The four-legged fur family

Kids in the house
The other mother
Grandparents
The four-legged fur family

If you don’t have pets, you can skip this section, but if you’re like many families hoping to adopt, you may have a gaggle of spoiled pups, kitties, or birds that may not view your new addition as much more than a bald and drooling competitor.

Although it may seem difficult to picture ahead of time, your beloved pooch will lose status when there’s a baby in the house, you’ll feel it, and so will Fido. He may be your best friend and companion, a wonderful comfort and your sweet little Snuggims, but one snarl at Junior and you’ll be looking at him askance for a while. Jumping up on the bed while you’re soothing the baby off to sleep, or barking at shadows in the nursery long before nap time is over won’t have you breaking out the good-doggie-chewies either.

Cats accustomed to curling up for their noted naps will need to be discouraged from doing so in the Moses Basket, occupied or not, and baby face licking won’t go over well, either.

Easing your pets into acceptance is important, and teaching new rules before the baby comes may keep them from blaming any fall from grace directly on the new little one. If your animals share your bed and you’re considering co-sleeping when the baby is home, you’ll need to work that one out well in advance. Getting the animals used to a few no-go zones in the house ahead of time is also not a bad idea.

Treating your house against critters that look to your pets for their daily bread should happen well before baby time, too, as you’ll want all residual pesticide gunk dispersed well in advance of bringing someone so tiny into the area.

Links for Pets

Here’s a link to an article about preparing a spoiled pup for a baby invasion. For some really creative tricks, BabiesDirect goes all out, and Dr. Spock has Cautions and Considerations.

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Credits: Sandra Hanks Benoiton