Help Your Pet Welcome Your Baby By Maria Cummings At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Having a baby is a big event in your life. Have you thought about how it will affect your dog or cat? Since this will be a big, disruptive event in your dog or cat’s life, it is best to prepare your pet for what is to come. Your pet may have some trouble at first adjusting to the new arrival in the family. You can, however, ease the transition for even the most spoiled pet if you go about it the right way.

Obviously, you cannot sit your dog or cat down for a heart to heart talk about the new baby that will change his or her life. You can, however, start to desensitize your pet to life with an infant. It’s a good idea to get a baby doll, as silly as that may seem. A doll can help get pets used to seeing you with a bundle in your arms, and most importantly, gets them used to you paying more attention to your bundle of joy than to them. Dogs, especially, need to learn not to jump on your lap when you have the doll in your lap. Give the dog verbal commands such as “sit” or “down” to keep the dog from jumping up. Start your obedience training well before the baby is born so that the dog is used to the routine.

Cats and dogs are highly sensitive to the cries of a newborn baby. You may want to start getting them used to these new sounds by playing a CD of baby sounds for them. Also, invite friends with children over whenever you can to get your pet used to dealing with kids. The better you socialize your dog or cat before the baby arrives, the easier the transition will be. You don’t want the baby’s arrival to be too sudden or jarring.

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, don’t lavish your pet with attention while you’re pregnant. Remember, all this attention will be suddenly reduced substantially, and the pet will have to become a lot more independent, and used to playing second fiddle once the baby arrives.

Another thing you can do is bring out all the various baby equipment, toys, gear and furniture. Although you may not like the thought of setting up all that baby equipment early, you do want to make sure your pet is truly bored with it all by the time the baby actually arrives. You also don’t want your pet to associate all this stuff with the newcomer. You will also want to start using baby lotions, baby powders, and soaps on yourself or your doll well before the baby arrives. Remember, pets are very, very sensitive to smells and you must get your pet used to all these new smells before baby arrives.

It’s also a good idea to bring a blanket home from the hospital that has been wrapped around the new baby. You want your pet to get used to the smell of baby as long as possible before baby arrives in the home. Put the blanket right in the pet’s bed, so the smell of baby becomes totally normal to him or her. This is something Dad may have to do for you since Mom may be recovering in the hospital.

Just these few extra steps can help your furry baby be comfortable with your newborn when he or she arrives.

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