un-nuetered male hearding dog, being a collie so was a lil worried hed try and herd her on the ground, i guess its going to have to be a gradual thing...he loves sniffing eyes too, not sure why but he does it to us all the time, super gentle, it tickles, so worry about that being that bubs is way smaller and may move unpredictably instead of just letting him like we do ------------- CHEM 6/12+ |
Posted By: Plushie
Date Posted: 14 August 2010 at 8:33am
My friend brought her baby home to her in work herding dog and it did used to herd the baby when she started crawling. In a gentle way using its head to push her in a different direction. Used to crack me, the dog would have her going in circles on the floor when she just wanted to get to a toy or something 
Im a bit concerned about my moms dog - he's a wilfull schnauzer and absolutley spoilt and has been the baby of the family for years. At nights i sometimes hold him on my lap on his back like you would cradle a baby and he goes to sleep!! I dont live with my mom but i do visit A LOT. I may just keep them apart. Although i took my very small kitten over one day, Flynn started to harras poor Bowie and she smacked him over the face and he's been a bit more cautious of small things ever since. |
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 14 August 2010 at 12:31pm
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What you can do is have a mat or basket for your dog, so they have their place and that is where they sit when bubs is on the floor.
If baby is on the floor the dog goes on the mat. Put bub on a mat too LOL ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: ALittleLoopy
Date Posted: 14 August 2010 at 12:34pm
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we could maybe bring his bed out to the lounge that he sleeps in next to our bed when shes on the floor as he knows the "in your bed" command...not sure if hell stay in it though but might if i add "wait" ------------- CHEM 6/12+ |
Posted By: Kalimirella
Date Posted: 14 August 2010 at 2:20pm
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We only have cats but we do have 4 of them. 2 have reacted with.. I'd rather not be in the same room and if I have to I will ignore you (towards her). The youngest is the only one brave enough to come near her and if she squawks gets very uncomfortable and isn't sure what to do when she is kicking and moving around (she isn't crawling yet or anything though so that will be a laugh). And the 4th cat just plain isn't coping, he doesn't like the other cats, he doesn't like her, he likes her room, and I have found him in her cot, at which point he gets kicked out. Unfortunately I'm trying to find a new home for him which doesn't include other cats or young children.
Anyway I found with cats just let them come close to you when you have bubby, make sure they still get lots of pats and cuddles, if bubby isn't in your room and they normally sleep on your bed keep letting them etc. They do eventually get used to bubby. (But so far none of our cats like it if she squawks or cries.) ------------- Kiara is 3 and Teagan is 2, now we're expecting our long awaited 3rd! http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Kellyfer
Date Posted: 14 August 2010 at 5:37pm
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I can't really give advice since my baby hasn't arrived yet, but since finding out we were having a baby we have set some firm boundaries with our dog. He's a bit hyper at times but has quickly learnt that a growly voice means he has to calm down. He's an inside dog (even though he's a lab - we don't have the ideal property for a dog ) and we manage where he's allowed in the house by using gates. He also knows he's not allowed in certain rooms (eg kitchen and baby's room) and he's pretty good at sticking to those rules. He's also only allowed on furniture/our bed by invite. We've also introduced the word "nice" to mean he has to be gentle - and to train him we offered treats which he was only allowed if he took them slowly without snatching. He also responds pretty promptly to "go away". I'm hoping it all pays off in the end - he's a pretty good natured dog anyways (I'm pretty sure he would never bite or be vicious) it's just his size that's the worry.
I'm not concerned about our cats - one is incredibly docile, and the other one just likes to be outside all the time. Like maebee, I'm more concerned about my mum's dog. She's a grumpy old bitch who has got her way her whole life (even has her own couch!!!) and in mum's eyes can do no wrong. So I'll just make sure I'm always around when bubs is at mum's place. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: zoeymil
Date Posted: 14 August 2010 at 7:20pm
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What a lovely boarder collie you have, we also have a female boader collie who is now 3 years she isn't huge, she is an inside /outside dog she sleeps in the entrance area she comes inside sometimes but is often on the deck during the day!!!
We gave her one of DD's wet nappies when she ws born so she would get her scent as i was away in the hospital for a long time!!! She is very good with her nice and gentle and DD pats and climbs on her!!!! She does bark when we read DD books.... she has one favourite she goes crazy when we read it !!!! She also gets a bit stressed when DD crys... she barks and whimpers ..... it's likes she wants to protect her!!!! She also jumps on adults and kids bigger than her , but shes never jumped up on DD!!! They are clever dogs and learn things sooo quickly!!!! ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: HoneybunsMa
Date Posted: 14 August 2010 at 8:24pm
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Can't help with dogs.
