https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 19 Apr 2026 02:32:16 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-20731 Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:16:38 +0000 lullabyelyrics 20731@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>These are such great ideas! I have been really worried about what we'll do once we have a baby. We live in an apartment right now with a 105 lb malamute. He isn't mean, doesn't bite, but he is BIG, so I worry about him inadvertently knocking over a baby or toddler. I'm definitel;y going to have to keep all these tips in mind! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-4525 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:18:58 +0000 sunshine27 4525@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had huge concerns about this when I had my first little guy. We were told to bring home something from the hospital that smelled like the baby before the baby came home and let the dog get used to the smell. My husband took home the little cap they put on my son right after he was born and let our dog sniff it. Then when my son and I came home I made sure to go into the house first and make a big deal of saying hi to our dog. He is very attached to me and was worried while I was gone. Then my husband brought the baby in and we let him sniff the baby by his feet.<br /> Our dog has been absolutely amazing with the baby since day one. He has never once done anything that I would be concerned about. When the baby was sleeping in the bassinet our dog would lay right beside the bassinet. When my son was in his bouncy chair our dog was right beside him watching him!! Once my son started crawling and tugging on the dogs hair then our dog kept his distance. And now that our son is walking around our dog is so careful about not knocking him over.<br /> My dog also has never ever shown any food aggression or been protective of any of his toys. My son can take food out of his bowl or a bone away from him and he will not do anything about it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-4520 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:59:25 +0000 lavender 4520@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have a feeling my dog won't care too much when the LO arrives. We have a 10 y/o blind and deaf pug. As long as his food is in his bowl and he's sleeping/ cuddling on the couch, he'll do fine! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-4345 Fri, 14 Oct 2011 21:26:16 +0000 geekinheels 4345@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our shih tzu was our first baby. And while we've done practically everything recommended by trainers, books, etc to make the transition easier for him, I know that he feels neglected and gets jealous at times. I feel really really bad for him, and we've even considered giving him away because I know it'll only get worse when the second baby comes.</p> <p>That being said, he has NEVER been violent toward Claire. He will sit still even when she pulls his fur and tail, even when she hits him (of course, we've been trying our best to correct this behavior). The only way he will show his jealousy is by trying to sit between me and Claire, and by ignoring me when I am alone with him. I can't wait until our daughters get older so that they can play with him, and he can grow to love them.</p> <p>I should also add that he has grown considerably warmer towards her ever since she started "sharing" her food with him. Here's a cute story about how she shares her snacks with him: <a href="http://www.geekinheels.com/2011/08/29/sharing-is-caring.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.geekinheels.com/2011/08/29/sharing-is-caring.html</a></p> <p>And here's a video we took of her last month sharing her Cheerios with him: <a href="http://vimeo.com/28595313" rel="nofollow">http://vimeo.com/28595313</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-4341 Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:42:38 +0000 LivsMama 4341@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh I had huge concerns. We have a chocolate lab/pit bull/chesapeake bay retriever mix who was our BABY. Slept (still sleeps) in bed with us, center of our worlds. I was convinced that Liv was going to shatter his little world. Here is what we did to prepare him.</p> <p> 1-slowly start paying a little less attention )aka not 24/7 cuddling like I was doing) to the dog soon so he doesn't associate the lack of attention with the baby. If you need to start training him to stay off the furniture, do that now as well. </p> <p>2-when we got our baby stuff, we set it up ASAP and let the dog near it. This included the swing, bouncy seat, and entire nursery. We let him sniff at her toys so we could tell him that no, those were not for him. And if anything makes noise or vibrates/bounces/plays music, make it do that before the baby comes so that isn't a shock. He will get used to it. Brutus FREAKED out at the toys and things that made noise at first, you dont want to deal with that with a brand new baby. </p> <p>3-we assembled the stroller and took the dog for walks with it (yes, empty. Sounds weird but people knew what we were doing lol) and are so glad we did. The first walk didn't go so well and he actually tipped the stroller over. Now hes used to it</p> <p>4-when the baby was born and I was still in the hospital, I had my husband bring 2 blankets that Liv had been swaddled in and give them to the dog so he would get to know her smell. That way it wasnt a totally new sensation when she got home. </p> <p>5-After you are home, make sure that when visitors come over, they take time and greet the dog FIRST. The dog still needs to know that he is loved and that this new baby isn't stealing all of his attention. Have them spend a few minutes with him and maybe bring him a toy or treat. Speakingnof that, buy him some new toys to distract him when the baby comes home.</p> <p>6- Someone recommended this on weddingbee. They washed all of the babys stuffed toys in dreft and scattered them throughout the house. When the dog went near one, they taught him that any of the toys with that smell were off limits, and the dog kind of figured out what was and was not his from there.</p> <p> Our Brutus was very standoffish at first, but now he is very protective and loves his little sister :o) We dont have cats, but I like the aluminum foil idea =o) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-4329 Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:52:42 +0000 MaisyMay 4329@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Great post. I've wondered about this, not because we have pets, but because we'd like to get a dog in the future. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-4262 Fri, 14 Oct 2011 07:11:18 +0000 hreichard 4262@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have a cat and he is scared of my 3 month old. When my son cries the cat runs and hides under the bed. If i have my son laying on a blanket on the floor the cat will walk up to him, sniff him and just walk away. he doesnt bother the baby at all. