When Should I Let My Dog Meet My Baby?

Hello J.,

I'm due with my first child in Jan and had a conversation with my neighbor (who has two young children) about how she introduced her children to her dog. She said that her vet recommended that before bringing the baby home, have your husband bring a blanket or something with the baby's scent to have the dog smell. Then, when you do bring the baby home, have someone else rather than yourself or husband bring the baby into the house (it is apparently less threatening). She has had no problems with her dog and the children. You might ask your vet to see what he/she says.

D.

I would say as soon as possible. One thing we did with our dog ( he was 7 when I had my son and very possesive of me) is everyday when my husband went home to change and let the dog out he took a blanket my son was wrapped in from the hospital. This way my dog was getting used to the sent. When I got home my dog was curious and we had to watch him but after a few days he became protective of my son. Slept under his crib and made sure when you had him you weren't gonna hurt him. Also he would come get me if my son started fussing. Unfortunatly my dog passed last year but my son and dog ended up being really close.

Have you seen the Dog Whisperer? National Geographic on Mondays. This guy is amazing when it comes to settling down hyper dogs. I'm actually not sure when is a good time, but that dog needs to learn to calm down.

Hi J.,

One thing you could do is take a receiving blanket with you to the hospital and keep it with you until the baby arrives. Then keep it with the baby for at least the first night. Your husband could bring this blanket home and let your dog get used to the scent before baby comes home. Also, if you plan on changing any of the dog's routines, start doing it now, so he won't associate the change of his routines with the baby. For instance, if he is used to sleeping with you and after baby comes he won't, start making that change now.

Good luck!!

Hi J.,

Congrats on your first baby! What can sometimes help is if you take something to the hospital and keep it with the baby and get the babies smell on there. Have your husband take it home to the dog and let the dog get used to the smell. When you bring the baby home I suggest you let the dog smell him right away if he wants. Your dog may not understand if you try to keep the baby away. It worked really well with my dog. Good luck!!
J.

I had my first baby Boy back in may and I have a a very hyper dog. What my husband and I did waswhen we were in the hospital we brought a extra hat rubbed it all over our son and then my husband took it home to the dog. That way our dog would know the sent of our son. When we brought our son home later that week we had no problem with the dog around our son. Now that my son is almost 5 months old my dog will lay right next to him and not do anything to him.

Hi!
I tell my doula clients to start off by bringing home a washcloth or receiving blanket (that you don't mind the dog having) that has been around the new baby before you even bring him/her home for the first time. Try tucking it alongside the baby for an hour while mom is at the hospital. Dad can bring it home and let Fido sniff the scent - that way, the dog will "know" the baby before they ever meet in person. It will have your scent on it too - which helps reassure the dog.

When you finally make the in-person introduction - be calm, and maybe at first do it through a screen door where the dog can smell/see without being too eager. Then, let the dog in with you - without baby present. Wait until the dog is settled (since you said it can be hyper) and then casaully bring baby out calmly.

It will take time, but they will be best of friends for years to come - so be patient ;)

Good luck!!

J.,

This show on National Geographic- The Dog Whisperer, covers this topic. I don't remember the specific episode, you may be able to find it online. Caesar (the trainer) works with this couple about 2 weeks before the baby is born and then comes back to work with them some more- my husband and I will definetly be employing his techniques- we have 3 crazy dogs, one still a puppy- needless to say, we have a lot of work to do to get them ready for baby. I would recommend trying to get your hands on that episode. Good Luck!

We have 2 high strung dogs and we introduce them right away. All throughout my pregnancy I'd let the dogs rest their head on my tummy and I'd talk to them about the baby to come. When my daughter was born, my husband brought home a hat she wore at the hospital for the dogs to familiarize themselves with her scent. When we got home, I set the carrier down on the coffee table and couch where the dogs could see and smell her, and I'd sit with them to supervise the interaction. It only took about 5-10 minutes for them to get to know her.

Really, your vet would be a great source to turn to for advice on socializing your dogs with your baby. We always supervise their interaction and they do great.

I have heard that the best thing to do is while you are in the hospital, have your husband take home one of the baby's hospital shirts (worn, of course) for the dog to smell and become familiar with. Anything that smells like baby will get the dog comfortable with the smeel before you bring baby home. My dogs knew something was going on when I was pregnant, they would follow me everywhere and watch me in the bathroom! They don't mind my daughter, but are still a little jealous.

Hi there, we have a yellow lab who is 5 and I was worried about the crazy energy between the new baby and him, but it all worked out fine. You know I'm convinced that our baby was aware of the dogs in the womb, I mean he heard all the comotion, and he seemed unphased by it once he was born. We came home from the hospital with the little guy in his carrier, and we just put him on the coffee table and with our Toby on a leash we brought him over to sniff the baby, he was very curious, but also kind of calm and slowed down the wagging, almost like he knew there was prescious cargo in there. The baby didn't seem to care about the dog, and now he's 7 months old and they love each other, he pets him and gets kisses once in a while too.

