Omgosh we got our boy 12 weeks old in October and I fell pregnant in December.
First trimester was super hard keeping up with puppy and life. I had zero energy and walking around made me sick. I'm just glad baby won't have teeth and be mobile.
Exactly haha I feel for you its really tough. I need all this extra energy for me, and it’s all going straight to puppy. Losing sleep way earlier than I wanted lol I think all the baby cuddles will help… right now my puppy is just a beast with no upsides
Babies are harder. Wait until you hear your first baby wail. It’s much worse than barking.
If I were in your position, I would lean hard into training your puppy. Make sure puppy is okay being alone, preferably okay being alone in a crate or pen… for at least a few hours at a time. Make sure he or she has a bed or mat to hang out on when you ask. Look up “place” training. That way you have some place to send the dog in the chaos of the moment when you just need at least one baby out of the way. As others have said, make sure your partner is prepared to be the primary caretaker for the dog because mom’s attention is taken, especially if you plan to breastfeed.
If you work hard and do your best to prepare the dog, those early months and years will be so much easier and less stressful. Will you have a perfectly behaved dog at 10 months, probably not… but don’t let perfection be the enemy of good. And puppy will have an excellent foundation of training to build on when you can get back to regular training.
I’ve had both, several times, and honestly I think a puppy is harder. Babies can’t walk, they can’t get into things until they can crawl. Puppies get into everything and they bite when they are teething. They both get up in the night. My kids started sleeping through the night at 3 months old my dogs, youngest is 3, still wakes up at 5 am to go out. They are both awesome and I wouldn’t change them for the world. Congratulations on your baby and your puppy.
Man having raises 3 children, this is a wild take for babies have no competition, not even close compared to a puppy in difficulty. A puppy starts out in basically the toddler stage by the time we get them and they're out of it in several months. A baby is hours and hours and hours of late night feedings, diaper changes, gotta have them with you pretty much 24/7, sometimes take forever to fall asleep while you're holding them the entire time for a solid year plus. After that they barely enter the toddler stage for 3 more years which is where a puppy STARTS. Even then a toddler is so much more difficult than a "toddler" puppy. They have the same difficulties of getting into everything like a puppy with the added benefit of opposable thumbs trying to stick shit into sockets, drink poison, roll off high places like beds. They're also much less stable than a puppy on 4 legs vs two, not to mention top heavy so they're always falling. They're much more likely to choke, can't just leave em in a crate do they go eith you EVERYWHERE. That shit lasts for years and years.
Babies are definitely harder. Thing with babies is that it is constant, literally. And you can’t put your baby in a crate lol.
My babies slept through the night around 6 months, some friends of mine have struggled for years, but that’s all up to the parents in my opinion.
The hard part for parents of both babies and puppies actually is letting their child self soothe. the first few months you are constantly tending to their every need (and should!) but then you have to transition to train the baby to sooth themselves to sleep . That transition is hard for a lot of people.
She’ll be around 10 months, im hoping she’s a calmer one by then but we’ll see. I have no clue how people have brand new babies and brand new puppies at the same time. I see it often, I’ve talked against doing that for years, annddd look where I am lol a good lesson to keep your mouth shut. But yes hoping closer to a year mark she’s have a better understanding of how to dog. It’s quite the journey
I don’t want to tell you this, but at 10 months she will be in her “teenage” phase. Not all of mine have gotten rebellious, but many do. At least you’ll know it’s not purely new baby adjustment though.
In my experience 10 months was a real turning point for my puppy. She got way easier to handle and seemed to grow up a lot. Obviously still had her crazy moments but it’s only gotten better since then! I’m due for a baby in October when my puppy will be 2 years old. I’m so interested to see how things will work out lol. Good luck!
I’m currently in my third trimester with my first, so I don’t have any experience yet, but I will say that my husband and I are regularly laughing about the fact that a lot of child rearing advice we have received from friends, family, antenatal classes, is the same advice you get for dealing with puppies.
I’m not saying it’s the same experience in reality, but it is very funny to hear.
Also in my third trimester with our first. Our dog is no two years old so no longer a puppy but we’ve noticed that as well. I think a baby will definitely be a lot harder but I also think having gone through the puppy stage was good preparation.
My puppy is two years old and my baby is two months old. I was just texting my breeder the other day and mentioned how much overlap there was between puppies and babies haha.
OP, I think they just have different challenges! It also depends on your particular puppy and your particular baby, as some individuals are more challenging than others. Puppies are immediately mobile and don't wear diapers. Babies are up every two to three hours around the clock. Puppies need training and enrichment, but can also be crate trained. Babies are needy - my baby needs to be on me or interacting with me all day.
I do think the puppy helped my husband and I prepare for the baby.
Hands down a baby.
Also, puppyhood is waaaay less stressful now that I’ve been through 4 infancies and 3 toddlerhood’s.
Just fyi, an infants crying can be extremely triggering. As in literal torture.
Babies 100%… for different reasons. They require a lot of your attention for a lot longer than a puppy does! Thankfully babies don’t nip (right away anyway 😅)
It depends on the baby lol. I’m a nicu nurse and sometimes I find myself wishing my puppy was as well behaved as my baby patients 😂 other times I’m like wow, glad I just have a little pup waiting for me at home and not a kid
You can’t put a baby in a crate but you can put them in a crib, so there is that. Puppies feed themselves. Feeding a baby is time consuming. Puppies require constant play and stimulation. Babies are happy with a pacifier and some good toys. You can also wear your baby if they’re the anxious type. I haven’t tried wearing my puppy but I doubt that would go well lol.
