What do u do when u r anxious about the dog and baby?

[tiredpooky]

I love the dog. DD 9m crawling, everything in the mouth. Cant cope anymore with the worry about hygeine and safety. I think he has to go but everytime i pick the phone up to send him away i am distraught. please help. he would have a good home. never thought it would come to this. not sure if just maternal instinct /protective or a bit OCD ish. SPoke to HV, she didnt agree with dog and baby. Neither do I now I'v e had her. Between a rock and a hard place. Cant see this anxiety going till dog has gone, want to enjoy my baby and not be worrying. thanks for any replies.

What are you worrying about?

If hygiene, there's no reason, as your baby will put everything in her mouth for months to come and that includes stuff she'll find in the house and outside, so removing the dog from the house will not do anything in terms of creating the hygenic environment. Also, if your dog had all his vaccines and is dewormed, there isn't anything horrible your baby can catch from him.

Is it safety you're worrying about? If your dog doesn't show any aggression towards your baby and is generally not aggressive towards other people then it's enough not to leave them alone- but that's the advice for all the dogs really, just in case.

I wouldn't give the dog away, because of yur anxiety- are you following therapy for that, or taking ADs? Removing the dog will not cure your anxiety and you're likely to focus on something else to worry about, anyway.

FWIW I was raised with big dogs, both my DCs are raised with cats, neither I or them have ever caught anything off the animals.

And your HV is silly, sorry. Should no babies ever be born in the families that have pets? Should all the pets be given away/put to sleep the moment the baby arrive? Very silly.
Unless you have good reasons to believe your dog is aggressive and could harm your baby, then it is OCDish and pure anxiety.
Hope I'm not being too forward, but you did ask.

Apparently (and before everyone leaps on this post and says 'Link please! LINK!' I don't have one; this is just something I have heard anecdotally) children raised with animals are healthier and have a more robust immune system than those raised in a more sterile environment. It's based on similar thinking to the belief that antibacterial cleaning products can do more harm than good - that by creating too clean an environment for your child, they don't develop as strong an immune system.

DS has three cats, two guinea pigs and two fish and hasn't had a day off school sick for the last five terms so I wouldn't waste too much energy worrying about this if I were you!

thank you
am worried about dirt on dogs feet and ?poo traces (even tho wipe his feet), wont put her down to crawl in half house
been anxious since she born but much better now, only focussed on her safety, HV said i was normal and being a mum changes you
he is 5st but gentle but can dance around when excited

Don't worry about dirt on your dogs feet as very soon your baby will be stealthily chewing on some quite disqusting things anyway- even if you watch her like a hawk, they always manage to get a hanful of mud, dead insects, oh, I could go on...

Who's poo traces? Again, if the dog is vaccinated and dewormed, your baby will NOT get anything serious from that. Promise.

It's normal to be anxious a bit- I remember being a bit paranoid about other people touching DD's hands in shops etc for fear of passing any germs to her, but then as they grow you have to let go to certain extent. For example, now that we go the children park every day,what am I supposed to do? Wipe her hands every time she touches the equipment, so she doesn't pick up any bugs off other kids? Rinse her mouth every time she manages to shove some sand in? Nah, it would drive me (and her) mad.

If the dog is gentle, then, really, don't worry. I guess there's always a chance he could bump her or scratch her when dancing with excitement, but that is very unlikely to cause any serious injury and just keep an eye on him til your baby is a bit more robust.

Plenty of kids are raised with animals and do just fine.

It seems you love your dog, so it would make you very sad and feeling guilty and, obviously, it would be very traumatic for him.

Hi there

We have a dog. The most important thing is that you keep the dog wormed every three months.

Our dog is a softie and is so gentle with DD but obviously we never leave them alone together just in case (it's more a worry that my DD will hurt the dog now, TBH!!)

The hygiene thing - please try not to stress. A bit of normal dirt does no harm. I once caught my DD with a dog food pellett in her mouth - she was fine!

Yes, obviously keep good hygiene, wash the dog's bed regularly, use a towel to dry dog's feet etc. but getting rid of the dog??? OTT in my opinion, esp as the dog seems to be a much loved member of the family...

thanks for your commonsense replies, i'm feeling much better today, think i need to spend some quality time with dog again so i'm not just seeing him as another chore IYSWIM