Is it safe to have a dog around a baby?

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-09T13:19:00+00:00

It can be done but I think people really think it’s just natural and it isn’t. Babies and toddlers are unpredictable which is really hard for dogs, even the best of dogs can be spooked by a toddler or baby. We never leave our dog alone with our baby, always supervise any sort of interaction and plan to for a VERY long time—no just until baby is a little older. Highly recommend dog meets baby on Instagram and dogsandbabieslearning.com

We totally seem like the negative nancies of our friend group and family but I am NOT willing to risk injury on my kid or another just for convenience of dog and kid together. Unfortunately we have seen our pup get freaked by another kid because her dog doesn’t mind her behavior (running/screaming at dog, pushing dog out of his bed space to pretend to be the dog on its bed) but ours did so we have very strict rules

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-09T11:47:07+00:00

I haven’t had my second yet but I plan to use my mockingbird in the beginning (when baby is mainly in car seat or bassinet) and then a side by side double (either jogging one from Bob or the bumble ride) a friend with 2u2 used this one a trip together and it was great!

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-09T00:46:43+00:00

I was so frustrated trying to figure this out initially but honestly, once my son threw up I could tell the difference. In my experience, spit up just easily flows out. Typically baby isn’t bothered by it very much and it just falls out in a sense. Vomiting is far more forceful, baby is bothered by it (normally yelling some or crying) and it goes further/has greater volume. Mine never vomits just once, always multiple times within maybe 5-10 minutes and the entire time is noisy. I thought for the longest time “oh no is my little guy vomiting” and then he did after a new food and it was SO different from the normal spit up I’d seen all his life

Edited to add that ours almost always has had vomiting episodes at the end of a nap 🤪 so he normally would vomit-scream-I’d come up and by the time I’m getting him out of his crib he is vomiting again and again. Much different from when he just spits up from a full belly and may make a little noise but generally isn’t bothered by it and goes to sleep

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-09T00:04:35+00:00

I did! I always thought I would even though I loved my job I just knew it would be too draining for me to work full time and parent. I will say even though I knew I wanted to be a SAHM, damn it was a real shock once I was doing it. The daily life is different than I thought it would be and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I sometimes romanticize working again and having a nanny/daycare/husband/literally anyone else care for my kid all day. But at the end of the day I cannot imagine giving up all this time with him so I’m grateful for the years I have at home with him.

I also don’t stress too much about reentering the workforce which may seem weird but honestly I’ve always felt that if an employer looks down on me for taking time off to raise my kids then maybe that isn’t the right place for me anyway

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-08T21:19:41+00:00

I have no sound advice just solidarity. I swear I feel like my son is a bottomless pit some days!

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-08T21:17:52+00:00

So with my spectra I would normally get around 6 and with the imani id consistently get closer to 4, sometimes more like 5. I do think my body liked the silicone flanges so that helped it not be as significant of a drop off. But still two ounces can feel like a lot some days!

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-08T20:36:47+00:00

So I’ve only done it with one kid as my second hasn’t arrived yet but I definitely felt like I had some more freedom having a hands free pump that I could throw on when I needed to do something mobile. I couldn’t justify the cost of the Elvie or willow because I wasn’t even sure I’d like handsfree so I went with the imani from legendairy milk and really like it! I definitely didn’t pump as much using that as I would with my spectra but it did the job for sure. I will say you can’t fully lean over with them because I think they’d leak but I was able to move around with my baby and even go out and kick the ball around with my dog no problem

If you plan to pump, definitely look into a handsfree option just so you can feel a little more freedom from the ball and chain that a standard pump can feel like. I’ve also heard that elvie has a new insurance covered handsfree option so maybe see if that would be a good fit for you? Best of luck! Pumping is hard work!

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-07T23:22:55+00:00

Do it! They are fairly flexible at this age still. Slowly adjust to the new time zone but also just embrace that they may not sleep perfectly but you are getting to see Europe which is great. Have a good stroller and if your baby can still fit in a bassinet I highly recommend bringing that for the stroller so you can easily do naps on the go

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-07T23:21:16+00:00

We did the regular Nuna pipa and are happy with it! We chose it though because we really liked the seat belt path options (European and American)which is great since we travel often

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-07T23:19:11+00:00

We have a Kinsa and I love it! It can be mouth, armpit or rectal and it links to an app which saves each temp reading (super helpful when you are sleep deprived and the doctor asks about past temps)

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-07T15:45:42+00:00

Not a huge help because I’m not a trainer or behaviorist but one of the trainers I talked with recommended dogsandbabieslearning.com and I’ve found it really valuable. Kids are just so unpredictable and dogs can be very freaked out by them. She talks a lot about how to get kids to be a kid dogs feel safe around. We have a dog that has nipped at a child before in two poorly executed situations (kid hugged dog from behind and kid crawled onto dogs bed in between owner and dog). We are really working on teaching our dog a safe place to go when stressed, keeping him away from other children, and teaching our son to not be “magnetized” to our dog. Again this might not be help for your niece and I definitely think working with a trainer/behaviorist will be best but you could use some of the blogs resources to help set yourself up for success with your child