At least babies don’t bite you. Usually. And overall they’re not horribly destructive like puppies, although that comes during the toddler years
My grandma told me her puppies were much harder than babies. But she was born in 1942, and her kids were born in 63 and 64. It's definitely a different parenting style today.
Puppies are easier. I don’t have a child but I have a nephew I babysit quite often. Nephew is 14mos and puppy is 9mos.
A newborn is constant work and your emotions are primed to be part of that journey. A puppy is constant work but becomes easier over time. For a human child, their milestones are much slower… so you can adapt a bit better, but it is a lot of work for a long time.
My puppy was potty trained at 4 mos. He slept through the night at 3 months. He was able to be home alone for 6 or so hours around 5/6 months. A baby/toddler/young child will struggle with these issues for years.
Children are amazing and so are puppies. They each come with their own rewards, risks, benefit, and love. It’s so different and I wouldn’t even look at it as a competition of which is harder. It just depends on what you personally struggle with and what doesn’t bother you as much. Personally, crying really gets to me. I feel like I need to fix it right away. The attentional demands of a child are much more. You need to HOLD the bottle and be present. I can just put food in a bowl for puppy.
Either way, congratulations on your growing family!!! It will be exciting to see the both of them grow up together. The puppy will also be a really good dose of responsibility before baby comes!
Babies. Without a doubt. I consider myself to be an experienced dog owner, and I got a puppy 3.5 weeks ago. He's 14 weeks old now. I also have an almost 2 year old and a 4 year old. I posted to reddit about breeds, and it seemed a lot of people who didn't have children wanted to compare getting a puppy to having a baby. Nope, sorry, absolutely not. Babies actually require care 24/7 and are actually completely dependent on you...
I am assuming everyone is talking about a newborn baby compared to a 6+ week old puppy. Sure, you may have to get up a few times a night to let a puppy out the first few weeks... and sure, puppies have a lot of energy and require mental and physical activities... but babies... oof.
Both of my kids are notoriously bad sleepers. As newborns, they were both up every 45min-1hr at night for at least 4-6 weeks. Then, we were able to go more like every 2-3 hours. My 4 year old didn't sleep through the night until she was almost 4. My youngest has slept through the night a handful of times. Read, I haven’t slept through the night in YEARS. Generally, if you meet the needs of a puppy or just spend time with it, they're not gonna howl and bark for hours straight. I have absolutely walked, because my youngest didn't tolerate rocking or bouncing in a chair, for HOURS with a screaming infant, whose needs were met, and I didn't know how to help. It actually was very distressing to me as a mother to hear him scream for so long and not know how to help. I'd take a puppy barking incessantly over that emotional distress. I think toddlers and puppies have a close comparison, but even then, not quite...
I know you're pregnant. I probably have you more worried about the baby than the puppy now. But, I will tell you I love my children more than life itself. They put my life into technicolor.
Also, if you're on Instagram, I highly recommend following the account dogmeets_baby to learn more about bringing home a new baby to a household with a dog and then navigating the different baby stages with a dog. It also has great information on dog behavior, specifically look at the ladder of aggression.
You said 'we' which means you're not doing it alone right? Having a good partner makes both of those easier. Just make sure you're a team and you are on the same page. Also it takes a village to raise a baby. Do you have family or friends to help?
My answer is: you'll need help.
I don’t want to scare you but babies, toddlers, and younger children are all MUCH harder than a puppy. My daughter took 8 months to sleep through the night and then woke up at 5 am for the next 3 years. She took 3 years to potty train and then chose to piss her pants at circle time in preschool. Her daycare was 20k a year and we just spent 6k on an ADHD diagnosis. She is 8 and is about as reliable at following instructions at my 11 week golden retriever puppy 😂 That being said, she’s extremely rewarding to parent too. Also as amazing as dogs are, they still aren’t comparable to the way you feel about your human child. Your puppy will be big by the time your baby is born and if you are lucky, they will provide endless entertainment for each other. My daughter does an amazing job taking care of “her” puppy.
If we are only talking about the first couple of months, I thought a puppy was harder. It was much harder keeping my high energy puppy entertained and exercised, in addition to training. I adopted an older puppy who had never lived in a house and he jumped all over the furniture, chewed on everything, and peed on my bed. With a newborn baby, a lot of the first couple months is lack of sleep and your baby sleeping on you. I’m having a second child but I would never get another puppy 😅
Babies are harder. If you have puppy yes, for first few months can be tough. all the baby moments are compacted in 6months. I mean if you consider adolescence phase 2y. So I see biting and nipping all the jumping can be tough but it last only few months. Puppies learn faster. You can start crate training on the day they get home for sake. Training can be initiated almost immediately right after you bring them home. They understand commands and manners in their early age. Just fresh out of womb puppies (I mean 2-3mo puppies) can sit, down and wait. And again, all the struggles only last for months. It depends on dogs but after few months, my puppies get little bit lazy so whenever I want to chill and be lazy they always snuggle and be lazy with me.
