Are there any rules specific to having pets like cats or dogs around newborns, or in the same house? I don't own any pets but I am about to give birth and we were thinking about getting a kitten later on down the road, maybe when our baby is about 2 or 3 years old. I don't know if it's safe for the kitten though! Or the baby!
2007-12-01 05:05:28 · 7 answers · asked by Spiritual One 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
Doctors are actually finding that newborns that are exposed to animals like cats and dogs end up having healthier immune systems (aka no allergies).
Cats are perfectly fine with babies, especially if the baby is there first. That way, the animal has no opportunity to get jealous. I would be more worried about the cat with a toddler pulling its tail than the other way around.
2007-12-01 05:09:34 · answer #1 · answered by not too creative 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I had 3 cats and a dog when my daughter was born. The only 'rule' is to never leave a pet and baby together unattended - even for a minute.
Be aware that kittens are very playful and often scratch and bite during play for the first few months, and toddlers can sometimes be pretty rough. It might be best to either wait until your baby is more like 4 or 5, or get an adult cat or older kitten that's past the wild 'n crazy stage.
2007-12-01 13:19:38 · answer #2 · answered by daa 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is fine. I am a veterinarian and we have always had pets in the home. We have a snake, turtles, geckos, 2 cats, 2 dogs, fish, and we have box turtles or rather, our oldest son has box turtles.
I find that having animals with children creates and atmosphere in the home where the children learn respect of animals at an early age. All 3 of ours are so gentle with the animals. We do not let the baby touch the snake, turtles, geckos, or the fish obviously but she does touch the rest.
We also swear by teaching baby to be gentle from an early age. It works here for us.
torey- that is outdated information. Years ago when babies died of SIDS, they assumed that the reason the baby died was due to the cat/kitten "sucking the baby's breath away". It is false. I can tell you that for all of our kids, our animals will not go near the baby when they are asleep and Lol...awake usually as well.
2007-12-01 13:15:53 · answer #3 · answered by Sage 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Im giving birth to my first in April- and we are absolutley keeping my cat around.. she is sooo gentle. She's the baby of the family right now ..we are more worried that my son will get too playfull with her later on down the road and make HER mad.. not the other way around lol! Besides, she is very timid and good with people anywys... my OB and vet both said there's nothing wrong w/ keeping the cat and dog (small yorkshire terrier)...
2007-12-01 14:00:19 · answer #4 · answered by missyd1605 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's fine! The only thing you would have to make sure is that at night when the baby is sleeping you should keep the kitten out of the babies room, so that way it don't fall asleep on the babies face, I don't know exactly how to word it but it happens sometimes, just make sure you keep the kitten in a seperate room while your baby is sleeping.
To the person above me...My cat used to sleep on my face all the time, and I was just old enough to move it away. I have seen SEVERAL animals sleep with children while they are sleeping. I'm not saying that animals mean to do it, but it's still something to prevent, even if it's not that common, because it does happen.
2007-12-01 13:18:04 · answer #5 · answered by Torey♥ 5 · 0⤊ 4⤋
It's not save 4 the baby because kitten drop a lot of hair........ which means that ur baby can get sick.....its not a goos idea to have a kitten where theres a baby that young......... wait until he's first B-DAY
2007-12-01 13:10:49 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 9⤋
its ok, they only eat their young, not yours,
but seriously, the only problem would be allergies.
2007-12-01 13:07:45 · answer #7 · answered by Rich V 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