No, I would not. First it's never a promise they they will not become jealous, thus acting upon it, and second it takes a lot of work to keep a house clean enough for both. When they are toddlers I would consider if I found a pet I dearly loved, which has not happen to me yet!

I have had pets my entire life. I have pictures of myself has a baby with a cat curled up next to me. I have similar pictures of my boys. I love my animals and so do my boys.

I have taken precautions to keep everyone, including pets, safe but I see no reason to get rid of them just because I have children. Pets are not disposable, they are a member of our family.

This study showed that children that grew up with pets actually reduced allergy risk.

Yes, although probably not with a pet in the house (too much dirt). But definitely a dog or cat outside or in the garage. Preferably I would raise my children around cows and calves and a whole host of other barnyard animals. I think children raised around animals and those that spend time in the barn, taking care of them, develop a lot less allergies and build up a lot better immune systems than those who don't. Plus, they learn how to handle animals and how to handle themselves around animals.

From the time I was a newborn up until I was 10 years old, my mother had a Siamese cat; Raquel. I am currently pregnant and in my house I have 3 dogs. Two of them shed quite a lot, and the other one is loud and big. I really don't think that it is a bad thing to raise children around pets, unless they develop an allergy towards them. I've never develop any kind of allergy towards domestic pets but you never know with the little ones.

Those there are my little 2 cents on this.

♥Loli♥

@englishbelleinks@xanga - Actually, smaller breeds are MUCH more likely to hurt children. They have fragile bones and are naturally intimidated by people and thus have a tendency to fear bite. Larger dogs are best with kids because they generally have a very high pain tolerance and thoroughly enjoy being with kids. I have a fifty pound pit/boxer mix who LOVES babies. The first time she met a baby, she dropped to the floor and army crawled over to the kid (who was one and crawling around) and licked him right in the face, and then they spent the rest of the evening crawling after each other and chasing each other. The kid would scream and she would bark and they LOVED it.

Ha, sorry for rambling.

Anyway, there's no way I'll have kids but not have pets. I was born into a family with a veterinarian, and I've always had cats and dogs (and various other pets - fish, rats, guinea pigs, a snake, etc.) and it really shaped me as a person. Plus, I feel it's important for kids to learn how to act around animals from a young age - it greatly decreases their propensity for getting bit in the future.

@whitetrashpoet@xanga - I was gonna say the same thing about small dogs versus big ones!  We have a German Shepherd mix and she is wonderful with my daughter.  Even as a puppy (she was five months old when my daughter was born) she seemed to know that the baby required gentleness.  She's never hurt her once.

We also have a kitten who is also surprisingly tolerant of the baby.  The cat is used to the dog grabbing her and yanking her tail so she doesn't mind at all if the baby does it.  She has scratched my daughter a couple of times, but only in play (she liked to chase her feet when she was younger) and she quickly learned not to.

So overall I think it's great to raise kids with animals.  It is a TON of work as far as keeping the house clean (our dog sheds like crazy) and I complain every other day about my inability to keep the floors clean, but I think it's worth it.  I didn't have any pets growing up until I was 9 or so and I really miss having those experiences.

Yes and yes. I was raised with them from newborn on and Megan's going to be the same. We've already discussed not replacing the dogs as they pass away (two or the three are older; they were my grandfather's and probably only have a year or so left), but that's mostly because we're just not really "dog people"...even Tim preferrs the cats. We keep slipcovers on the couches (which make getting the bulk of the cat hair off of the sofas as easy as doing a load of laundry and running a vacuum quickly over the sofa's fabric, a damp cloth over the loveseat's leather) and one of the selling points when we bought our house was that all the living areas have tile; no carpet and padding to trap in hair, dander, or other accidents. And we don't allow them into the bedrooms; I love my 17 year old cat, but the first place she would bee-line for is my pillow and that's just not healthy...likewise, we don't want them getting hair in the crib, etc..

Katie, the 17 year old, was often my best friend growing up. She keeps secret better than any teenage girl!  And I look forward to the day when Megan can have a cat of her own.

We have always had a cat in the house (no outdoor animals permitted around here). When I was old enough, I had critters in cages. Now we have a small zoo going on, and I think animals are a wonderful way to teach children how to treat others! They are very therapeutic.

i was raised around dogs and I will definently raise my kids with pets (if possible).

i love how only one person said no!
my hubby and I are foster parents and I will always have pets in the house. (having an animal to pet/love helps children with attachment issues and a lot of other illnesses cope) We have a dachshund black lab cross and he is sooo good with the kids. We had a cat for a long time but she got sick, and I miss her so much we are looking to adopt a new one.
I totally agree that animals teach kids how to love and also responsibility. We always had dogs and cats growing up and there is no way I could ever deprive my children of that.

I did, and so will my kids when I eventually have some. My doggie taught me love and respect for ALL living creatures, and studies prove that children who are raised around animals from a young age are less likely to develope allergies against them later in life.

We dont have pet right now becuase the place we are renting wont allow any, not even FISH!  But, when we do buy our own house, we plan on getting pets.

I was raised around an array of different animals and spent a good chunk of my life on a farm (I was a foster child so I moved around A LOT).  And my hubby grew up with cats and dogs all his life. 

Every time we go to my Mother in Laws house (a proud "crazy cat and dog lady") the kiddo's LOVE it, all of her animals are so good with the kids...Well, exept for Frankie the Cat, becuase she's old and likes to be left alone so she always hides.

Definitely!  We have a big dog and my two year old son has grown up never knowing any different.  He has learned to be "gentle" b/c he would start hitting or petting the dog too hard, and he is now gentle with everything.  He also sees the dog obeying me when I tell him to sit, stay, etc.  I catch him looking at me and watching to see what the dog will do, so the dog is setting a good example to "mind mommy". ha  They are buddies.  I have so many pics of my son playing and the dog is always right there next to him in the background, laying nearby, as if guarding him.  Consequently, he loves animals.