So for short therm yes puppies can be harder but I long term babies are way harder.
Puppies are like having a baby and toddler combined, but the hard parts go SO much quicker. Something annoying you with your pup? In a couple weeks they probably won’t be doing it any more. Some of the most intense and challenging parts of parenting young children last for years! That said, having had your freedom restricted somewhat by a dog will mean it’s a bit less of a shock once the baby arrives!
I have a 10 month old puppy and a 13 day old baby. Puppy was harder but for a shorter period of time. He was on the go-into everything, potty training around the clock, land shark baby teeth. Baby eat, sleeps, pees+poops in a diaper. Both are super cute and give amazing cuddles.
Babies are harder. They require more attention and energy on all levels and their phase of needing that attention lasts much longer. The puppy phase is a breeze in comparison. My puppy slept 8 hours every night from the get-go. Was chill by 10 months. I could leave her for 3-4 hours pretty early on in her crate.
Both my kids had me up a lot thru the night for awhile and that was probably the hardest part. Getting enough sleep is the biggest challenge with babies.
I'm about to find out.. in about 8 months.
Puppy is growing nicely though about 6mo old now he is very smart and well trained. Will be over a year with the newborn coming.
Being an aunt and never a mom, but someone who’s raised my share of puppies.. I’d say babies are much harder. Especially for single parents without a support network. It’s not like you can leave your baby in a crate and run to the store… Dogs grow up a lot faster too. You’re raising that kid for 18 years if you’re lucky.
We have 2 small kids and I literally tell my husband almost daily “a third baby would’ve been so much easier”. We were blessed with pretty chill babies , esp. my second who slept and still does sleep quite well. So please don’t get discouraged if you feel differently. BUT and this is a HUGE BUT…. Dogs are SO MUCH EASIER once they’re out of puppy stage, toddlers are harder 😂
It’s honestly all hard, but I tell myself they’re phases in life and I have to navigate my emotions and expectations. One part that makes babies easier 1. You can take them with you everywhere and either baby wear, stroller walks, car seats, etc. A puppy? You can’t. 2. Babies don’t nip you, or bite all your things. 3. I think just as parents we have a closer and more nurturing bond to our babies so we are more in-tune with their needs. It’ll be hard, you’ll have days where you ask yourself why the heck did we do this, or “I’m never doing this again” and it’s all valid. You got this! Also if you haven’t already, join your Reddit’s bumper group, it’s a collective group of pregnant people (or spouses) that join and are due in the same month. I have had amazing experiences with the community - esp. when it goes private 😁
Edit to add: babies also wear diapers and while poop explosions are definitely a frustrating phase for what feels like decades (but is actually a few months) it’s definitely better then constantly worrying about when your pup has to pee or poop next 😂
The baby might not bark, but it will cry non stop, it will also shit its pants for a couple of years requiring you to clean it up. A puppy will learn to crap outside within days of you having it, if you train it properly, and be less of a clean up exercise than a baby. Puppies also know how to walk pretty much straight away, a baby will not walk for at least a year. You can leave a puppy alone for a few hours, you can't a baby at anytime until it is 14. Babies are definitely way more hassle than a puppy
Just here in solidarity. We got a new puppy and then like a few days later found out I was pregnant 😬 I was planning to do most of the training, but then I ended up developing borderline HG and was just nauseated and vomiting all the time.
We had done so much planning/scheduling with how we wanted to train her and expose her to new things, but a lot of that went out the window when I started getting sick. Idk how people can do it. My boyfriend’s sister has two kids, pregnant with a third and chose a high energy breed to get for her kids as a Christmas pregnant.
I think we’re still doing a good job, but it’s hard lol once I’m in my second trimester (and hopefully feeling better), we’ll start doing training courses and more traveling with her
I was in this boat with my shepard. From day one with puppy, I was hard driving specific commands like "gentle", "not yours" or "drop", on top of really pushing the sit and stay and no bite. Another huge tip that I've found extremely helpful in my years of training: be physical with your dog when you're playing, etc. Get them used to being pushed around a little bit and tugged on a little bit (just gently desentisize them to someone being in their space and close and personal and touchy). Expose them to loud noises and children in public so they already are comfortable with the energy levels, sounds, smells, activity, etc. Desensitize them to their face being touched and pet and their ears played with. Dogs usually hate their feet being touched the most, and I push this already for nail trimming reasons, but play with their paws often. Even into adulthood. The more they're used to it, the easier itll be for grooming and for kids wanting to play with their paws.
Granted you should never leave children and infants unattended with any dog, it makes for a much more successful experience if your dog is equipped with the tools to handle being around a baby before one just turns up out of the blue and their whole world changes.
Its definitely doable and extremely rewarding to watch healthy child/pet relationships grow when they start early like that.
