Do you trust animals - yours and others around your baby?

You should never trust any animals 100 % and vice versa... there are incidents where children are hurt and many of these are from the parents lack of supervision. Like when a child treads on a dogs tail (it hurts) so the dog only snaps back in retaliation. Also cats do not know any better they are just seeking warmth...I let my animals near my children, but they are always watched and taught how to treat animals..

I have no problems letting domestic animals arround my baby. My step-father had a dog who was an awesom baby-sitter. I wouldent leave the baby home with the dog while I went out but what I would do was have a blanket outside and if the dog was outside I wouldtell her the not let the baby ogg the blanket while I went inside to make a bottle. Please understand There is a window right above the sink and I could see the baby at all times and when the baby got too close to the edge of the blanket she would walk over the that side and lay down to keep him from rolling off. She really was a wonderfull motherly dog and wouldent hurt that baby for any reason but if any one other family came near that baby she would rip there head off.

I don't trust any animal alone with my children. Especially with a baby. There are so many stories out there about how animals turn on kids that I would never want to take the chance and leave them alone with my child. There is no way to know what the animal is thinking so anything is possible. It is not worth it.

I have two dogs and a cat, and they have all three been allowed around my baby since he was born 18 months ago, but ONLY when my husband or I was around. They have never done anything to hurt him, except nibbling his fingers once last week when he was feeding them from his high chair (it didn't really hurt him, it just scared him). But you never know when your child might do something to accidentally hurt your pet. I know that with my pets, they growl at him to let him know if he is hurting them. Occasionally he will step on their tails or fall on them when he's trying to walk by. When he was younger, he would pull their ears and tails and try to stick his fingers up his nose. Now he knows better, but accidents still happen. There are some dogs that would snap at him and hurt him. My dogs just growl, but I'm not sure that they would just growl if someone wasn't around. Kids and pets both act differently when they are by themselves! My son does stuff he knows we don't like, when he's in his room by himself. My dogs get into the trash and get into other things they aren't allowed to, when we aren't around. I don't want to leave my child alone with the pets, and risk him pulling their ears or something else he knows he isn't allowed to do, and then having them bite him or scratch him or something else they know they aren't allowed to do.

When my daughter was younger, I owned a Great Dane. He was the best babysitter I ever had. I could put her outside to play and turn him loose and he would make sure that she never left the yard and that no one ever got near her. He was incredible. Now I have a German Shepherd that is about the same way. I am allergic to cats so I never had to deal with them around children.

that is a no no. animals can get wild sometimes and if that day comes I want my baby to be safe away from animals. often I read through the newspapers about incidents of animal attacks and this just freaks me out.

I worry more about the animals around a baby.Babies don't know how to react around an animal, they'll pull on it,poke it, provoke it somehow, then if an animal, even bats an eyelash, at the baby, it's all the animals fault because no one was watching when the baby crept into it's food bowl.I've seen more puppies absolutely abused, because it scratched a kid cause the kid took it's chewbone,etc.I've never heard of a crib cover,sounds kinda danegrous in a way all on it's own.

I do trust them to a point. They're not too bad when I'm home, but when I'm gone they like to tear things up. They like to knock things over or scratch up my furniture. I have 3 cats one is only 4 months old the other 2 are over 1 year now. I don't think I'd trust my cats to be by my baby (when I have one). It's too much of a risk. Like you said cats like to lay on the baby and drink the milk off their lips ultimately sufficating them. I don't think it's worth the risk of losing my baby just because you think your pet will be fine with it. The pet doesn't mean to harm the baby but they will if they smell something they like.

I think that many animals CAN be trusted but I still don't want them near my baby. Yes, there is the fear of them harming the baby by scratching or biting. That is something that can happen so fast and could alter my baby's life forever if serious enough. Even if I'm holding the baby, I won't let the dog near me or will at least keep him tight against me with his hands and feet tucked in. The dog probably never would do anything BUT why take the chance? My more realistic problem with letting the dog near the baby is that she will lick everything...the driveway, the garbage cans, other animals that she catches when she's loose, herself...AND the baby if I let her. Sorry but I don't know where her mouth has been but I know enough to not want it anywhere near the baby.

Id trust my dog alone with my baby, i have videos of her with me when i was younger, all she did was like lie there so i could use her as a pellow and bark at my dad when he got too rough, id think most animals are more gentle then humans are. and i belive that any story about animals attacking kids has to do the animal wasn't brought up properly. or brought up by a very violent person of sorts. i belive the animal learns from its owner.

Yes, its very true as i had a friend whose baby was hurt and injured by the pet cat, and that sratch still exists, so we have to be very very careful . And its not that the cats or dogs or any pets that we have are violent or do this on purpose, its just their nature i think and maybe they feel like its a baby or they maybe relating it as their own or something, thus make certain moves, which maybe theyd have done with their own kids at times, or maybe they dont like the new addition at times, and its an act of jealousy too at times. Either ways, we have to be very careful. I also have a pet dog and when my kids were born, i made sure they were out for the inital 3-4 months, when the babies are still weak and vulnerable and later when the dogs were allowed inside, they were always within my site, with the baby around. I never stopped the baby nor the dogs from playing with each other for a short time, but always at a safe distance lest anyting happens, and the dogs were always good and careful too, they somehow knew who the kids were and were all happy and playful with them always. So i had no problems with my pets at least, but yes, with cats weve to be more careful i guess.Its not that i dont trust my dogs, its just that we always want to be doubly careful that no harm should come to our baby, after all they are animals and anything can happen anytime, no matter how old the pet maybe or how much they love you and you love and train them, we have to be very cautious and careful there.

My cat was pretty good when I brought my baby home from the hospital a year ago...I taught him before that going in her bassinet or anything that was hers was wrong..I would swat him and he stay out...All he ever did was put his paws on the edge and peak in was cute..Or he would lay beside her on the floor when I gave her floor time...I think it all has to do with the owners of the pets to teach them how to be and let them know they aren't replaced.

As long as I'm around, I'm absolutely fine - I love animals and would want my kids to be exposed to them from youngsters, so that they don't fear them later in life. At the same time, no matter what the animal's nature, I wouldn't want to leave the two of them alone. I used to play with my dogs in the backyard when I was four or five, but any younger than that, I'd be more than cautious. Even with my birds - I know I've been attacked by my own friendly birds about 10 times too many, and it can be a scary thing having one fly at you!

i don't just trust animals you know why. well even if your pet is very well trained not to do bad things like biting family members and etc. it is by nature that they would really do what in their heart because it is their instinct on doing something that that flows under their brain and in their veins. yes i always i agree with this statement, cats are cats and dogs are dogs, they are animals. and animals are animals.

In the case of babies, I think animals should not be trusted, they are unpredictable.

i dont have animals in my house... but it doesnt mean i dont like them... i love beautiful dogs and cats, i love birds... but i havent have one yet... if ever i have, i wont let them be with my baby,... animals are animals... eventhough theyre sweet they still can hurt...

You're right, you should not leave your child alone with pets as they the two of them could end up being over excited and hurt the other one. Especially babies, sometimes they tend to be over excited with an animal they end up pulling its fur or ears. Hurt, your pet would end up retaliating to your kid. Or vice versa. Your pet could get over excited with your child they end up hurting them. It's best not to leave them alone.