Introducing your dog to your newborn baby is an exciting time for both of you. As some of you already know, we’re expecting our second child. This time we’re excited to welcome a girl. More on our exciting addition to our family, later. Before we ever bring her home from the hospital, we need to prepare our dog for their introduction.
You may be as eager to get started as we are, but there are some things you should know before making the introduction.
A great tip is to have someone the dog trusts bring home a blanket from the hospital, that’s been used on the baby in the hospital. Place this blanket where the dog can smell it and then in their bed for them to get used to the smell.
Next, you’ll want to make sure that the environment where they will be meeting is safe for both of them. Make sure there are no sharp objects or breakable items in reach of either party and keep other pets out of the way. You don’t want them to don’t interfere with this process. This could inadvertently cause stress. Also, remember that dogs have sensitive hearing and might not appreciate loud noises. By this, I mean crying babies or vacuum cleaners running nearby during their initial meeting.
Safety Tips for Having a Dog Around a Newborn Baby
- While your dog can be a great companion for your newborn baby, it’s important to keep safety in mind. Here are some tips for introducing your newborn to your pet:
- Never leave the baby alone with the dog. Even if you think that they’re getting along just fine and there’s no way anything could go wrong. It’s better to be safe than sorry!
- Supervise interactions between them at all times. Even if they seem fine on their own, don’t take any chances!
- If possible, keep the baby’s room off-limits so that he or she doesn’t get hurt by accident while playing around in there.
Next up you’ll want to keep positive reinforcement handy, you’ll need it. Dogs learn through repetition so if something happens once without consequence then it’s likely going to happen again unless we teach them otherwise, through consequences, like taking away treats or giving them praise when they do something right (like lying down calmly instead of jumping up excitedly).
Finally, make sure everyone involved feels safe at all times; if anyone becomes overwhelmed then stop immediately until everyone calms down again before continuing with introductions.
How did you handle the meeting between your newborn and your furbaby or furbabies? Did it go smoothly? Are they inseparable?