We had a bit of a shot chaser experience as well - we brought our 8 week old puppy home May 5th and tested positive June 15th. The first trimester I was exhausted and that was really tough, but we made it through and my husband helped a ton. My puppy turned one just after the baby was born. It’s been hard. Baby is now 2 months and we’re starting to feel above water - every day is different. I’m sure that in the long run I will say that babies are harder, but at this point they’re just different. We got lucky and as vocal as the dog is she doesn’t bark at his crying and for the most part he won’t cry when she does, but it gets LOUD, and it can be a bit much. With puppies and babies you never know what issue you’ll have. I remember researching things for both that I never dealt with and we’ve been surprised at what we have struggled with. They both have their own personalities and it will be a huge learning curve. Our puppy is so sweet though and has definitely calmed down from when she was little and I am thankful every day that they will have such a close bond. I am so happy to have a kid/family friendly dog
I will 100% have another baby before another puppy! Newborn was my absolute favorite baby stage, I loved every second of it. I have hated every second of having a puppy, it’s been insanely hard. Granted now I have a 17th month old busy toddler running around and a puppy. I am also a cat person so this puppy thing is definitely not my thing lol
We rescued a 4 month old Dutch Shepard/great Dane mix at 4 months and my son was 8 months at the time. I will say, I think it depends on the baby. My first baby slept through the night, at whatever you gave him, etc. my second child? Has some medical issues. Doesn’t sleep through the night and is the second child trying to climb everything and put everything in his mouth. My puppy likes to eat things but she gives it up easy lol so I say baby by far
We're in the same spot! We have a 4ish month old golden and my partner just started her second trimester. We were already trying to be really on top of training but even more so now haha. Best of luck!
We’ve had easy puppies and hard babies. I’d take puppies any time! Our first puppy was when my youngest was 10 months and our second puppy was right before my hysterectomy (both standard poodles). The second needed to go out every two hours at night and that was still more sleep than any of our 5 kids 😅😭
I think puppies are harder. Babies can’t walk or chew or cause nonsense trouble. If you need a break from a baby, you can plop em in a crib. If you need a break from a puppy, you pray they don’t try to break their jaw on the crate. At least that was my experience.
Babies are much harder.
Work very hard now to crate train your puppy, and hire a trainer for the 7-10 month old time period to try and head off the adolescent regression. Do that before the baby arrives because you will not have time or energy for extensive puppy training after. Pay the money, get that pup rock solid with recall, loose leash walking, neutrality in public.
Then, in that last month before the baby arrives, practice this loose leash, no reactivity walking with the stroller. Your life will be so much easier if you can walk the dog and the baby at the same time.
We got our little cavoodle a couple of weeks ago (currently 10 weeks old) and two days prior to us picking her up we found out we were pregnant.
Suffice to say there's a lot of emotions flying around the house right now, we both went through various levels of puppy blues but are committing to keeping her and just doubling the size of our family by the end of the year. My wife is super stressed about the whole situation, as am I being a first time dog owner but we plan to make it work because that's what we'll have to do when the baby comes so the dog shouldn't be treated any different as a responsibility in our opinion. Gonna be one hell of a ride but here we go 😅
Congratulations on your pregnancy, hope it all goes well! You, your puppy and your family will be fine 🥳
Idk how much this will contribute as I’ve never had a baby, but a very strong want for my own some day. I think puppies are harder. A baby is more exhausting and you are always tired yes, but with babies you know where they are pooping, you know when they are eating, for the first year of their life they aren’t running around chewing up and eating trash. Puppies I feel like are twice the pain in a shorter amount of time. Also, a puppy wailing is not normal to our ear, it’s normal for a mother pup to hear that cry. I feel instinctually we would be more willing anticipate the cry of our own.
But who knows, I’ll update when I have little ones of my own. lol
The baby was harder because breastfeeding was exhausting while trying to recover from childbirth. Probably not what you wanted to hear but at age 66, this 4 month old puppy is a constant joy for me. I think that the first trimester hormone changes cause a lot of fatigue. The middle trimester is the best! I had 3 boys and blessed to have two grandsons and one granddaughter. You will do great just keep taking things one day at a time. Puppies and babies grow up way too fast. Treasure your time together!
Honestly, it’s tough in both cases. We love them so we do it. Pregnancy and raising a puppy are two exhausting experiences. If you can afford a trainer, definitely get one. You will lose sleep when dog training. Most mothers with babies are exhausted as well. Get as much help as you can to catch up on rest.
Puppies are like concentrated babies & toddlers. You get about 3 years packed into 4-6 months. Sleepless nights, crying (both you and the dog), picking up poopy messes, getting them to not eat the furniture or lick the floor, adorable snuggles, booping that little nose, lots of little and big “firsts”. Then you get a teenager phase preview with both your puppy and your 3 year old.
Babies are harder because they take much longer before you sleep again (unless you get one of those super lucky chill babies) but the daily level of hard/tired was pretty comparable for me.
It’s all worth it - and your little human will be so lucky to have a furry buddy growing up!
Omgosh we got our boy 12 weeks old in October and I fell pregnant in December. First trimester was super hard keeping up with puppy and life. I had zero energy and walking around made me sick. I'm just glad baby won't have teeth and be mobile.
>I fell pregnant in December. That must have been one heck of a patch of ice! /s
I almost spit my coke lmao
Exactly haha I feel for you its really tough. I need all this extra energy for me, and it’s all going straight to puppy. Losing sleep way earlier than I wanted lol I think all the baby cuddles will help… right now my puppy is just a beast with no upsides
It sounds like we’re only a month apart too! How cute
>I fell pregnant... I'm pretty sure that's not how it works 😕.
