New baby coming soon, how will Shelby act?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Shelby's Toy

Boxer Pal
Our first human child is due September 5th. Shelby Doo has been our only child (except for 2 cats adopted last year) since 1999, and of course we have spoiled the begeebers out of her.... Should we do anything extra special to introduce our Shelby to the newest member of our family?
I'm afraid Shelby will get reallllly jealous, and I don't want to hurt her feelings in any way - you know how emotional our babies can get!
 

Louby

Super Boxer
I hope that somebody replies to your concern soon as my hubby and I are trying for a baby and our main concern is how Oscar will react to the change. It is very worrying as Oscar too has been our only baby for 3 years and we do spoil him rotten.

I will keep checking - but thanks for bringing this to light.

Good Luck with your new addition xx
 

Dixie Belle

Boxer Pal
First off, congrats on the baby! We are expecting our 2nd child in late July. One of the things I would do to introduce all animals to the new baby is have your husband bring a blanket,outfit ,something that has the babys smell on it and let them smell it. When you get home take time out to slowly introduce them to the actual baby. We did this with our first child, now 4. I also seen this on TV recently. So far though we are confident our Dixie Belle will do great when the baby comes. We treat her just like our skin child preparing them both for the new baby.
 

Eric J

Boxer Insane
This is a topic my wife has been reading about lately, so when we are lucky enough to have children, we will be prepared. One trick she read about was to put up baby things in advance, so they learn not to touch them when the house is not chaotic. Another one was to have one parent walk the dog, while the other pushes the empty baby stroller, so the dog is used to it, and wont have to constantly discover it when a baby is in it.

Making sure you keep the dog with his own attention time after the baby is born to help him/her deal with any I feel left out or jealousy issues, I understand is very important.
 

pep0987

Super Boxer
The best advice I can give is,1 get the baby's room ready,2 make that room off limits to the dog.3 only allow you fur baby to be in there when you are there in the room. 4 Find friends who have small children and who like big dogs. The baby stuff is a great idea. if you can't or don't have friends with babies or they don't like big dogs, buy a baby doll and pratice with your fur baby, what the rules are, I hope this helps.
 

mfrfr

Boxer Pal
Hi there! First of all, congratulations! I have a 17 month old son and the dogs did great with him! Keep in mind that your boxer will be aware that something is up throughout your pregnancy. My female, who had to be carried to her crate, suddenly would enter it on her own as my belly grew! When I was in labor (we stayed home as long as possible), my female helped me through contractions and my male barked. They definitely knew something was up. We forgot to do the blanket from the hospital thing, but I've heard that helps. We let the dogs see our son when we first brought him home and let them sniff and lick his feet. We limited face to face contact for a little while and eventually they got to be up close to Frankie. At first they were very curious. We let them explore and look at Frankie and we made an effort to not to be too jumpy (difficult for first time parents- lol).

Our son sleeps with us and the dogs sleep in our bedroom so we really are like a pack. The dogs seemed to understand that our son is a baby and they always knew to be careful with him. Of course, you never leave a baby/child unattended with dogs. I always gave my dogs love and praise when they were good and I was very careful to not give them reason to fear the baby. We tried to keep things as normal as possible to make the transition of a new baby easier for them.

That's all I can think of for now! Good luck!
 
We already had 2 boys when we got Rowdy. He has been very gentle with the baby (Noah). Noah is almost 8 months old and he is starting to like Rowdy. Rowdy steals a quick kiss every once in a while, but knows that the baby is "off limits" as a play buddy. Congratulations on your future arrival. If it is a boy, I have become an authority on boys 8 or younger. The first one is not too bad because you can "tag team" him. While Mom is nursing or changing him, Dad can prepare bottles, pack the diaper bag, get the car seat ready and stay out of Mom's way.
 

RileyMom

Boxer Booster
First of all congratulations! You're in for a fantastic adventure!

I have a 22 month old boxer baby boy named Riley and an 8 month old human baby boy named Declan. They are already becoming great friends and it is wonderful to see them interact.

We did prepare the nursery well in advance, at least a month ahead of time, and let Riley in to explore and sniff things but taught him that the things in there were NOT his toys. We only let him go in there when we were in there with him. Otherwise we kept a baby gate across the door (he knocked over the baby gate once and it scares the dickens out of him so now he won't even go near them!).

I think Riley was aware that something was up with me because he did become much more vocal and protective during my pregnancy. Not sure if that was just a maturity thing or if he "knew" he would have a new role as protector.

We also had to go out and buy a nice plushy bed for Riley, because he was sleeping in our bed with us, and I thought that would be a less-than-ideal arrangement for nighttime feedings (whenever I got out of bed to pee, which was often,
when I was pregnant, I'd come back to find that Riley had stolen my spot!!). Anyway, we made the transition to his own bed about a month before too.

When Declan was born, my husband brought home the little knit cap they put on his head when he "first came out". It was kind of icky with stains on it, so we figured Riley would get a good idea of "scent". Riley was able to sniff and sniff and sniff it and he was told all about his new "baby brother."

When we brought Declan home, I went into the house first, by myself, and greeted Riley. He was so excited to see me since I hadn't been there in a couple days. After a few minutes my husband brought in the baby, and we allowed Riley to sniff at him a bit before baby and I retired to our room for a nap!

Guests that came to see the baby knew to give Riley some love too! It really is like having another child. I've read/heard that you need to consider a dog like a 2-year old around the baby. They can only understand so much of what you're telling them to do/not do, and you would never leave a 2 year old unattended with an infant.

Riley has really been terrific during this whole new "adventure" for all of us. He's still our baby.

Sorry so long! Hope it is somewhat helpful or encouraging. Good luck again!

Courtney

PS. One thing you may find VERY helpful is a Baby Bjorn frontpack carrier. I found it SO much easier to walk Riley with the baby in that rather than trying to juggle a stroller and leash. I still use it now, even though Riley is quite used to the stroller too. The only thing it makes tricky is the poop pick-up! ;-)
 

Canadabeth

Boxer Pal
Hi everybody,

Thanks for all your useful information! I too am joining the ranks of skinbaby motherhood in September 2002. And I already have 2 boxer babies at home, Trapper age 3 and Reeghan age 18 months. I will keep all these tips in mind.

Someone else suggested to me to try to get a recording of a baby crying to bring home to your Boxer so that it gets used to that sound and doesn't get freaked out by it.

My challenge will be stuffed toys as my fur kids were raised on stuffed animals that squeak and rattle. I have also spoiled my boxers rotten and so will have to be very careful to spread the attention (my poor husband is worried he'll never get any again!)

I look forward to the continued input!
Canadabeth
 

Louby

Super Boxer
I have just read this thread from start to finish and have found out loads of information. I am also expecting a baby - due next February and my main worry has been Oscar and how he will react. Thanks for the advice and 'Good Luck' to all the fellow mums to be out there x x x
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top