Worcester and Droitwich Branch
How to...introduce your baby and pet
Welcoming a new baby to the family is an exciting and scary
time but if your family already has some furry, feathered or
scaly members, you have some extra things to consider.
Many pets live in a secure world already, whether this be a
tank, cage or hutch. The main issues with these pets in the
early days are around hygiene; making sure their space is
clean as you would anyway but also making sure that anyone
handling them washes their hands before baby cuddles. Then,
as baby gets older, you need to make sure that little fingers
aren‘t pushing through bars to get bitten or little arms using
cages as a lever and in the process scaring the poor inhabitants or bringing something crashing down on your child‘s
head.
The more difficult animals in the early days are dogs and cats,
who, until now, have been free to roam around your home,
sometimes with no restrictions. If there are rooms or seats you
no longer want your pet to be able to go in or jump on once
baby arrives, you can start training them during pregnancy to
get them used to the idea. Trying to push a nosy pet away
whilst breastfeeding adds an extra challenge you can cope
with, but may prefer to do without.
Making the introduction
The best way to do an initial introduction is actually quite similar for both dogs and cats.
Get a blanket or piece of clothing and rub it over your baby to
get their scent onto it. If still in hospital, partners can take this
home and leave for your pet to sniff to get used to the scent,
which will also be mixed with your scent.
As a new mum, if you have been away in hospital, it is a good
idea to keep your pet in a quiet room to begin with, bring your
baby in and settle them with someone else and then go and
greet your pet so they can get over their initial excitement and
you can reconnect with them.
Worcester and Droitwich Branch Spring 2015
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