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-2959 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 22:01:17 +0000 mrs. wagon 2959@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have two small, shedding dogs. They are both well trained and we are super disciplined with them, so they're very well behaved around him. He barely notices them since they've always been around... I think he thinks they're just part of the scenery. We have always kept them in a fenced-in area in the kitchen during the day, so we just adjusted that to be all day until after RJ goes to bed. Then it's puppy time. </p> <p>One other big adjustment was that they used to sleep in our bed most nights, but their fur just caused too much dust to accumulate in our bedroom and the upstairs in general, and I didn't like having to vacuum and dust almost every day to keep it relatively dust-free... so now they only sleep in our bed about once a month. </p> <p>Now that RJ is a toddler he likes to point to them and say "goggie" (doggie). He knows them by name now, too, which is so cute. That's about the extent of their interaction. Sometimes when the dogs are out while RJ is awake and they're playing with each other he watches and laughs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-2958 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 21:22:41 +0000 Laneybugsmommy 2958@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My cat was a terror when we first set up the baby's room. She was always in her stuff and it took forever for her to figure out what she could be on and where she wasn't allowed to be. I was so worried that she was going to jump in the baby's crib, etc. The first day we were home the baby was on the changing table and the cat tried to jump up. I pushed her away and the dog barked at her and she never did it again. My dog has gotten a little more clingy since the baby is here but that's probably because we haven't been as good as we should be about showing her constant attention. My daughter is just over 5 months old now and both animals do very well with her, its actually very sweet!. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-2940 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:06:48 +0000 BoogieBea 2940@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had our shih tzu before we had our kids so he was our first baby. We worried about the same thing when I got pregnant with our first. Shih tzu's and a lot of small dogs in general have a reputation of getting jealous when introducing a new baby into the family. Luckily, he's always been exposed to our nieces and nephews who were toddlers at the time so I know his stance with other children. He doesn't really care for them since he knows they can be unpredictable but he's never been malicious towards any child. He just stays away. So we were hopeful, but still, you never know.<br /> He's been nothing but gentle with our kids thus far. Even now that my son is a toddler and can be a little rough with him. He's just become a little melancholy these days due to the lack of attention but we try our best to give him some us and him alone time as well. He has become less attached to me though since I've been the one handling the kids more. We never coslept with our babies so he was able to continue sleeping in our bed. I had initially thought about keeping him out of the nursery, at least for the first several months, but didn't end up following through. It's a good thing we didn't because being present in whatever room that we are in is important to him. Luckily, none of my kids are allergic (thus far) to him - which was another thing we weorried about.<br /> I think it helps if there's more than one pet so they already have a companion to play with. If you have just one dog/cat, perhaps in the initial weeks after the birth, when you can't devote as much time to him/her as before, you can have friends and family come to play with him/her a bit to help with the transition. They say also to slowly give your pet less attention towards the end of the pregnancy to get them used to it but we didn't do that. In fact, we might've given him more attention, but it all worked out okay. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-2896 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:50:46 +0000 rawrasaur 2896@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So I'm pretty sure my dog (shih tzu) is freaked out by children. She goes crazy and has a special alarming bark when she sees someone who isn't full sized. It will be interesting when the time comes, I know that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-2892 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:25:54 +0000 mamabolt 2892@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Habesbabe - Good idea! We've had toddlers over at the house before and the dog was ok, definitely not agressive. I worry how he will react to crying though, right now he barks at the doorbell, the phone, noises on TV, the garage...so pretty much anything! I think a crying baby plus barking dog might drive me over the edge.</p> <p>@Blushink - good idea to keep the cats off of baby's stuff! One of my kittys is a anger pee-er, so I'm thinking we will keep them out of future baby's room entirely.</p> <p>@Jbhobs, I know the feeling, our dog is so hyper as well, and he's good sized at 50ish lbs. DH got him before I came along and he is allowed on furniture, bed, etc, so I'm terrified of him jumping up somewhere and hurting a baby. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-2884 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:53:56 +0000 mediagirl 2884@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh boy. I'm worried sick about this. We have two very hyper, attention-hogging boston terriers. One of them in particular. I'm so worried about them accidentally scratching a baby or toddler with their nails in excitement. I'm not worried about biting. Currently the dogs are normally wherever we are. Something is going to have to change when a baby comes along. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-2868 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:12:54 +0000 Mrs. Sunglasses 2868@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have 2 cats and what we did to prepare them, is that we put aluminium paper on the changing pad and in the crib. They were curious and would find their way in the crib. Because I didn't want that to happen when baby arrived, I made sure they understood it was a no-go zone. </p> <p>They jumped in it twice. Both times got the scare of their life and never went back. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-2855 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:38:15 +0000 HabesBabe 2855@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm nervous about the same thing! That is, I *was* nervous, until my girlfriends started bringing their kids over and saw how our dog (a Golden) was interacting with them.</p> <p>We've had two toddlers and two infants over, and our pup is so gentle with them! They've pulled his tail, whiskers, hit him on the head (not very hard, as it was a 6 month old), pet him, hugged him, and given him kisses-- he loves it all. So maybe if you have any friends with kids who are willing to bring them over, you can see how your animals will react.</p> <p>I've never seen cats become aggressive towards new babies; if anything, they're just indifferent. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pets-and-babies#post-2852 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:32:35 +0000 mamabolt 2852@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd love to hear from current parents how their pets have adjusted to life with baby. Did you do anything special to prepare them for the change?</p> <p>We have a dog and two cats, and I'm terrified they are going to be terrible with a baby. Even though we are just TTC now, I'm wondering if there's anything we should be doing. </p>