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Exposure to pets good for babies
#1
The University of Alberta has been doing a study and it is clear that babies that are exposed to furry pets like dogs have better immune systems. They are less likely to develop allergies or become obese later on.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0

Let's face it, dogs are good for our health. They have also found children exposed to pets have less asthma.
The best thing you can do for yourself and your children is get a dog. Walking the dog would be good exercise too.
In every way a pet is a good idea.
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Catherine

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#2
Neither my brother nor myself had any problems with allergies and we both had good immune systems. And we were exposed to animals from babyhood.

I do remember though, that my mother had a "cat net" which she used to fix over the hood of the pram to stop a cat lying on my brother when he was a baby in a pram. It's strange because I was remembering that the other day.
But that was just for a sleeping baby. When we were awake, and up, we were in constant contact with animals. We remained in close contact with animals all of our childhood.
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#3
We have all been exposed to animals and we have pretty good health.

I think the cat net might have been because people thought a cat could lie on a baby's face and suffocate the child. 

I have even had older people tell me that a cat would suck a baby's breath out and kill the child. I suspect the fear goes back to the time when crib death (SIDS)was unexplained. When a baby died suddenly for no apparent reason people looked around for something to blame. I am sure many cats were blamed for things they did not do.

The children might have done better if they had the presence of a warm cat nearby. I don't know if there has ever been a study of the presence of pets and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

We do better and are healthier if we are exposed to more things. I understand it even works for some food allergies.
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Catherine

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#4
Yes that was the reason for the cat net. It was a safety thing to prevent any accidents caused by the cat sitting on the baby's face. But cats certainly weren't banished. I remember the cat did sit on the pram. We had three cats around the house. And nobody was bothered about anything cats did when babies or children were awake. It was just for sleeping babies.
I guess a cat lying on a baby's face could  happen....
Cats will lie in any warm place and wouldn't mean any harm.

But yes, I suppose in the cases of cot death in the old days, it's likely an animal could have been blamed even when it had nothing to do with it. We still don't understand cot death, so could have had wrongful ideas many years ago.
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#5
Quote:But yes, I suppose in the cases of cot death in the old days, it's likely an animal could have been blamed even when it had nothing to do with it. We still don't understand cot death, so could have had wrongful ideas many years ago.
We know that sleeping position matters. Babies should not be placed face down.
I would have to do some research to catch up with the latest ideas. I do have some thoughts of my own. Primates like orangutans and gorillas do not lay their babies down to sleep. They hold them continuously. Human babies die suddenly for no reason when they are left alone to sleep. I have never heard of a crib death happening while the baby is being held. It is called crib death.

I wonder if physical contact with another living being is really important to a baby. If that is so, a dog or cat sleeping with the baby might be  a good thing. Certainly a dog would alert you if the baby stopped breathing. I think I would want a dog around if I had a baby around. On so many levels it would be a good thing.
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Catherine

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