dog and baby help

[laurieleigh]

we've got 9 weeks to go and are trying to prepare the dog for baby's arrival so would really appreciate any help and advice.

She's an 18mth old staffie and is as gentle as anything with my 17mth old nephew, but doesn't really see him that often and hasn't had much other experience with babies, just toddlers and older children.

We've already stopped her 'cuddle time' on the sofa and will be stopping her from going into the babies room now it's not the 'spare' room anymore.
We're considering a baby gate to stop her coming upstairs at all.

Any other advice from people with experience with this?

Some people find it is good to practice with a doll getting the attention at feeding time etc and taking dog for walk with empty pram to get dog used to it. Try sitting on the floor with a 'doll' as baby and keeping the dog calm while you lie or sit on floor as well as on sofa - good luck

There is a current thread in Mumsnet's "Doghouse" that you may find helpful.

We were told at our dog training classes to bring something home from the hospital before baby arrives home that smells of baby so that the dog is prepared for the new smell. And let the dog sniff the new baby when you arrive home (but not lick!). We are sending the dog to my parents to stay while I'm in hospital and she gets spoiled rotten these so will be fine! :)

I would really warn against using a baby gate straight away and sending the dog to parents to stay.

We did both of these things and it resulted in our dogs feeling very left out and depressed, to the point they started pooing in the house.

Although it's really hard, you really need to keep her in the house as normal when the baby arrives and try hard not to exclude her. We spent so much time upstairs feeding and snuggling and even though ours have each other for company, they obviously still felt a loss of us.

We learnt that it was really really important to keep them in their normal routine and this time we'll be doing that and not sending them to the in-laws until we need a break a few months in.

Hi, we tried the following

1. Put the baby grow that my dd had worn when she was born in my dogs bed so he got used to the smell. I was in for a week so we kept repeating this.
2. When we came home my partner stayed in the car with the baby and i went in a played and cuddled my dog so he got used to me being back so that by the time my partner came in with the dd he was over the most exciting bit of me being home after a week away.
3. When my partner brought in my dd in her car seat we put her in the living room and sat n the floor showing her to my dog who had a bit of a sniff with us being very close by holding her hand and stroking him at the same time so all was calm.

Prior to the birth we didn't exclude him from her room or upstairs this is his house as well as hers and we wanted him to know he was still very much a big part of our family/pack. We did get him used to being fed and walked by partner instead of me. TBH i think he just thought what is this noisy thing you have brought home and was not at all bothered about her at first and now at 10months dd is always harassing the poor dog and he never bothers in the slightest in fact he is quite protective which is nice.

You're doing the right things so far - and with only 9 weeks to go, I'd also recommend not introducing massive changes like baby gates/not being allowed upstairs if she usually is.

We moved our dog's crate into a different room, just a few weeks before the baby arrived and it only suceeded in freaking him out and making him feel excluded.

I did however gradually change his routine to one that I imagined I'd be able to stick to when the baby arrived...and stopped making him the centre of attention.

All in all, he's done really well, and accepted our son well into the household. I'd say that my ds loves the dog considerably more than the dog loves him, but the older ds gets and the more fun he is to be with the easier it gets.

thanks for all the advice.

i'm undecided about letting her in the baby's bedroom as most stuff i've read says they shouldn't be allowed in the bedroom. i'm not sure why not though? she currently follows us everywhere we go (stalker pup!) so we really don't want to rock her little world too much, but just not sure of what to do for the best.

downstairs we're planning on having a travel cot up that baby will go in in her carry cot / bouncer etc so dog can still see and sniff but not lick!

thanks for the doghouse info Just10moreMinutes i'll have a look now.

I would make any changes you want to make now, before the baby arrives. What changes they are are obviously up to you. If you want the dog upstairs, that's fine, if you want the dog on your bed, that's fine. I wouldn't have a dog and baby (or any child) sleeping in the same room though.

If your dog is very clingy and you want her to learn to spend time alone, put stairgates up and then get the dog used to spending short periods away from you, behind the gates, but give her a bone/stuffed kong so that she starts to see the 'alone time' as a good thing and open the stairgate again before she's finished, but then take the bone/kong away, so she learns these are special things she only gets when she's alone.

If the dog is well trained, she should simply leave the baby alone when you ask her, if she's not that well trained, then start on the training now. Also, it is very, very important to never leave the dog and baby alone even for a second, so a stairgate on the living room door to shut the dog out when you need to pop to the loo or leave the room (assuming baby will be in the living room that is!) is a good idea too.

If the dog is used to walks at regular times and you suspect this may have to be more flexible once baby arrives, start to adjust her routine a bit now so she gets used to the fact that walks/dinner/play time are when you say and not at set times.

Most of all, I would treat the dog very matter of factly when baby comes home, don't make too much of a big deal out of it. Giving the dog treats around baby is a good thing, as it will encourage the dog to associate the baby with good things and she'll start to think 'ooh, look what I get when this baby is around' or along those lines.

My dog was quite excited by DD when she first came home from the hospital. She slept in our room every night until about 5 months and refused to sleep in her own bed downstairs.

I think the first time she licked DD's face was after about 2 weeks, and she hasn't stopped since. Personally I think licking the face is better than licking the hands which will be going in their mouth. But my DD has been licked everywhere and I'm hoping all she'll get from it is a good immune system!

We haven't really changed much and the dog's just adapted to it all TBH.

We never changed much when the first baby was born. As time has gone on we have changed to having the dog outside but that is because the dog will bite the now moving children. That is the type of dog he is though and if your dog is nice and well trained you only need make the changes that you feel are necessary.

I slept with my newborn baby on my chest in a double bed with a cat between my legs and a dog either side of me and all was fine. Even my dog that bites was happy with this set up (just not once baby was crawling). Was slightly problematic trying to get out of bed for nappy changes and night feeds but doable.

I think the only thing I would try and stick to is that the dog has a space of its own and the baby has a space of its own. IE dog has a bed or crate and baby is not allowed in it and baby has its room and dog is not allowed in it. I think this is more important later when each might want to get away from the other.

Also I hate the idea of dogs playing with babies toys. anything that is the babies should be off limits to the dog IMO. A you can sniff but not touch policy on all baby stuff should help in the early days.