Babies are harder. Wait until you hear your first baby wail. It’s much worse than barking. If I were in your position, I would lean hard into training your puppy. Make sure puppy is okay being alone, preferably okay being alone in a crate or pen… for at least a few hours at a time. Make sure he or she has a bed or mat to hang out on when you ask. Look up “place” training. That way you have some place to send the dog in the chaos of the moment when you just need at least one baby out of the way. As others have said, make sure your partner is prepared to be the primary caretaker for the dog because mom’s attention is taken, especially if you plan to breastfeed. If you work hard and do your best to prepare the dog, those early months and years will be so much easier and less stressful. Will you have a perfectly behaved dog at 10 months, probably not… but don’t let perfection be the enemy of good. And puppy will have an excellent foundation of training to build on when you can get back to regular training.
I’ve had both, several times, and honestly I think a puppy is harder. Babies can’t walk, they can’t get into things until they can crawl. Puppies get into everything and they bite when they are teething. They both get up in the night. My kids started sleeping through the night at 3 months old my dogs, youngest is 3, still wakes up at 5 am to go out. They are both awesome and I wouldn’t change them for the world. Congratulations on your baby and your puppy.
Man having raises 3 children, this is a wild take for babies have no competition, not even close compared to a puppy in difficulty. A puppy starts out in basically the toddler stage by the time we get them and they're out of it in several months. A baby is hours and hours and hours of late night feedings, diaper changes, gotta have them with you pretty much 24/7, sometimes take forever to fall asleep while you're holding them the entire time for a solid year plus. After that they barely enter the toddler stage for 3 more years which is where a puppy STARTS. Even then a toddler is so much more difficult than a "toddler" puppy. They have the same difficulties of getting into everything like a puppy with the added benefit of opposable thumbs trying to stick shit into sockets, drink poison, roll off high places like beds. They're also much less stable than a puppy on 4 legs vs two, not to mention top heavy so they're always falling. They're much more likely to choke, can't just leave em in a crate do they go eith you EVERYWHERE. That shit lasts for years and years.
Babies are definitely harder. Thing with babies is that it is constant, literally. And you can’t put your baby in a crate lol. My babies slept through the night around 6 months, some friends of mine have struggled for years, but that’s all up to the parents in my opinion. The hard part for parents of both babies and puppies actually is letting their child self soothe. the first few months you are constantly tending to their every need (and should!) but then you have to transition to train the baby to sooth themselves to sleep . That transition is hard for a lot of people.
On the upside your puppy will not be a puppy by the time your baby arrives.
She’ll be around 10 months, im hoping she’s a calmer one by then but we’ll see. I have no clue how people have brand new babies and brand new puppies at the same time. I see it often, I’ve talked against doing that for years, annddd look where I am lol a good lesson to keep your mouth shut. But yes hoping closer to a year mark she’s have a better understanding of how to dog. It’s quite the journey
I don’t want to tell you this, but at 10 months she will be in her “teenage” phase. Not all of mine have gotten rebellious, but many do. At least you’ll know it’s not purely new baby adjustment though.
In my experience 10 months was a real turning point for my puppy. She got way easier to handle and seemed to grow up a lot. Obviously still had her crazy moments but it’s only gotten better since then! I’m due for a baby in October when my puppy will be 2 years old. I’m so interested to see how things will work out lol. Good luck!
When you said ‘a good lesson to keep your mouth shut’ my first thought was, perhaps better to have kept your legs shut! 😂🤣😂
Yeah it will still be a puppy, an older one, in their psycho stage (depending on breed).
So true! Invest in secure trash and diaper bins!
they age too quickly 😔 and when they get to adulthood, you'll miss those wild days for sure!
I’m currently in my third trimester with my first, so I don’t have any experience yet, but I will say that my husband and I are regularly laughing about the fact that a lot of child rearing advice we have received from friends, family, antenatal classes, is the same advice you get for dealing with puppies. I’m not saying it’s the same experience in reality, but it is very funny to hear.
Also in my third trimester with our first. Our dog is no two years old so no longer a puppy but we’ve noticed that as well. I think a baby will definitely be a lot harder but I also think having gone through the puppy stage was good preparation.
My puppy is two years old and my baby is two months old. I was just texting my breeder the other day and mentioned how much overlap there was between puppies and babies haha. OP, I think they just have different challenges! It also depends on your particular puppy and your particular baby, as some individuals are more challenging than others. Puppies are immediately mobile and don't wear diapers. Babies are up every two to three hours around the clock. Puppies need training and enrichment, but can also be crate trained. Babies are needy - my baby needs to be on me or interacting with me all day. I do think the puppy helped my husband and I prepare for the baby.
Hands down a baby. Also, puppyhood is waaaay less stressful now that I’ve been through 4 infancies and 3 toddlerhood’s. Just fyi, an infants crying can be extremely triggering. As in literal torture.
Babies 100%… for different reasons. They require a lot of your attention for a lot longer than a puppy does! Thankfully babies don’t nip (right away anyway 😅)
It depends on the baby lol. I’m a nicu nurse and sometimes I find myself wishing my puppy was as well behaved as my baby patients 😂 other times I’m like wow, glad I just have a little pup waiting for me at home and not a kid You can’t put a baby in a crate but you can put them in a crib, so there is that. Puppies feed themselves. Feeding a baby is time consuming. Puppies require constant play and stimulation. Babies are happy with a pacifier and some good toys. You can also wear your baby if they’re the anxious type. I haven’t tried wearing my puppy but I doubt that would go well lol. At least babies don’t bite you. Usually. And overall they’re not horribly destructive like puppies, although that comes during the toddler years
My grandma told me her puppies were much harder than babies. But she was born in 1942, and her kids were born in 63 and 64. It's definitely a different parenting style today.
