Go ahead and read my post below. I posted it almost 2 years ago as we were preparing to parent our daughter. Let me just tell you, I don't regret writing it and I still remember how I felt...but having a human baby child on top of 2 fur-babies has been quite an adventure. Oh yeah and then we got a puppy, LOL!
I have 10 times the empathy for the people who parent these duo & multiple specicies families. It's not a simple concept! You've got to keep everyone as happy, safe and generally as content as possible.
SUPERVISION is KEY!!! But guess what? It's not always possible. You think you're supervising by having 2 parents on each side of the baby at about a 5 foot radius, then a dog plays with a ball a bit too close to the baby and when he goes to pounce on the ball (as he has for all of his life), he scratches said baby across the lip scarring her for life. (Yep, it's been almost a year, that scratch is still there) whoopsie.
Dogs need to go potty, but baby wants to follow and there are stairs she doesn't need to be waddling by. Dogs want to get into a simple quarrel but baby is nearby. Baby wants to stick her hand in the dog food bowl, baby wants to dump the water dish, lay on the dog, pull their fur, smack them, etc. and it never stops!
Now let me give Lynx some credit at almost 21 months old. She's learning. It's always been important to us that even though she wants to be "rude" to the dogs that we give her guidance to treat them better. She probably knows better boundaries with dogs in general than most kids twice her age. But the first 15 months were generally rough and we had to keep adjusting life to suit the needs of all of our kids.
Then we got a puppy named Ziti in May. She's great, but she's a puppy. Let's just say she's amazing, and she's a stinker, and it has been way easier to raise her than this little human girl.
So the easiest route for us all now? MANAGEMENT! Don't be afraid of this technique. It means using multiple tools like baby gates, kennels and closed doors to make sure everyone is happy in the space they are provided.
I will stop babbling now, but if you ever meet me in person you'll understand that I probably could have kept going on for an entire book...Maybe someday?
All kiddos whether furry and four-legged or walking, crawling or scooting on 2-4 limbs at a time are not simple and putting them together is what can make things a bit complicated. BUT they are ALL WORTH IT!
I have 10 times the empathy for the people who parent these duo & multiple specicies families. It's not a simple concept! You've got to keep everyone as happy, safe and generally as content as possible.
SUPERVISION is KEY!!! But guess what? It's not always possible. You think you're supervising by having 2 parents on each side of the baby at about a 5 foot radius, then a dog plays with a ball a bit too close to the baby and when he goes to pounce on the ball (as he has for all of his life), he scratches said baby across the lip scarring her for life. (Yep, it's been almost a year, that scratch is still there) whoopsie.
Dogs need to go potty, but baby wants to follow and there are stairs she doesn't need to be waddling by. Dogs want to get into a simple quarrel but baby is nearby. Baby wants to stick her hand in the dog food bowl, baby wants to dump the water dish, lay on the dog, pull their fur, smack them, etc. and it never stops!
Now let me give Lynx some credit at almost 21 months old. She's learning. It's always been important to us that even though she wants to be "rude" to the dogs that we give her guidance to treat them better. She probably knows better boundaries with dogs in general than most kids twice her age. But the first 15 months were generally rough and we had to keep adjusting life to suit the needs of all of our kids.
Then we got a puppy named Ziti in May. She's great, but she's a puppy. Let's just say she's amazing, and she's a stinker, and it has been way easier to raise her than this little human girl.
So the easiest route for us all now? MANAGEMENT! Don't be afraid of this technique. It means using multiple tools like baby gates, kennels and closed doors to make sure everyone is happy in the space they are provided.
I will stop babbling now, but if you ever meet me in person you'll understand that I probably could have kept going on for an entire book...Maybe someday?
All kiddos whether furry and four-legged or walking, crawling or scooting on 2-4 limbs at a time are not simple and putting them together is what can make things a bit complicated. BUT they are ALL WORTH IT!
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