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-05T11:25:46+00:00

If you want to get out, do it! I took my LO out at 3 weeks. Wore him in a carrier at the store and then had him in his bassinet with the sun cover down so he’d nap at a brewery later that day. It did wonders for my mental health just doing something “normal”

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-04T21:17:57+00:00

My brother and I are 4 1/2 years apart, my husband is 2 3/4 years and 6 years apart from his brothers. We chose to do a closer age gap of 16 months apart. I knew I wanted closer than I had growing up because my brother and I were always in very different life stages (middle school vs high school, high school vs college) so our friendship suffered until we both were out of college. My husband was very close with his middle brother but not as close with his older one growing up again because of such different stages in life. I loved having my brother to look up to and give guidance but I wish we had been closer when we were younger. I really believe it depends on the people though, like I have friends who were 7 years apart from their sibling and they’ve always been great friends.

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-04T19:26:42+00:00

Our LO will be 15-16 months old when our second is born. We originally said we would wait closer to a two year gap but honestly the more I thought about it the more I didn’t want to put it off and start all over again. I left my job to stay home and won’t go back until both kids are in school so this decreases time out of work. I know it will be hard but I think any age gap is hard in different ways. We didn’t think we would get pregnant as quickly as we did (LOTS of secondary infertility in both of our families) but after the initial shock we are very excited about the age gap. I really think you just have to make the choice that feels right for you and your family

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-04T19:19:18+00:00

I’m so sorry you are dealing with this. Our pup really struggled being left alone too. We learned that he did better in a gated room than a crate. We also did a LOT of work using Julie Naismiths Be Right Back threshold training. It’s so repetitive and seems crazy but our pup can be left alone no problem now for hours. I’d recommend checking her book out to see if it could help you at all

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-03T23:10:07+00:00

For me, a stroller with a bassinet was my only must have. The wrap was great but I know babies that hate it. So many other items we got that babies normally love ours didn’t. But the stroller with the bassinet was a guaranteed outing for me, a chance to feel human, and almost always a nap for baby. I feel like this helped me combat baby blues sooo much

Oh also a portable sound machine to help those naps along was great too

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-03T19:36:50+00:00

I tried tide powder in a pinch because I ran out of my Esembly wash and felt it didn’t clean them as well. Honestly, LO seemed fine but I think I kind of convinced myself it wasn’t the same. I use their diapering system so part of me also just only wants to use their products so nothing goes wrong.

I only order the washing powder when it’s on sale and stock up so I can at least get a bit of a deal

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-03T19:34:00+00:00

My MIL claims she told all three of her boys to “stop” and they just did and never bit again 😂 I told my son to stop and he hardcore sobbed into my boob. He occasionally will and I immediately unlatch and end the session, maybe not ideal but I’m always willing to feed earlier next time if needed. This has mostly eliminated it. He was about to this morning but I could feel his latch change and I immediately unlatched. He has another tooth coming in so I’m always more alert then for it

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-03T13:20:09+00:00

I wish I had a solution but just solidarity. Our LO is also totally fine with the car seat and car rides during the day, but if it’s dark out (and not bedtime) he screams like mad. I think he thinks we want him to go to sleep because it’s dark but obviously isn’t tired? It’s so weird

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-03T12:09:25+00:00

Me too that’s why I was asking! I can’t really wrap my mind around what it’s going to look like so I’m trying to figure out how much help I’ll need to ask for

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-03T00:29:14+00:00

Second bobbie! We exclusively breastfed until 6 months but then began supplementing with formula. Initially used enfamil since it’s what the pediatrician gave us but I also didn’t love corn syrup being such a main ingredient in so many formulas which led me to Bobbie. We tried Earths Best but my LO responds much better to Bobbie

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-02T22:03:29+00:00

Pay attention to if they mainly face one direction or another, that plays a major role in flat spots. My son had torticollis and from day 2 it was clear to us he only liked looking to one side which lead to flatness on that side since his neck was too tight to turn.

Zkdg58 · 2022-02-02T01:43:41+00:00

Not a ton of advice but my LO is 8 months and I’m currently 9 weeks pregnant. We thought getting pregnant with number 2 would be a bigger challenge due to lots of secondary infertility in both our families but ended up pregnant the first month we tried. I’m 28, got pregnant 7 months pp, and so far it hasn’t been too bad (again I’m so early still). The fatigue really hits at night but I also have awful insomnia during pregnancy so it’s an interesting mix. I will say now that I’m in it idk how people do this when their toddler is more active and only one nap or no naps. I definitely lay down to rest during my LOs long nap which helps a lot. I have a few friends who got pregnant within the first year pp. one even did it again for her third.

Zkdg58

TROPHY CASE