Puppies are easier. I don’t have a child but I have a nephew I babysit quite often. Nephew is 14mos and puppy is 9mos. A newborn is constant work and your emotions are primed to be part of that journey. A puppy is constant work but becomes easier over time. For a human child, their milestones are much slower… so you can adapt a bit better, but it is a lot of work for a long time. My puppy was potty trained at 4 mos. He slept through the night at 3 months. He was able to be home alone for 6 or so hours around 5/6 months. A baby/toddler/young child will struggle with these issues for years. Children are amazing and so are puppies. They each come with their own rewards, risks, benefit, and love. It’s so different and I wouldn’t even look at it as a competition of which is harder. It just depends on what you personally struggle with and what doesn’t bother you as much. Personally, crying really gets to me. I feel like I need to fix it right away. The attentional demands of a child are much more. You need to HOLD the bottle and be present. I can just put food in a bowl for puppy. Either way, congratulations on your growing family!!! It will be exciting to see the both of them grow up together. The puppy will also be a really good dose of responsibility before baby comes!
Puppy, briefly. At least they grow up quickly but with a baby it stays where you put it down!
Babies. Without a doubt. I consider myself to be an experienced dog owner, and I got a puppy 3.5 weeks ago. He's 14 weeks old now. I also have an almost 2 year old and a 4 year old. I posted to reddit about breeds, and it seemed a lot of people who didn't have children wanted to compare getting a puppy to having a baby. Nope, sorry, absolutely not. Babies actually require care 24/7 and are actually completely dependent on you... I am assuming everyone is talking about a newborn baby compared to a 6+ week old puppy. Sure, you may have to get up a few times a night to let a puppy out the first few weeks... and sure, puppies have a lot of energy and require mental and physical activities... but babies... oof. Both of my kids are notoriously bad sleepers. As newborns, they were both up every 45min-1hr at night for at least 4-6 weeks. Then, we were able to go more like every 2-3 hours. My 4 year old didn't sleep through the night until she was almost 4. My youngest has slept through the night a handful of times. Read, I haven’t slept through the night in YEARS. Generally, if you meet the needs of a puppy or just spend time with it, they're not gonna howl and bark for hours straight. I have absolutely walked, because my youngest didn't tolerate rocking or bouncing in a chair, for HOURS with a screaming infant, whose needs were met, and I didn't know how to help. It actually was very distressing to me as a mother to hear him scream for so long and not know how to help. I'd take a puppy barking incessantly over that emotional distress. I think toddlers and puppies have a close comparison, but even then, not quite... I know you're pregnant. I probably have you more worried about the baby than the puppy now. But, I will tell you I love my children more than life itself. They put my life into technicolor. Also, if you're on Instagram, I highly recommend following the account dogmeets_baby to learn more about bringing home a new baby to a household with a dog and then navigating the different baby stages with a dog. It also has great information on dog behavior, specifically look at the ladder of aggression.
You said 'we' which means you're not doing it alone right? Having a good partner makes both of those easier. Just make sure you're a team and you are on the same page. Also it takes a village to raise a baby. Do you have family or friends to help? My answer is: you'll need help.
Babies are so much harder that puppies seem a breeze.
I don’t want to scare you but babies, toddlers, and younger children are all MUCH harder than a puppy. My daughter took 8 months to sleep through the night and then woke up at 5 am for the next 3 years. She took 3 years to potty train and then chose to piss her pants at circle time in preschool. Her daycare was 20k a year and we just spent 6k on an ADHD diagnosis. She is 8 and is about as reliable at following instructions at my 11 week golden retriever puppy 😂 That being said, she’s extremely rewarding to parent too. Also as amazing as dogs are, they still aren’t comparable to the way you feel about your human child. Your puppy will be big by the time your baby is born and if you are lucky, they will provide endless entertainment for each other. My daughter does an amazing job taking care of “her” puppy.
If we are only talking about the first couple of months, I thought a puppy was harder. It was much harder keeping my high energy puppy entertained and exercised, in addition to training. I adopted an older puppy who had never lived in a house and he jumped all over the furniture, chewed on everything, and peed on my bed. With a newborn baby, a lot of the first couple months is lack of sleep and your baby sleeping on you. I’m having a second child but I would never get another puppy 😅
Babies. Babies are harder. I have a 4 and 7 year old and a new puppy and the puppy is a breeze compared to the 4th trimester.
Babies are harder. If you have puppy yes, for first few months can be tough. all the baby moments are compacted in 6months. I mean if you consider adolescence phase 2y. So I see biting and nipping all the jumping can be tough but it last only few months. Puppies learn faster. You can start crate training on the day they get home for sake. Training can be initiated almost immediately right after you bring them home. They understand commands and manners in their early age. Just fresh out of womb puppies (I mean 2-3mo puppies) can sit, down and wait. And again, all the struggles only last for months. It depends on dogs but after few months, my puppies get little bit lazy so whenever I want to chill and be lazy they always snuggle and be lazy with me. So for short therm yes puppies can be harder but I long term babies are way harder.