But we have two cats at mum and dads DD got introduced to them from day2. When she was that little I ended up with the cat and DD sleeping on me hehe. One of the cats the old male burmese HATES DD even now a year later and if she is about he runs away. My cat just a fat tabby is patient with DD, she has always been the more docile of them I guess and since we taught DD how to pat her although its not as gentle as we would like the cat just lies there. She used to run away and we started off teaching DD how to pat while holding the cat and someone else would hold DDs hand and pat her. Now she doesn't care so much even if she pulls her tail. There have been a few swipes but I guess DD made her feel trapped and as mean as this sounds its something that DD will have to learn to be on guard. ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: Richie
Date Posted: 14 August 2010 at 10:18pm
I have a 2yo Boxer dog who is an absolute nutcase and I was a bit worried that he was going to be too boisterous to have around when Isla was born but he has been great. I just made sure that before Isla was born, we taught him not to jump up and that he had to sit before he gets a pat. Also trained him not to go into her nursery... but he does like to lie at her door while she is sleeping. He is her bodyguard  We used to have him sleep in our room in his bed in the corner but decided things were going to be a bit cramped when Isla arrived so when I was about 30wks, we slowly moved his bed every night further down the hallway until it was in the lounge. We did it before Isla was born so he didn't associate being 'kicked out' of our room with her. He now sleeps happily in the lounge, and he will stay in his bed when Isla is playing on the floor, unless I ask him to come over. If I was to pat him he would go nutty and lick me like crazy and try to 'paw' at me but he is so gentle with Isla. She whacks him in the head and pulls his ears etc and he just lies there and takes it. Of course, I'd never leave them together alone in a room cause no dog has ever bitten until the first time......
All I can really say is make sure you don't forget about the cat/dog. Treat them just the same as you always have because if suddenly you stop paying them attention and relegate them to the kennel outside, they will associate this with the new baby and end up resenting the child. If you let the pet be part of the family, they will grow to have a great relationship with the child. Good luck! -------------  
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Posted By: ALittleLoopy
Date Posted: 15 August 2010 at 2:18pm
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zoey, they are TOO intelligent collies aye, sometimes they are too smart for their own good, she sounds alot like my boy so hopefully hell be the same with bubs when she comes... nzlisajo - he also would go a bit bonkers with me especially and does "paw" things (we call it "rucking") when he wants attention and is being ignored....i was always worried hed do that to her coz he doesnt understand or something as it REALLY hurts if he gets skin with those claws...i think ill take everything into consideration and just take it slowly, i dont want to have to give up my furbabies!! ------------- CHEM 6/12+ |
Posted By: Plushie
Date Posted: 15 August 2010 at 4:36pm
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lisajo - boxers are the best dogs ever
I had a boxer rescued from a home where she was starved and tied up so she was always a bit snappy about her food. I turned my back on my nephew for 10 seconds one day and when i turned around he was outside sitting at her food bowl happily picking up the biscuits and looking at them (thankfully NOT eating them) while she looked on patiently. |
Posted By: amme_eilyk
Date Posted: 15 August 2010 at 7:28pm
| I am worried how my two kittens will react. They are pretty clingy. One cries to be picked up or if he gets shut out of a room, and the other isnt quite as clingy but if you ignore him he is all over you. They got absolutely scared of a chihuahua last week which was half their size and more scared than they were which is hillarious. But they are pretty docile so hopefully they adjust ok. |
Posted By: Marengo
Date Posted: 16 August 2010 at 1:06pm
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i'm also worried about my dog.. partner says we have to get rid of her but i really want to give her a chance with the baby.. she is a sweet natured dog, but very boistrous and can be hard to control sometimes.. i would never leave a child with a dog unsupervised in any case weather it was a great dog or not, i g uess its just letting her know that the baby is part of our family also and not a stranger :)
i'm not worried about our cats at all.. the older cat i'm sure will be fine, the younger one might be a bit scaredy of teh babies noise and things but i'm sure she will be fine.. she has not left me alone sine i have been preg and isnt normally overly smoochie to me at all!! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
 Our angel Ella Louise born 13.04.
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Posted By: MummaHuhu
Date Posted: 16 August 2010 at 9:34pm
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We set up the baby's room quite early and had the cot and bassinet out along with the clothes so the cats could get used to the smells. Also put tinfoil on the mattress in the cot so they learned not to sleep in there!
When we brought DD home we left her in her capsule (she was fast asleep) and the cats had a good sniff.... that was pretty much it, they didn't take too much notice of her until she started moving  My fur-boy did take awhile to get used to not being able to sit on my lap while I was bf'ing but I just made sure that when she was asleep he could still have a cuddle. No jealously surprisingly!
Our black lab (very boisterous) was only allowed in the lounge anyway, she's always had a bed to sleep in and that's about as far as she's allowed to venture. When DD was little our lab was ok inside & again didn't pay too much attention to DD but once she started moving we banned the dog to outside, she was pretty good, just wanted to lick DD's face really but I never trust dogs around kids. -------------   http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/MummaHuhu" rel="nofollow - Come on Huhu#3 ...~Chem Apr 13~ |