Preparing Pets For A New Baby

A newborn mostly stays where you put them. Six months later, that same baby may be crawling towards the dog bowl, grabbing a cat’s tail and dropping half their dinner on the floor. Preparing your pet for a baby needs to go well beyond the day you come home from hospital.

If you search for advice about introducing pets to babies, you will usually find the same suggestions.

Play recordings of babies crying. Let your dog sniff a baby blanket. Put the nursery furniture out early.

There is nothing particularly wrong with any of that.

But I think we put far too much emphasis on the big first meeting.

For many dogs and cats, a newborn is actually quite easy to live with. They sleep a lot. They can’t chase anyone. They can’t crawl into a dog bed, grab a food bowl or corner a cat underneath the dining table.

The more challenging stage often comes months later.

So rather than preparing your pet for one carefully orchestrated hello, prepare them for the first year.

The aim is not to make your dog or cat adore the baby.

It is to help everyone feel safe living together.

Prefer To Watch?

Preparing your pet for a new baby is about much more than that first introduction. In this video, I take you through what to do in the months before baby arrives, how to manage the first few weeks, and the stage many families forget to prepare for: when baby starts crawling, grabbing and dropping food.

Want the detail? Keep reading for the full guide, including behaviour, boundaries, parasite protection, food hygiene and what to watch for as your baby becomes more mobile.

Three To Four Months Before Baby Arrives

Start with your pet, not the nursery

This is a good time for a veterinary check, particularly if your pet is older or there is anything about their behaviour that already worries you.

Pain matters.

A dog with sore hips may be perfectly happy with adults who know not to climb on them, but far less tolerant when a small child eventually tries to climb onto them. Skin disease, painful ears, dental disease and other sources of discomfort can also reduce a dog’s tolerance.

Veterinary behaviour guidance recognises that pain and discomfort can contribute to irritability and aggression.

I would also deal with existing behavioural problems now, rather than hoping the dog or cat will somehow adjust once the baby arrives.

That includes things such as:

• growling around food, toys or beds

• snapping or biting

• severe anxiety

• guarding a particular person

• extreme reactions to noise

• chasing small animals or children

• a cat that already struggles badly with household change

A dog growling at a toddler is not the ideal moment to begin investigating resource guarding.

If there is a history of aggression towards children, significant guarding or behaviour that feels unpredictable, speak to your veterinarian and, where appropriate, a veterinary behaviour professional before the baby arrives.

Create boundaries while nobody is sleep deprived

Baby gates are one of my favourite pieces of pet equipment for a house expecting a baby.

Not because your pet has done something wrong.

Because physical boundaries remove the need to constantly say no.

Decide now where your pet will eat, sleep and retreat.

If the nursery is going to be pet free, make that change before the baby arrives. If the dog will eventually sleep somewhere different, start now. If certain rooms will have gates, put them up now.

The same applies to cats.

Cats need somewhere they can remove themselves from the action, ideally including elevated areas a crawling child cannot reach. Veterinary feline behaviour guidelines emphasise the importance of safe hiding places, vertical space and separate resources because choice and the ability to retreat help reduce stress.

A cat tree, shelf or quiet bedroom may become much more valuable once your baby is mobile than any amount of baby scent training.

Teach the behaviours you are actually going to need

You do not need a dog performing military precision obedience beside the bassinet.

You need practical skills.

I would concentrate on things such as:

• settling comfortably on a mat or bed

• moving away when asked

• leaving something alone

• dropping something they have picked up

• waiting at doors and gates

• walking calmly beside a pram

• coming when called

• being comfortable behind a barrier while family life continues on the other side

Use rewards.

Current veterinary behaviour guidance recommends reward based training rather than techniques based on fear, pain or punishment. Punishment can increase anxiety and, in some dogs, increase the risk of aggression rather than solving it.

You are not trying to control every movement your dog makes.

You are giving them several useful answers to the question, what would you like me to do instead?

Practise the changing household, not just crying noises

Baby recordings can be useful, particularly for a noise sensitive dog or cat.

Start quietly. Pair the sound with something pleasant. Increase the intensity gradually while your pet remains relaxed.

But think more broadly.

The pram appears. Furniture moves. Gates close. Visitors arrive. Meals happen at odd times. Someone is walking through the house at 3 am. A baby may suddenly scream while the dog is asleep.

Even your attention changes.

Dogs and cats generally cope better when changes are introduced gradually and there is some predictability in their routine.

If your dog is going to have a dog walker once the baby arrives, introduce that person now.

If your cat is going to lose access to your bedroom, do not make the baby’s arrival the day that rule suddenly starts.

