Preparing for a new (human) baby

[Nostromo]

Hello Avenue!

We have a 10 yo BH Pionus. She's a darling girl, fully flighted, very mated to my partner. No real behavior problems, never been a plucker, eats well etc etc. Screams like a banshee every morning during hormone season but that's to be expected. We are planning on having a baby soon. I want to be mindful and aware as we go into this big change... thinking about how to prepare our gal for a new addition and maybe things to keep an eye on once a baby is here or things to avoid. Any of you gone through this change with your birds? How did it go and how did you prepare?

Thank you!

 

[Kassiani]

Congratulations!! I’m afraid that I have never had children, but there are some others here who have

@Mizzely for example!

 

[Mizzely]

Find a way to keep the baby away from the cage. That will keep your child safe as well as give your bird an area that they know they are safe, which helps a lot! I use something like this:

Baby Strollers, Cribs, Baby Gear, Bassinets & Baby Registry

www.buybuybaby.com

Also make sure you try to keep your bird's schedule similar so they don't feel slighted. If she is really bonded to your partner, you may have some jealousy issues when they are holding the baby.

If she is not used to being in her cage for parts of the day, I would practice for short bursts of 10 to 20 minutes. This is so if things get hectic with baby and you simply can't deal with a bird flying about for safety or sanity reasons, she won't think she is being punished as it will be part of her routine. Make sure to pair it with yummy treats! I use several foraging toys inside the cage to do this so my bird isnt even worried about what I am doing while he is stuck inside

 

[sunnysmom]

Congratulations!

 

[Nostromo]

@Mizzely Thank you! This is really helpful. She's a pretty chill bird, as many Pionus are, so she tolerates being in her cage well. She doesn't get jealous of my partner being close to others per se, but when she hears him talking in another room she has an ear-splitting scream. I plan to buy those little ear muffs they make for babies for concerts etc for that reason.