Three Things to Do to Help Expose Your Kids to Pets
Bringing a new baby home as new parents is always a thrilling thing to do! Then you remember that you have to introduce the new baby to your pets. I know that was the challenge that I faced when I brought my son home, but I did have an advantage because my pets were already used to having kids around because of my daughter. However, I still did have to introduce him to the pets as a new addition to the family and here is how I did that.
The first thing that you are going to want to do while your infant is still in the hospital is have whomever can leave go home with a blanket from your infant. This way the blanket will have the smell of your newborn infant on it and your pet will start to get used to this smell. I know for me I had to leave the blanket at the house the entire time so that they would get used to the smell and when he came into the home they were all so used to the smell already that they were fine with him coming into the home. Which worked out great and allowed us to move onto the second thing that I did.
The second thing that I had to do to introduce my pets and my new son was let the pets sniff him frequently so they would get use to his look and scent that they were already familiar with from the blanket I sent home. I know that at times your pets might not want to sniff your new infant which is fine, but you do need to be present when they are sniffing them to ensure that they don’t do anything on accident by trying to be a great pet parent.
The third thing that I had to do to get my pets used to my son was let them see him often. So instead of shooing the pets away from him all the time any time that he was awake I would be holding him in my arms and let the pets see him as often as possible. I know one of my in-laws cats would actually want to lay on him and try to clean him.
I know bringing home a new baby can be a challenging thing already, but when you have to introduce pets to your new baby for some parents it might seem overwhelming. However, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming for any parent to introduce a new baby to your pet family. I know that these are the methods that I used and they worked out good for my children, but you will want to find the method that works best for you.
