Cool stuff for 2 cats, a dog, and a baby?

August 18, 2021 4:07 PM

What cute/useful gifts am I not thinking of for a family that has 2 cats, a dog, and is about to have a baby join them?

My sister is expecting in October; I'm super excited for her and to meet my new nibling soon!
She also has 2 cats and a (small) dog.

Are there any neat products out there that might help ease this transition for the whole family?

I'm thinking things like: baby-safe cat and dog toys, toys that both pets AND kids can enjoy (like little tents/forts?), safety-related gadgets, anything to make cleaning litter boxes easier for new parents (though probably not an automatic litter box as one of their cats is a well-proportioned 25 lbs...).

In other words, if you've had a kid join a family where you already had pets, what things have you found the most helpful and/or adorable in that context?

posted by aecorwin to Pets & Animals (4 answers total)

Best answer: If they don't have a roomba that would be an amazing gift. I have two dogs and no baby and everything has hair on it all the time. The little robot vacuum is doing the lord's work.
posted by phunniemee at 4:18 PM on August 18, 2021 [11 favorites]

I would also recommend anything automatic for pets. Automatic feeders and filtering water bowls are awesome!
posted by lain at 4:45 PM on August 18, 2021 [3 favorites]

Play tunnels are an area of overlap between cats and babies!
posted by brook horse at 9:06 PM on August 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

Best answer: In our house the cats and baby both loved little stuffies with bells in them, but I actually viewed this as pretty unfortunate - didn't really want the baby chewing on things that the cats had chewed on. YMMV.

+1 for robots of all kinds. Also volunteering for a few days of last minute cat/dog sitting when they go to the hospital for labor& delivery, if you're local.
posted by february at 7:17 AM on August 19, 2021 [1 favorite]