Newborn and FIL's dog

[pinkglitter80]

Hi - i'm 38 wks pregnant and the plan is that my FIL is going to come and look after DD when i'm in hospital. He will also have with him stepMIL & dog. I don't know much about dogs but is there anything to be aware of when we bring the newborn home apart from not leaving them and the dog together unsupervised? (I would rather it just be FIL coming but apparently non-negotiable....) my main priority will be how to ensure DD has good transition with newborn, i'm not bothered how the dog feels as thats FIL's responsibility!! TIA

How long will he be staying? You may well be in and put of hospital in a day.

I've asked dh for them to leave asap once we're back from hospital due to dog (and lack of space in our flat) but figure there will still be a few hrs of them faffing etc and for fil to see new baby - although not best environment for dd to meet sibling :-(

It may be a positive for your DD to have the dog there- assuming she likes the dog? Everyone will be cooing over baby, so it will be nice for her to have that.

The only thing I would say regards to dog and newborn, is just make sure everything is sanitary, and don't allow FIL to let dog sleep on baby clothes, linen, and so on. I have cats and found great guards for the cot, to keep them out, it may not be worth you getting them?! But they are good!

Try not to worry, let your OH sort out dog and FIL X

Oh and make sure dog is flea free!!

TBH, I expect the dog will ignore a newborn entirely so I wouldn't worry overly about that. It'll probably give it a vague sniff and thats it. And its not as if it'll be alone with the newborn anyway so I don't think it'll be that big a deal.

How is the dog in general? If it's a well trained friendly dog it should really just be a case of supervising.

Some dogs ignore newborns, some want to lick them all over...most people object to the second, lol.

Would it be easier to take DD to FIL rather than him come to you? Also means you get to leave when you want rather than waiting for them to go?

Behaviour-wise, I wouldn't really worry. You're not part of that dog's 'pack' and you're not bringing the baby to its territory, so if you're worried about reactive aggression I would think it was very unlikely. As above, check that the dog has been treated for parasites and won't be allowed on furniture etc. I would also be a bit wary of jumping if it's a young dog (or poorly trained!) as obviously you don't want the baby scratched or dropped!