This is Time to Think About Food

This is one of the areas that tends to get missed completely in baby preparation articles.

Once you have a baby in the house, pet food becomes a human health issue as well as an animal nutrition issue.

If you feed raw food, have a proper conversation about it

I know people can feel very strongly about raw feeding.

But with an infant entering the household, this is worth reassessing.

Children under five are more vulnerable to serious illness from foodborne bacteria, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises against feeding raw pet foods because they can contain organisms such as Salmonella and Listeria.

The concern is not simply whether the dog becomes sick.

Dogs can consume contaminated raw food, remain completely well and subsequently shed Salmonella in their faeces. That has been demonstrated experimentally.

Another study found raw meat fed dogs were significantly more likely to shed Salmonella than dogs not fed raw meat.

With a baby who will eventually crawl across floors and put approximately everything they find into their mouth, I think that deserves consideration.

If you want to continue feeding raw, discuss the risks and food handling with your veterinarian and medical team.

Move pet feeding areas before baby can reach them

Dogs should be able to eat without a child crawling towards the bowl.

The same goes for bones, chews and favourite food toys.

This is important even if your dog has never guarded food.

In a veterinary behaviour study of dogs that had bitten children, resource guarding was a particularly common context for bites involving children under six.

So rather than relying on your dog being endlessly tolerant, create a simple household rule.

Dog eating means baby cannot access the dog.

Physical separation is easier and safer than testing your dog’s patience.

Parasites and Poo

Your baby does not need to grow up in a sterile bubble.

They do, however, need you to be sensible about faeces and parasites.

Before the baby arrives, review your dog’s or cat’s parasite prevention with your vet.

The appropriate programme depends on where you live, whether your pets hunt, whether they travel, whether they eat raw meat or offal and their exposure to fleas, ticks, heartworm and gastrointestinal worms.

Some intestinal parasites of dogs and cats can infect people. Australian veterinary guidance specifically notes that households with children may require particular attention to parasite prevention.

Pick up dog faeces promptly.

Keep litter trays somewhere a crawling child will never be able to investigate.

Wash your hands after handling faeces or cleaning litter, and before preparing baby food.

One useful myth to clear up is that the common threadworm infection seen in children does not come from dogs or cats. Threadworms infect humans. Other parasites, including roundworms, hookworms and hydatid tapeworm, are where pet related prevention becomes relevant.

What about toxoplasmosis?

You do not need to send the cat to your mother for nine months.

Toxoplasma gondii can cause serious problems if someone becomes infected for the first time during pregnancy, but sensible precautions greatly reduce risk.

If possible, someone else can clean the litter while you are pregnant. If you have to do it yourself, use gloves and wash your hands afterwards.

Clean litter trays daily. Toxoplasma oocysts do not become infectious immediately after being passed in cat faeces, which is one reason daily removal is useful. Avoid feeding cats raw or undercooked meat, and take precautions when gardening or handling soil as well.

And once baby arrives, make the litter tray completely inaccessible to them.

Cats appreciate that rule too.

The Final Few Weeks

This is when I would make life boringly organised.

Have enough pet food and medications available.

Know who will feed and exercise the animals if labour starts unexpectedly.

If your dog has a lot of energy, organise help for those first few weeks if you can.

Keep some parts of your pet’s old life intact.

Maybe it is the morning walk. Ten minutes playing with the cat after dinner. Sitting outside with your dog while you have coffee.

Your attention will inevitably change, but your pet does not need to disappear from family life.

Bringing Baby Home

Everyone seems to feel enormous pressure to create a beautiful first meeting.

You don’t need one.

In fact, boring is good.

If your dog is wildly excited when you return home, greet them first and allow things to settle.

One adult can manage the pet while another holds the baby.

Let your pet observe.

Give them space.

Reward calm behaviour.

There is no need to push the baby towards their nose for an obligatory sniff.

For a cat, leave the choice with the cat. Some will investigate immediately. Others may disappear for several hours and return when the strange noisy object has gone to sleep.

Both are perfectly reasonable responses.

Bringing home a blanket or item carrying the baby’s scent beforehand is fine if you want to, but think of it as a small extra rather than the secret to a successful introduction.

What matters much more is what happens during the weeks and months afterwards.

And no matter how lovely your pet is, never leave a baby alone with a dog or cat. Young children have a particularly high risk of dog bite injury, and serious injuries in very young children disproportionately involve the head and face.

The First Three Months: Let Your Pet Discover That Baby Predicts Good Things

You do not need to constantly exclude your pet whenever the baby appears.

