[Dailydrool] Getting ready for baby

[Sarah Frioux]

Or as I liked to call it, baby-proofing your basset. Our son is nearly 18
months-old now, and I'm still learning. But here are the things that worked
for us.
Evan's stuff was (and is now) totally off-limits to Koa. We tended to be
tolerant of Koa playing with some of our things before, particularly if we
didn't mind drool on whatever it was and he couldn't hurt it. But, if it is
Evan's, it's untouchable. From the time it comes home from the store until
the time we throw it away. Food, toys, clothes, bedding, everything. This
was really hard, since Koa is not, by nature, very destructive. But, I
wanted to teach an air of respect for Evan from the word go. Plus, that way
my MIL didn't freak about drool on the baby blankets. I knew that there
would be baby stuff all over the house, so most of our training was around
not touching baby things. And they do know which are the baby's things,
trust me. We also gradually weaned Koa off of stuffie toys, so that now
stuffie = baby always. That has made it a lot easier.
We also set up the nursery a little on the early side. Which, as I was
informed by my mother, is bad luck. But, the furkids had 2 months to get
used to the baby stuff before we added in the baby. And, I had 2 months to
work on keeping the cat out of the crib. Because my husband's office was
coincidentally located in Evan's room, Koa was not forbidden from the
nursery entirely. But, there were baby gates that restricted his access to
times when he had adult supervision. That rule has stayed, and Evan is never
ever allowed to be alone with Koa. Nowadays, this is more for Koa's
protection than for Evan's, I assure you.
Koa now only gets fed in his bowl. Even most of his treats go into his bowl,
which is convenient, because now he has to sit and stay when getting fed. In
hindsight, I wish we had done this earlier; we added this piece in response
to Koa stalking Evan around the house waiting for the cookie to hit the
floor. It didn't prevent that behavior, but it has increased the personal
space he gives Evan when he has food. Of course, the other rule is that if
Evan offers Koa his food, he has to give it to him. None of that "do you
want it? Well you can't have it" nonsense.
We also had to make it a point to include Koa in all of the activities of
which he had always been a part. Like TV time, walks, dinner prep. It's
instinctive to move that attention to the baby, but including Koa kept his
behavioral issues to a minimum. He was always allowed in the room with us,
even if the baby was in his bouncy seat on the floor. As long as you can
keep the dog calm-ish and he keeps a respectable distance from the baby,
it's all good.
Overall, we were pretty successful, I think. These days, Koa and Evan are
each other's favorite people. (If anyone is interested in pics, I have them.
Proud Mama's will always share!)

Congratulations on your new little person.

Sarah, with Koa "baby = cookies" and Othello "baby = hide under the bed"
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