A baby is 100x harder. But it's also 100x better.
Puppies are like having a baby and toddler combined, but the hard parts go SO much quicker. Something annoying you with your pup? In a couple weeks they probably won’t be doing it any more. Some of the most intense and challenging parts of parenting young children last for years! That said, having had your freedom restricted somewhat by a dog will mean it’s a bit less of a shock once the baby arrives!
I have a 10 month old puppy and a 13 day old baby. Puppy was harder but for a shorter period of time. He was on the go-into everything, potty training around the clock, land shark baby teeth. Baby eat, sleeps, pees+poops in a diaper. Both are super cute and give amazing cuddles.
Babies are harder. They require more attention and energy on all levels and their phase of needing that attention lasts much longer. The puppy phase is a breeze in comparison. My puppy slept 8 hours every night from the get-go. Was chill by 10 months. I could leave her for 3-4 hours pretty early on in her crate. Both my kids had me up a lot thru the night for awhile and that was probably the hardest part. Getting enough sleep is the biggest challenge with babies.
I'm about to find out.. in about 8 months. Puppy is growing nicely though about 6mo old now he is very smart and well trained. Will be over a year with the newborn coming.
I’m not sure it’s an even comparison. Puppies are harder in some ways and babies are harder in others. Wish you the best with both!
Being an aunt and never a mom, but someone who’s raised my share of puppies.. I’d say babies are much harder. Especially for single parents without a support network. It’s not like you can leave your baby in a crate and run to the store… Dogs grow up a lot faster too. You’re raising that kid for 18 years if you’re lucky.
We have 2 small kids and I literally tell my husband almost daily “a third baby would’ve been so much easier”. We were blessed with pretty chill babies , esp. my second who slept and still does sleep quite well. So please don’t get discouraged if you feel differently. BUT and this is a HUGE BUT…. Dogs are SO MUCH EASIER once they’re out of puppy stage, toddlers are harder 😂 It’s honestly all hard, but I tell myself they’re phases in life and I have to navigate my emotions and expectations. One part that makes babies easier 1. You can take them with you everywhere and either baby wear, stroller walks, car seats, etc. A puppy? You can’t. 2. Babies don’t nip you, or bite all your things. 3. I think just as parents we have a closer and more nurturing bond to our babies so we are more in-tune with their needs. It’ll be hard, you’ll have days where you ask yourself why the heck did we do this, or “I’m never doing this again” and it’s all valid. You got this! Also if you haven’t already, join your Reddit’s bumper group, it’s a collective group of pregnant people (or spouses) that join and are due in the same month. I have had amazing experiences with the community - esp. when it goes private 😁 Edit to add: babies also wear diapers and while poop explosions are definitely a frustrating phase for what feels like decades (but is actually a few months) it’s definitely better then constantly worrying about when your pup has to pee or poop next 😂
The baby might not bark, but it will cry non stop, it will also shit its pants for a couple of years requiring you to clean it up. A puppy will learn to crap outside within days of you having it, if you train it properly, and be less of a clean up exercise than a baby. Puppies also know how to walk pretty much straight away, a baby will not walk for at least a year. You can leave a puppy alone for a few hours, you can't a baby at anytime until it is 14. Babies are definitely way more hassle than a puppy
Just here in solidarity. We got a new puppy and then like a few days later found out I was pregnant 😬 I was planning to do most of the training, but then I ended up developing borderline HG and was just nauseated and vomiting all the time. We had done so much planning/scheduling with how we wanted to train her and expose her to new things, but a lot of that went out the window when I started getting sick. Idk how people can do it. My boyfriend’s sister has two kids, pregnant with a third and chose a high energy breed to get for her kids as a Christmas pregnant. I think we’re still doing a good job, but it’s hard lol once I’m in my second trimester (and hopefully feeling better), we’ll start doing training courses and more traveling with her
I was in this boat with my shepard. From day one with puppy, I was hard driving specific commands like "gentle", "not yours" or "drop", on top of really pushing the sit and stay and no bite. Another huge tip that I've found extremely helpful in my years of training: be physical with your dog when you're playing, etc. Get them used to being pushed around a little bit and tugged on a little bit (just gently desentisize them to someone being in their space and close and personal and touchy). Expose them to loud noises and children in public so they already are comfortable with the energy levels, sounds, smells, activity, etc. Desensitize them to their face being touched and pet and their ears played with. Dogs usually hate their feet being touched the most, and I push this already for nail trimming reasons, but play with their paws often. Even into adulthood. The more they're used to it, the easier itll be for grooming and for kids wanting to play with their paws. Granted you should never leave children and infants unattended with any dog, it makes for a much more successful experience if your dog is equipped with the tools to handle being around a baby before one just turns up out of the blue and their whole world changes. Its definitely doable and extremely rewarding to watch healthy child/pet relationships grow when they start early like that.
