To reconsider our childcare arrangements

[zirca]

Currently, my baby is looked after by my parents while I work (part time). They have recently increased their pet population, and now have 2 cats and 4 dogs. The cats aren't a problem, but the dog breeds chosen haven't exactly been family pet types (think GSD, Doberman sort of thing - 2 of whom were rehomed to them as adults) and now there are so many of them, they are more of a 'pack' and less desperate to please humans all the time. There have been no signs of aggression and the dogs have not been a problem so far, but I'm getting increasingly worried about what will happen when my child starts to walk. Also, today the GSD (big heavy thing) jumped onto the sofa where the baby was, and scratched the baby on the face.

My parents don't see that there is a problem, and see today's scratch as 'one of those things'. My concern is what might have been, and that a dog that large was almost landing on the baby. Also the gps don't interact with the baby much during the day - they are busy and I obviously wouldn't expect them to do anything massively different as they're not being paid. Will that affect development e.g. speech etc? Baby is PFB so maybe I'm just over protective - am I being? We'd obviously have to pay for childcare otherwise. Is it worth it for peace of mind?

[thegreylady]

My dgc spend time with a cm and have since they were 6 months old. Cm has one small terrier which is a family pet. While mindees are there the dog is kept either in a big cage in a separate room or outside in a kennel and run. Apparently he once accidentally scratched cm's ds while jumping for a treat so she keeps him away from the mindees. The exception is that if they go for a walk the dog is some times taken on a lead if cm's dd aged 11 happens to be there to hold him. In your situation I would change the arrangements.

[sparkle12mar08]

Bollocks to that, my child would have been out long ago. It's not the dogs that are the problem per se, either, it's your parents, sadly.

[juneau]

Follow your mother's instinct. Dogs, even friendly 'family' breeds of dog, can be dangerous and act jealously around babies and it only takes one act of aggression, particularly with a small baby, for disaster to occur.

I'm concerned that your parents aren't keeping dogs and baby completely separate, as they should be. Their blase attitude is a big red flag that they don't see any potential problems here. Please sort out a nursery or CM immediately - don't wait.