Help your four-legged kids prepare for baby

Bringing home a newborn baby is a life-changing event, and not just for the baby's parents. The family's fourlegged children are likely to be a little surprised by the crying little bundle of flailing arms and legs.

But when parents take the time to prepare their pets for baby's arrival, they increase the chances their pets will accept the new family member.

"One thing I really want to caution parents not to do is simply relegate their pet to the backyard," says Ann Davenport, director of community resources for the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region. "Pets deserve to be a valued family member. It really is possible to integrate the whole family together."

She recommends that parents start by taking pets to the veterinarian for a wellness check and to make sure it is up to date on its vaccinations. That's much easier to do before the baby arrives while you still have time to run errands and, you know, sleep. She also recommends having the pet spayed or neutered well before the baby is born.

"It can really decrease some hormonedriven behavioral issues, such as territoriality," Davenport says. "It can help with things like jealousy."

She also suggests that parents who have friends with children invite them over to see how the pets interact with kids. Have treats on hand to make the experience positive for the animal. Any issues that crop up can be dealt with early by working with a trainer.

Davenport, who is expecting her first child in September, has firsthand experience working with dogs to prepare for a new baby. One of her dogs is aggressive with its food, and she's been working with a local trainer to make him safer around kids, she says.

A basic obedience class is a good way to make sure your dog can follow basic commands, which will be important when your baby arrives. "It also helps you bond with the dog," Davenport says.

Parents also can help prepare animals for the new sight, sounds and equipment that come with a new baby.

"The more that you can do ahead of time to help the pet acclimate gradually to the changes, the better off you'll be," Davenport says.

She suggests setting up the baby's room well in advance so pets can get used to the new furniture and letting pets smell the scents they'll experience when the baby arrives, like baby powder and baby oil. Items that move, like an infant swing, can be turned on occasionally to help pets get used to the motion. "You can even practice walking around the house with your dog next to the stroller," Davenport says.

Parents can also purchase a CD of baby sounds they can play to help prepare a pet for the noise of a new arrival.

"When you first get the CD, leave the volume really pretty low," Davenport says. "Over the course of weeks or months, slowly increase the volume so they start to get used to the louder crying."
Nice to meet you

Eventually the time will come to bring the new baby home, opening up a world of change for both parents and pets.

While mom is still in the hospital, Davenport suggests that dad bring home a blanket that smells like the baby, to help the pets get used to the baby's scent.

When mom and baby actually come home, the mother can give the baby to someone else while she greets the pets. They will be excited to see her after a few days of absence.

"Then, after you've had a few minutes to greet your pets, go in and sit down and take the baby, and invite the pet over to meet the baby," Davenport says. "Feed them great treats and give them lots of petting."

But keep the first interaction short, she says, stopping it while things are still going well.

Valerie O'Brien, mother of 11-monthold Morgan, followed this advice when she brought the baby home from the hospital last year. The family had two dogs, Boke, 13, and Colby, 12, and one cat, Jynx, 3.

"We let (the dogs) sniff her and they each gave her a ‘kiss,'" O'Brien says. "They were both very interested but nice during their first meeting, which was very brief."

After that, the dogs seemed to adjust well to the presence of a baby in the household, she says. "The whole process was actually smoother and easier than we expected."

After the first introduction, Davenport recommends using treats and attention to make sure every interaction with the baby is a positive experience.

Davenport also suggests keeping household routines as close to normal as possible - for example, feeding pets at the same time of day as before the baby was born.

"You may be up for half the night, and it may be confused by that," she says. "But the feedings are still happening on time, and he can still count on you to take care of him. That's a huge reassurance."

Playing nice

As your baby gets older, make sure you're teaching her the proper way to interact with pets.

"For one thing, you absolutely never want to let them have unsupervised interaction, because you never know what's going to happen," Davenport says. "You never know if your child is going to decide to do something to your pet, or if your pet is going to do something to your child."

If you need to leave the room, Davenport suggests using a playpen to keep the baby and pet separated. As the baby gets older, you can switch to baby gates.

When you do help the child interact with the pet, teach her not to grab at the animal or pull its hair or ears.

"They don't understand that this isn't a big toy," Davenport says.

O'Brien has worked with Morgan to help her pet the animals nicely, she says.

"Usually I will hold her hand and rub it on the fur and say, ‘Nice puppy,'" she says. "When I do that, I make sure only to pet her at the normal spots (head and back), and I do it very gently."

As early as possible, parents should also teach children to be calm around animals, avoiding loud noises.

"Teaching your child as soon as you can to be calm around the dog or the cat is really going to help them have a fulfilling relationship, because the animal isn't going to be scared of them," Davenport says.

Also teach children not to take food away from an animal.

Angie Trumbull, mother of three with a fourth due June 27, worked to help her children's relationships with the family pit bull, Mal.

"We have worked with both the dog and the kids to develop a level of tolerance with each other," she says. "So in other words, we made sure that we could get right up on the dog while he was eating his food, and in his face so he would understand that he can't and does not need to be aggressive with the food."

Trumbull also taught the kids to treat the dog kindly. Even the best-behaved kids will poke at an animal once in while, though, but the family has never had problems with their "big baby" Mal.

"He will just lay there and take it!" she says.

Davenport also suggests giving the pet a place to get away from all children in the family and just be alone.

"That's a really kind thing you can provide for your pet," she says.

Don't give up

O'Brien found that her cat, Jynx, had the most trouble adjusting to Morgan's arrival. "She was much more skittish," she says, "possibly because of the quick movements of the baby."

The family also found that Jynx would attack the baby's feet when she moved under a blanket, because she was used to a game in which she played with adults' hands that were moving around under a blanket.

But even Jynx enjoys the baby's company today.

"Jynx was clearly the most scared animal when the baby arrived, but she was also the quickest to warm up and even become friends with Morgan," O'Brien says. "It was not uncommon to find her curled up at Morgan's legs, sleeping with her during a nap in the Boppy pillow."

When a pet does continue to have issues with a new arrival, Davenport suggests consulting a professional trainer. She hates to see families give up on a pet that could be a rewarding family member.

"Be patient and understand your pet is going through a lot with these changes, and the adjustment period may not be easy for them," Davenport says. "But it's really worthwhile to make it work."