{"id":68443,"date":"2025-09-08T16:49:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T20:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/?page_id=68443"},"modified":"2025-09-17T07:37:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T11:37:36","slug":"preparing-pets-for-a-new-baby","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/services\/pet-tips-behavior-help-and-resources\/preparing-pets-for-a-new-baby\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing your pets for a new baby"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t\t\tPet Resource Library\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<button tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"Pet Resource Library Menu\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n\t\t\t\tPet Resource Library Menu\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t<nav aria-label=\"Menu\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/SiteNavigationElement\">\n\t\t<ul><li><a href=\"#\">General Information<\/a><ul>\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/services\/pet-tips-behavior-help-and-resources\/fireworks-and-noises\/\">Fireworks and Other Noises<\/a><\/li>\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/services\/pet-tips-behavior-help-and-resources\/halloween-safety\/\">Halloween Safety<\/a><\/li>\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/services\/pet-tips-behavior-help-and-resources\/moving-with-pets\/\">Moving with Pets<\/a><\/li>\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/services\/pet-tips-behavior-help-and-resources\/pet-odors-and-stains\/\">Pet Odors and Stains<\/a><\/li>\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/signs-of-anxiety-and-fear\/\">Signs of Anxiety and Fear<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#\">Introducing Animals<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#\">Dogs<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#\">Cats<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#\">Critters<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\t<\/nav>\n\t<p>The arrival of a new baby is an exciting time for parents, and it brings a lot of changes to a household. These changes not only affect the human members of the family but pets as well.<\/p>\n<h3>How do things change for my pet?<\/h3>\n<p>Pets view the world differently than humans. They rely a lot on their sense of smell and hearing. The familiar smell and noise level of your home are comforting to your pet. All the new smells and sounds a baby brings can be stressful and may cause unwanted behavior. Additionally, new parents are usually busy with the new baby and the pet may experience less attention then before.<\/p>\n<h3>How can I help my pet deal with the changes?<\/h3>\n<h4>Before the baby arrives:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Help your pet become comfortable with baby items by slowly introducing them in a positive way. Train your pets how to behave around baby furniture so they will know what to do before baby arrives.<\/li>\n<li>Rub baby lotion or powder on your hands and let the pet investigate. Praise and give your pets a delicious treat, such as cut-up hot dog or chicken, while they are experiencing the new smell.<\/li>\n<li>Play baby sounds in your home for your pet to listen to.<\/li>\n<li>If you can, spend some time with your pet around other babies. Praise and treat acceptable behavior while around the baby.<\/li>\n<li>Make necessary changes to your pet&#8217;s routine before the baby arrives. This includes retraining your pet to any areas that will be off limits once the baby comes. Examples might include your lap or the nursery.<\/li>\n<li>A few days before the baby arrives, apply a calming (pheromone) collar to your pet. This will help reduce the stress your pet will experience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Once the baby has arrived:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Don&#8217;t exclude your pet. Let your pet be around when you are feeding, bathing or changing the baby.<\/li>\n<li>Teach your pet to sniff the baby&#8217;s feet instead of the head to avoid accidental bumps.<\/li>\n<li>Smile and talk happily to your pet. If all the pet hears around the baby is negative, like &#8220;no, don&#8217;t&#8221; or &#8220;get down,&#8221; the pet will associate negative things with the baby&#8217;s presence.<\/li>\n<li>Schedule interactive playtime with your pets to avoid them getting lost in the commotion. This time should be without the baby.<\/li>\n<li>Provide a special place for your pet to retreat to like a comfy crate or room. Place soft bedding material and some fun toys in there.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With a little time and effort, your new arrival will be exciting for everyone involved!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pet Resource Library Pet Resource Library Menu General Information Fireworks and Other Noises Halloween Safety Moving with Pets Pet Odors and Stains Signs of Anxiety and Fear Introducing Animals Dogs&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"parent":67157,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-68443","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68443"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68446,"href":"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68443\/revisions\/68446"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehumanesociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}