Top Tips for Introducing Your Infant to Other Children and Pets
Infants are wonderfully curious by nature. Once your baby hits the toddler stage, you may find that this wide-eyed wonder has extended to touching objects and, yes, putting things in his mouth. This behavior is entirely normal as this is their way of getting to know the world around them.
This curiosity may be the reason why as a parent, you may be anxious to have your baby around other children or pets. We understand that it can be unnerving to watch your baby play with your pets at home, but with a few tips and tricks, you can make it a part of your everyday routine.
Set the Scene
Before introducing your baby to other children or pets, ensure that you have set up the space ahead of time. Set the meet-up in a familiar environment. This set-up can be done at home, where other children and pets are acclimated. When the environment is familiar, this creates less anxiety for children and pets alike.
If the child is old enough to understand, inform him ahead of time what to expect from a toddler- this sets expectations on his part and will help lessen frustrations. You can also prepare pets ahead by training them to respect off-limits areas, such as the baby’s crib. With proper preparation, your infant can meet other members of the family with ease.
Use Positive Reinforcement
Use this tip to praise good behavior when your pet is around your infant. Pets can get a bit rowdy, but when they know that their good behavior is praised and rewarded with the occasional treat or snack, this prompts them to behave better in social situations.
Positive reinforcement is not only reserved for the pets in your life but works great for children, too! Use positive reinforcement as encouragement when an older child shows good behavior around your infant. Words like “You did a great job!” or “I like how you behave around the baby” are great ways to encourage older children.
A reward system is also a great way to promote good behavior around an infant. For example, if your older child behaves well around your infant, you can give him a sticker or an occasional treat.
Introduce Slowly
Before introducing your infant to your pets, try to let your pets be familiar with how the baby sounds, where the baby is located and how the baby smells. You can let your pet sniff the baby’s toes or clothes, for example, with your supervision. This allows your pet to be accustomed slowly to a new family member and not perceive your toddler as a threat.
You can also slowly let your infant touch your pet; just make sure that you are there to supervise to make sure that it is a safe space for both your pet and your infant. Your older child can also get used to meeting your toddler by allowing him to join in the activities involving your toddler, such as feeding or changing.
Introducing your toddler to other children and your pets is a fascinating journey. With your supervision, you can create a safe environment for everyone. Try our top tips and watch as the friendship between your toddler, children and pets grow.
Ensuring your infant’s safety and comfort is important to you, and it’s important to us at Baby Merlin, too! Keeping your infant safe and snug in the Baby Merlin Sleepsuit is just one more way to keep your baby comfortable and safe.
Also in Our Blog
What’s the Difference Between a Swaddle and a Sleepsack
Five Questions about Early Morning Wakeups for Baby
The team at NAPS helps you tackle the issue of early wakeups. *BONUS* NAPS is hosting a webinar on February 24th. Register here and use the extra-special code MAGICMERLIN and you can join the webinar FREE of charge!
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The sound of cheery calls of “MAAAAMAAAAA” from the next room may be lovely at 7am. At 4am, or 5 am, not so much. Your baby may be up and ready to start the day, but you probably aren’t.
Answering the questions below may help you get there.
- Is your nap schedule mucking up your baby’s overnight sleep?
This might seem like an obvious question, but your baby’s sleep needs will change fast in the first few years of their lives. A quick look at the average nap number and duration might give you an idea:
- For babies from 3-6 months old, it’s normal to take 3-4 hour-long naps per day.
- For babies 6-15 months old, expect 2 naps with 3-3.5 hours of total sleep.
- For one and two-year-olds, you should expect a single 2-hour nap.
Part of the reason you might be seeing earlier wakeups is that your baby has graduated from one nap cycle to the next.
- Does your baby have enough time between their last nap and their bedtime?
We call this an “awake window,” and it can make a big difference. It might seem strange that your baby went to bed fine the night before, and you’re seeing a response to nap scheduling in the pre-dawn hours, but if your kiddo’s sleep is disrupted at night, it will impact the morning.
- 3-6 months, at least 1.5-2 hours between final nap wakeup and bedtime.
- 6-12 months, at least 2.5-3.5 hours between final nap wakeup and bed.
- 12-18+ months, 3.5-4.5 hours between final nap wakeup and bed.
- Is the room staying dark after the sun comes up?
Black 0ut curtains can make a big difference here. Remember that our brains signal wakeup when the light changes. So if dawn is at 430am, and even a little bit of light comes into your baby’s room, their little brains will PING with wake up juice.
- Is your baby going to sleep too early or too late?
It might seem counter-intuitive, but a late bedtime can actually backfire on you. Overtired kids don’t sleep as well. If you made their bedtime later and it didn’t fix the problem, try an earlier bedtime and see if that helps. You might be surprised.
- How do you make it better?
Try to make one change at a time; just one. Stick with that change for 3-5 days to see if it impacts things. (One night is usually not enough to see substantial change.) Be as consistent as you can with the change you made. For instance, if you decide to increase the space between bedtime and final nap wakeup, make sure to stick to the wakeup time you planned.
If your baby is waking up and chirping happily to themselves, feel free to leave them there for a little while. Let them get used to being alone in the crib. If you can, try to delay the start of the day by 5-10 minutes each day. This can make a big impact.
Everything else aside, remember that this is a short time in your kid’s life; as they get older, their sleep will become more regular, and so will yours. Don’t let yourself get too discouraged. Things are hard now, and you’re doing a great job.