In fact, where it is safe, I like animals to experience normal pleasant things while the baby is around.

The dog settles with a chew while you feed the baby.

The cat gets a treat while you sit on the sofa.

You go for a pram walk together.

Baby crying can predict a small food reward rather than everyone becoming stressed.

At the same time, watch what your pet is telling you.

A dog repeatedly turning their head away, licking their lips, freezing, trying to leave, hiding, growling or showing marked tension may be saying they are uncomfortable.

Listen.

Don’t punish the growl. A growl is information.

For cats, increased hiding, toileting outside the litter tray, reduced appetite, overgrooming or obvious avoidance can all warrant attention. A new baby and the associated changes in routine can contribute to feline anxiety and urine marking.

Three to Six Months: Prepare for the Hands

Now things start getting more interesting.

Your baby may begin rolling, reaching and grabbing.

This is the point to look around the house from floor level.

Can the baby reach the dog’s bed?

The cat’s tail when she is eating?

A food bowl?

A favourite chew?

A litter tray?

A crate that everyone assumes is the dog’s sanctuary but which has no actual barrier preventing a baby crawling inside?

Fix those problems before crawling begins.

Your pet needs somewhere they can sleep or eat without being followed.

Six to Twelve Months: The Stage I Worry About More

A crawling baby can be bewildering to a dog.

They move strangely. They fall over. They squeal. They grab things. They stare. They crawl directly towards animals with absolutely no understanding of the polite social signals dogs and cats use with each other.

Research into child and family dog interactions has found that bites can follow things adults may consider completely innocent, including petting, approaching a resting dog and interacting around resources.

At this age, you cannot rely on the child to remember rules.

So the responsibility remains with the adults.

If you are actively watching, they can share space where appropriate.

If you are cooking, answering the door, showering, changing another child or distracted by your phone, use separation.

A gate, playpen, closed door or separate room is not a punishment.

It is good management.

The baby led food buffet is another problem

Suddenly your dog may believe the baby is the best thing that has ever happened.

Food rains from the sky.

Unfortunately, some human foods that commonly appear around children can be dangerous to dogs.

Grapes and raisins can cause acute kidney injury in dogs. Xylitol, found in some sugar free foods and products, can cause profound hypoglycaemia and sometimes severe liver injury. Chocolate is another obvious risk.

So once your child starts eating, think about what is landing on the floor as well as what is going into their mouth.

Sometimes separating the dog during meals is the simplest answer.

Do Pets Make The House Too Dirty for a Baby?

No.

Good hygiene is sensible.

Sterilising your pet’s existence is not.

Wash hands after cleaning faeces or litter. Keep pet feeding equipment away from baby food preparation areas. Do not encourage pets to lick a baby’s face. Keep parasite prevention current and clean up faeces promptly.

But a healthy family pet does not need to be banished from the home because a baby has arrived.

There is even interesting research suggesting that early exposure to dogs and cats may be associated with a lower risk of some allergic diseases.

A large Japanese birth cohort involving more than 66,000 children found dog or cat exposure during pregnancy and infancy was associated with a lower incidence of several food allergies. Other systematic reviews have found similar possible protective associations for asthma and allergic disease, although the evidence is observational and certainly does not prove that everyone should acquire a pet to prevent allergies.

In other words, keep the house clean.

It does not need to be clinically sterile.

Your Pet Doesn’t Need to Be the Baby’s Best Friend

This may be the most important point.

Instagram has given us the impression that success looks like a baby asleep on a Labrador or a toddler wrapped around the family dog.

I would much rather see something less photogenic.

A baby happily playing on one side of a gate while the dog sleeps peacefully on the other.

A cat watching family chaos from the top of her cat tree.

A toddler eating lunch while the dog has a chew somewhere quiet.

Everyone feels safe. Nobody is being pushed beyond their tolerance.

That is a successful introduction.

And if your pet chooses to become your child’s best friend along the way, lovely.

They have plenty of time.

When To Get Professional Help

Speak to your veterinarian sooner rather than later if your pet is showing:

• growling, snapping or biting

• guarding food, toys, beds or people

• intense fixation on the baby

• stalking or chasing behaviour

• severe fear of crying or movement

• persistent hiding or anxiety

• a major change in appetite or toileting

• behaviour that simply makes you uncomfortable

You do not have to wait for something bad to happen before asking for help.

With a few months of preparation, sensible boundaries and a willingness to keep adjusting as your baby develops, most pets and babies can share family life very happily.

The trick is remembering that you are not preparing your pet for one day. You are preparing everyone for an entirely new household.