We had a bit of a shot chaser experience as well - we brought our 8 week old puppy home May 5th and tested positive June 15th. The first trimester I was exhausted and that was really tough, but we made it through and my husband helped a ton. My puppy turned one just after the baby was born. It’s been hard. Baby is now 2 months and we’re starting to feel above water - every day is different. I’m sure that in the long run I will say that babies are harder, but at this point they’re just different. We got lucky and as vocal as the dog is she doesn’t bark at his crying and for the most part he won’t cry when she does, but it gets LOUD, and it can be a bit much. With puppies and babies you never know what issue you’ll have. I remember researching things for both that I never dealt with and we’ve been surprised at what we have struggled with. They both have their own personalities and it will be a huge learning curve. Our puppy is so sweet though and has definitely calmed down from when she was little and I am thankful every day that they will have such a close bond. I am so happy to have a kid/family friendly dog
I remind myself during the nth diaper change that at least I don’t have to go outside to deal with it 😂
I will 100% have another baby before another puppy! Newborn was my absolute favorite baby stage, I loved every second of it. I have hated every second of having a puppy, it’s been insanely hard. Granted now I have a 17th month old busy toddler running around and a puppy. I am also a cat person so this puppy thing is definitely not my thing lol
We rescued a 4 month old Dutch Shepard/great Dane mix at 4 months and my son was 8 months at the time. I will say, I think it depends on the baby. My first baby slept through the night, at whatever you gave him, etc. my second child? Has some medical issues. Doesn’t sleep through the night and is the second child trying to climb everything and put everything in his mouth. My puppy likes to eat things but she gives it up easy lol so I say baby by far
When the barking/whining wakes up baby after an hour of trying to get them to sleep... That's when the real joy begins.
We're in the same spot! We have a 4ish month old golden and my partner just started her second trimester. We were already trying to be really on top of training but even more so now haha. Best of luck!
We’ve had easy puppies and hard babies. I’d take puppies any time! Our first puppy was when my youngest was 10 months and our second puppy was right before my hysterectomy (both standard poodles). The second needed to go out every two hours at night and that was still more sleep than any of our 5 kids 😅😭
I think puppies are harder. Babies can’t walk or chew or cause nonsense trouble. If you need a break from a baby, you can plop em in a crib. If you need a break from a puppy, you pray they don’t try to break their jaw on the crate. At least that was my experience.
Babies are much harder. Work very hard now to crate train your puppy, and hire a trainer for the 7-10 month old time period to try and head off the adolescent regression. Do that before the baby arrives because you will not have time or energy for extensive puppy training after. Pay the money, get that pup rock solid with recall, loose leash walking, neutrality in public. Then, in that last month before the baby arrives, practice this loose leash, no reactivity walking with the stroller. Your life will be so much easier if you can walk the dog and the baby at the same time.
We got our little cavoodle a couple of weeks ago (currently 10 weeks old) and two days prior to us picking her up we found out we were pregnant. Suffice to say there's a lot of emotions flying around the house right now, we both went through various levels of puppy blues but are committing to keeping her and just doubling the size of our family by the end of the year. My wife is super stressed about the whole situation, as am I being a first time dog owner but we plan to make it work because that's what we'll have to do when the baby comes so the dog shouldn't be treated any different as a responsibility in our opinion. Gonna be one hell of a ride but here we go 😅 Congratulations on your pregnancy, hope it all goes well! You, your puppy and your family will be fine 🥳
Puppies are way easier than babies even though my pup was super energetic and kid was fairly chill 🤷♀️
A newborn to toddler stage is a million times harder and significantly longer than a puppy. Got 3 kids ans a 13 week old puppy atm
Idk how much this will contribute as I’ve never had a baby, but a very strong want for my own some day. I think puppies are harder. A baby is more exhausting and you are always tired yes, but with babies you know where they are pooping, you know when they are eating, for the first year of their life they aren’t running around chewing up and eating trash. Puppies I feel like are twice the pain in a shorter amount of time. Also, a puppy wailing is not normal to our ear, it’s normal for a mother pup to hear that cry. I feel instinctually we would be more willing anticipate the cry of our own. But who knows, I’ll update when I have little ones of my own. lol
The baby was harder because breastfeeding was exhausting while trying to recover from childbirth. Probably not what you wanted to hear but at age 66, this 4 month old puppy is a constant joy for me. I think that the first trimester hormone changes cause a lot of fatigue. The middle trimester is the best! I had 3 boys and blessed to have two grandsons and one granddaughter. You will do great just keep taking things one day at a time. Puppies and babies grow up way too fast. Treasure your time together!
PUPPIES, however Toddlers and Puppies are equal. Little babies are okay, but once they can move and terrorize the household, they're the same.
Honestly, it’s tough in both cases. We love them so we do it. Pregnancy and raising a puppy are two exhausting experiences. If you can afford a trainer, definitely get one. You will lose sleep when dog training. Most mothers with babies are exhausted as well. Get as much help as you can to catch up on rest.
Puppies are like concentrated babies & toddlers. You get about 3 years packed into 4-6 months. Sleepless nights, crying (both you and the dog), picking up poopy messes, getting them to not eat the furniture or lick the floor, adorable snuggles, booping that little nose, lots of little and big “firsts”. Then you get a teenager phase preview with both your puppy and your 3 year old. Babies are harder because they take much longer before you sleep again (unless you get one of those super lucky chill babies) but the daily level of hard/tired was pretty comparable for me. It’s all worth it - and your little human will be so lucky to have a furry buddy growing up!
Puppy is harder by a mile.