Preparing for a baby

[shelle]

My husband and I are expecting our first child in October. I am soon only going to be working a 4 day work week with the summer coming and enjoy every Monday off. DUring th is time I want to prepare the house and Angel for the baby. She is now almost 8 months old. DOes anyone know what I can do to better prepare her for the baby. She will be just a year old when the baby is born. She is crate trained and so far is only aloud in the kitchen.She goes from the kitchen to outside with the weather being nice our deck is her domian.
thanks
shelle

[Judi W]

Well, you didn't mention obedience training or socialization and living in the kitchen as far as family living is concerned seems rather limited to me. Is that to be her life experiences in the family in the future as well? If she hasn't been experiencing a varied life with interactions with lots of different people and training, there is no telling. A normal socialized and trained dog should not consider a baby any more disturbing than any other person, but if your girl has led a more isolated life, there is little to base things on.

[shelle]

She is going through obidence training and is socialized with other dogs and lots of people. We keep her in the kitchen because we seem to spend most of our time there and outside. We are in the process of giving her more run of the house radually. She is great with kids when my niece and nephew come over (they are 2 and 3) she loves them, and she loves my preschool class even though they can't touch (for liabiltiy reasons) she likes to come in and lay on the floor and listen to stories.We have people over most weekends and she is always the center of attention. I guess I am most worried about jealousy with the baby.

[Judi W]

Well, if you have been raising her as a decent member of the family I see no reasons for concern unless you (who know her best) think there are such reasons.

[codglvr]

One tip our trainer gave us was to teach our dogs an "out". So if someone came to the door or we needed the dog to be put up immediately, a command would send them to their crate or a specified place in the house, and there they would stay. I slacked and didn't get it done. We're working on it now. The only real issue we had was the first night Saga wanted to mother the baby every time he cried. It was a difficult night. The baby and I ended up on the couch with the door to the rest of the house closed. The next day we worked with her on it, and now she comes and gets me (not the hubby) if he is crying.
The other thing I did that has really helped was I allowed the dogs to be a part of checking out all of the new baby gear, even the clothes and toys. So now when it comes out, they just pretty much ignore it all.

[MaddoxsMom]

We introduced Maddox to the baby simply by not making a big fuss over it, and allowing him to sniff the baby, and look, and examine, anything he needed to do (while in a controled situation) to become as familiar as possible with Andrew's smell and presence in general.

After a while, it was really no big deal to the dog anymore (about a week, or less). You have to just be patient and allow the dog to get all the exploring over with right away, the more you limit the dog from smelling and discovering the baby, the longer it will take for the dog to become accustomed to the baby's presence.

This is how we handled it, and the dog was always fine...after a while it is the Kid you will have to worry about around the dog...not the dog around the kid...

good luck :)

[Chantal]

I just had a baby 6 weeks ago, and the dogs adjusted fairly quickly to her. It took a couple days for them to get used to the crying. When she would cry and we would walk her around, they would follow us, now they don't even blink when she starts to cry. I also got all the stuff out ahead of time - the bassinnett, the bouncy chair, the swing, that way they could get used to it. I also had a crying baby doll that they got used to after a couple days, but the baby doll isn't even close to being as loud as the real thing. One thing that they also had to adjust to was waking up un the middle of the night. They both sleep on the floor in our bedroom, and they would wak up for every feeding during hte night, and look like what the heck is going on? But now they don't get up at all. There is a good book called "Childproofing Your Dog" that I read, plus I did internet searches on infants and dogs. Thet still want to sniff her occassionally, and my one always wants to lick her!

[Janel]

Yes we also are preparing Cosmo our 6 yr old male Rottie for the baby who is due to arrive somewhere around 7/29. I have been doing what the previous person has done - crying infant sized doll, exposing him to all of the new stuff. Everything seems to be going well. He has been well socialized and trained.

I have 3 questions that I wonder if anyone could answer. #1 Is there anyway for me to make him know which toys are the babies and which ones are his? It is the plush toys that interest him most.

#2 Is there anything I can do now or when the baby is born to prevent him from getting overprotective of the baby?

#3 My mom plans to stay with us to help out around the house after the baby is born - should I make her wait a few days to let Cosmo adjust a little?

Thanks, Janel

[Rottlva]

I think a brush up of obedience is always a good thing to do before anything major if you haven't already been doing regular training ( you should).

As for him being protective over the baby, you should have no need to worry unless he has other guarding issues. The baby is yours to protect, not his. Make him feel confident in your leadership and he will follow suit.

My dogs took NO time to adjust. They had some fun sniffing at first, but a few hours later all had settled back down again. Let your mom come the first day ( although it was nice to have just baby, husband, dogs and myself the first few days). You are going to need a ton of help!!!! Rest, rest, rest and accept that help!!

Good luck with your new arrival. Is it a boy or a girl?

[Chantal]

FYI - my birthday is 7/29!! Anyway, yes, have your mother come stay right away, you will need the help. I too was wondering about the toys, and how they will tell the difference.

[Gazelle]

Their are several keys to the successful integration of a child into the house:
-obedience training wtih consistent limits
-one "alpha" in the home (either you or the child's father)
-a week or so before the child is due you will invariably spend less time with your dog as you prepare for the child's arrival, this is not bad
-when your child is delivered take a blanket that your child has been wrapped in and place it in the crate with your pup the day the child is born ( if he's crate trained ) to familiarize him with the scent
- show your pup adequte love and affection when the child arrives and whenever they are in close proximity
-our 7 month old pup is surprisingly sedate around the newborn as if he senses the child is fragile
-finally always keep your eye on them both and don't leave them alone unattended