Dogs and Newborns

We have a dog and three boys who were all, at one point, newborns around the dog. I have to say that I've never heard this before, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not true. What happens? The dog breathes on the baby and the baby can't catch his breath? IDK. When my kids were newborns, the dog really didn't hang out that closely with the baby -- certainly not nose to nose or anything. Now, however, he's always trying to lick the food off of my LO's face -- GROSS! Of course if you're concerned maybe ask your doctor -- I'd love to hear if this is in fact something we should be concerned about too.

 That is a wives tale.  Cats might get up there and lip the baby's mouth but I have had cats and dogs all my life and while my children were tiny.  I had a cat that use to crawl in bed with my son Matthew and lay around his head.  Growl if anyone came into the room except me.  I had a dog that slept right under the baby bed for the majority of my kids.  He made sure that his new charge was well protected. 

Sounds like BS to me....if dogs and cats were really deadly to newborns if they so much as breathed near them...pretty sure this would be all over the news, and doctors would be warning about it.

i have always heard that a cat could do that. not dogs though. not sure if it's a myth or not.

here it was i just found.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/catsuck.asp

I agree with a previous post, if there was any grain of truth to it the doctors would be telling all of the pregnant moms to get rid of their pets. LOL. It really shouldn't be a problem, and someone should be watching the pets around the baby at all times anyway, so if something were to go wrong, they would be there to fix the problem. I wouldn't worry about it. We have a dog and a cat in my house and the cat hadn't even acknowledged my son until he was 6 months and the dog has been his protector since we brought him home.

Our dog was great with our girls when they were newborns. She pretty much just left them alone. Maybe a sniff and a lick here and there once in a while. Most of our friends have dogs and/or cats and never had an issue. Of course this goes without saying but we never left (and still don't) our kids alone w/ the dog. Just be sure to supervise them. It is a great opportunity to them to be gentle w/ eachother too.

Kim

well, we have 3 dogs (an australian shepherd, choc lab, and doberman) and they breath in Gavin's face all the time.  We were careful when he was 3 weeks old & didn't put him on the floor with them until he was a few months, but now they all love him! good luck & your baby should be fine

 Our dog was great when our son was a newborn. If I laid a blanket on the ground for my son he knew to never walk on it and he was a puppy at the time! The only thing I have heard are some dogs (mainly retrievers) can get jealous so you should keep a close eye until they get used to the baby, that's the only negative thing I have ever heard. Good luck!!

I've heard it but I'm pretty sure it's just a myth I had a cat and dog when I had my first baby and now we have 2 dogs with a second new born and haven't had any problems with them

thanks for the info...i was only concerned because the dogs are ALWAYS sniffing and licking my sons face, he sometimes startes to cry when it bothers him