Need advice from other parents with pets-- how did you introduce your pets to your new baby and what problems did you run into? I have been trying to get my two cats used to the nursery and they love the baby furniture. Both cats sleep with us and for the first few months the baby will be sleeping in our room in his pack n play, and I am worried that our cats will try to get in with him but also worried that if I force them out of the bedroom that they will become agitated and upset, leading to more problems. They are both extremely curious and affectionate with us, and I’m nervous that too many boundaries will cause them to get jealous of the new baby. Help! Any tips are appreciated.
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I set everything up before my baby came like months before So my cat and dog could get used to it all. My cat was in all the baby’s stuff before she came but when she arrived home and my cat saw the baby in it, she didn’t bother it anymore. She loved the bassinet so I just made her her own with a basket and blanket and she slept in that instead. She still goes in the baby’s room and crib ect but not while she’s sleeping. We never had any issues and when introducing her I just put the car seat on the floor and let my cat come to her and she really didn’t care lol. Now that my baby can crawl my cat teases her aha. Everything was fine! I just made sure to give the animals attention still too even if that was giving them a treat and we still keep to our same routine. They adapted pretty well!
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While your in hospital, take a receiving blanket or anything that will the baby’s scent on it. Let the pet get used to their scent. Worked for us with the grand babies
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Put a crib sheet over the pack n play to prevent them from jumping in
I don’t have cats but my mom does and when I’d leave my baby girl there for the night the cats never really payed much attention to the baby, they’d rub up against her if she was on the floor or they’d occasionally try to join her in her swing but they never had an issue with the cats and the crib the cats normally just crashed in the big bed with mom and dad and left baby be 
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Let them sniff and whatnot whenever they want to. Dont keep them from the baby at all and just make sure that if they cuddle with it. Keep them away from the babys face
With my oldest we spent some time in the hospital after birth so I had my hubby take home her baby blankets and lay them inside his crate to get familiar with my daughters scent. The day we came home, I went into the house alone and cuddled our dog… I then sat the car seat on the ground and let him sniff her out. He was fine, with my second we were discharged 24 hrs later and I just went with the flow. It’s all about the dogs temperament too. My male dog was a chihuahua who only liked me and my female dog loved everyone.
With my cat I was very scared, however she knows the word no and she knows when she isnt allowed somewhere. I set up the pack n play about 2 months before she was born, every time my cat went to jump into it I shouted no and she ran. Now she will rub against the legs but she wont go in it. Cats are very smart, set clear boundaries, even if that means using a squirt bottle when they get in it, they will learn that the babies area is off limits.
With my dog I never had any worries, she wont even hurt a bug, Shes so gentle. I let her smell the baby as soon as we brought her home, no issues with either and baby is now 3.5 months.
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Have the baby wrapped up in a blanket then bring that blanket to the animals before the baby comes home so they get used to the scent
Go with flow slowly introduce when baby comes say be nice. I had cats when had my first. My cat ended up being my baby protector and actually slept with when baby got older. My other 2 had dogs around them at my mom’s house one my younger one slept with big dog .Australian Sheppard…
We have three cats and three dogs. From the moment the nursery was done we never let them in there, and a few months before the baby came we stopped letting them in our room by the time baby came they were use to it and never got jealous over anything, now that baby is 1 they sleep in our room and everything is back to normal 
My indoor cat became an outsoor cat when I was pregnant with #1 because she peed on EVERYTHING that was for baby. All of it. Lol. 3rd kid is due any time now and she’s still outside. Happy as she can be.
With both kids, we brought home a blanket that was in the babies’ crib before he/she came home. This gave Oreo (our dog), time to get used to the smell first.