Hope this helps

M.

Having the dog smell the baby's hospital things before you bring him home is a good idea. Also, regardless of how sweet your dog is, you should never leave Dog alone with Baby.

It might take some adjustment for your dog to get used to the new arrangements.

Hello, be sure that the blanket was one of the first that the baby was wrapped in. No kidding, my husband took the first one home to our dog. The blanket had all the smells on it. We're convinced that because it had our son's smell and my smell on it that Casey, our dog, recognized that the two smells are intrinsic. When I came home I sat on the couch with our son and my husband brought Casey into the living room and let her come over and smell the baby. I essentially presented our son to our dog and she sort of had some sort of recognition and then went over to my husband again, then they both came over to the couch to be with my son and myself.

First things first, you need to start trying to get the dogs to settle down. When you get home ignore them if they are super hyper. We have a great dane puppy who was only a year when we had our daughter. She would jump up like crazy when we would get home, and so we just started saying hi when we would open the door. She is much better now. I would suggest taking a class, introducing your pet to your baby (at Luthern Medical Center, Wheatridge CO) **great class, a lot of --duhs, but stuff you don't think about until they say it. I would personally introduce your pet to your baby ASAP. If you include your dogs in the baby's activities they are going to be more accepting of the baby. So when the baby is awake/feeding have the dog be in the same room, if the baby is alseep don't play w/ the dog. Dogs are smart, and they will begin to coorilate that baby-sleeping =more attention, and possibly not accept the child.....start pulling your dogs hair (making sure there is no aggression), start moving the food bowl around when the dog is eating from it, maybe buy a CD w/baby noises, so the dogs can get familiar to the sounds?...my biggest refferal would be to take a class on introducing your pet to your baby.
let me know if you have more questions!

Introduce the dog now! I once did a dog training video and they suggested several things: Put out baby toys, wear baby lotion you'll be using on the baby, let the dog walk around the baby's room. Try introducing the dog to new baby smells such as shampoo and detergent. I'm sure you can find more info on the net! Good luck!

Our doctor advised us to keep the hat that they out on our son was born and take it home for the dog to smell before we brought the baby home. I have no ideas whether this impacted our dog's behavior, but he was glad to meet the baby, wanted to smell it alot and somehow knew to be gentle with him. Still we NEVER left the dog anywhere near the dog without us being right there with them both. Our son is 18 months old now and he loves our dog. Our dog is sort of tired of being chased all the time, but he must love our son because he puts up with all fo it without so much as a growl.

The only other piece of dog advice I can give you is to plan ways to still do some things with the dog after you get home. Our dog was completely ignored for months after we brought our son home. He was great to our son, but has done some things to lash out at us and get attention (crapping in the basement etc.) So - see if you have family or neighbors that can help entertain the dog a bit if you are too enthralled with your son to care about how your dog spends its days.

HI J.!
WE JUST HAD OUR FIRST BABY IN MAY AND ALSO HAVE A HYPER DOG! MY HUSBAND TOOK A BLANKET HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL (THAT THE BABY USED) THE DAY BEFORE WE CAME HOME AND GAVE IT TO KODI TO GET FAMILIAR WITH THE SMELL. WHEN WE DID GET HOME, MY HUSBAND HELD KALEB WHILE I WENT AND GREETED KODI...AFTER A COUPLE MINUTES WE TOOK THE BABY INTO HIS ROOM, SAT IN HIS ROCKER AND LET KODI SNIFF HIS HEAD...AFTER A COUPLE MIN. HE CALMED DOWN AND LEFT THE ROOM. NOW KODI IS KALEBS LITTLE PROTECTOR...HE SLEEPS IN HIS ROOM BY HIS CRIB AND WHEN THE BABY CRIES KODI MAKES SURE WE ARE ON THE MOVE TO GET HIM. ITS SO CUTE!

I HOPE THIS HELPED!

A.

Hi J.,

I have the same name. We are also expecting our first, in May! We also have 2 dogs, they are still puppies at 16 months and Vizslas. So, they are pretty hyper, too. I have decided that they will be staying with friends at least for the first 2-3 days to let us and the baby adjust to the new environment. We wouldn't have nearly as much time for the dogs, anyway. I think that most dogs have an innate sense of knowing when to be gentle. So, that is my two cents.

Truly,

Jess

this is so old, but I hope the meeting went well. I wanted to suggest that you bring home a blanket with the babies scent on it for the dog to sniff and sleep with, that way he isn't alarmed by the new person as he will recognize the smell.