Whether you are a mom, soon-to-be mom or a grandmother, it’s important to prepare your Pyr for a new baby or toddler in the home. Quiet nights will be replaced with a crying baby, routines will be thrown off, and your Pyr may not get the attention that he or she is used to.
Since my husband and I are expecting our first baby in a couple of months, we decided to start making small changes in our home now, so our Pyr, Dollie, is better prepared when her little sister arrives.
Setting Boundaries
Dollie usually has free reign of the house, but we’ve decided to make the baby’s nursery off limits, at least for the first few months. This will give us a chance to change diapers, nurse, and rock our newborn without a curious Pyr in our personal space. We’ve also set up Dollie’s bed right outside the nursery so she can have her own “safe space” while mom and dad are inside taking care of baby.
Doggie Daycare
Since I will be busy focusing on the baby and getting into a new routine, we’ve found a great, local doggie daycare for Dollie to go to a few times a week. It has already been a tremendous help as I near the end of my pregnancy. Daycare keeps Dollie socialized, gets all her energy out, and she comes home tired at the end of the day. I know it will also help me with my “mom guilt,” since I will not be able to give Dollie as much attention as she is used to.
Baby Noises
It might sound weird, but we want Dollie to be familiar with all the new sounds she will be hearing in a couple months, and that includes a crying baby. My husband has been playing loud baby noises on his phone and putting it into the nursery. Dollie looks around and starts barking when she first hears it, then eventually settles down. We’re hoping by the time a real baby is crying at all hours, Dollie will be unfazed.
Neighborhood Kids
We’ve been introducing Dollie to as many children and babies as we can the last few months. Luckily, we have plenty of children on our street that love to come outside and pet Dollie whenever they see her. Her size intimidates them at first, but once they realize she is a gentle giant, they can’t get enough of her.
Baby Blanket
One of the most popular pieces of advice we’ve gotten is to bring home our baby’s blanket or clothing from the hospital to let Dollie smell it. This will allow her to get used to our baby’s scent and be familiar with it by the time we bring baby home from the hospital.
We can’t wait to see our first baby girl, Dollie, become a loyal and loving big sister. We know our baby will have Dollie wrapped around her tiny little finger in no time.
