Pets indoors? Is it second nature or out of the question for you?

It's an ancient dispute whether having a dog or a cat is a good decision when considering its effect on us and our children. They're dirty, they shed their hair, get their saliva on everything and who knows what this fine specimen was wallowing in outside? – you've surely heard these arguments a lot before and your family decided whether or not to keep pets at home.

However, the situation is entirely different if you're expecting a baby. Should we keep the cat? How will it react to the baby? Will it be jealous, will it hurt the baby? What if the baby gets sick from some disease contracted from the pet?

These are serious questions which everyone must ask themselves when facing major changes in their lives. However, you should keep in mind that there is a serious argument for keeping dogs and pets in the house: there are fewer children with allergies or asthma in families with cats or dogs. In fact, according to some opinions, it's no exaggeration that this immune-boosting effect is similar to probiotics.

They boost the immune systems of children

It's true that dogs and cats moving in and out of the house can be dirty, yet according to laboratory tests, this isn't bad at all. The dozens of bacteria they bring inside help children become more resistant towards various infections. However, instead of providing the sense of perfect cleanliness, sanitized homes which are constantly disinfected with chemicals can have the opposite effect on children. The limited number or low level of bacteria can disturb the immune system, which ends up considering harmless external factors as a threat.

Nevertheless, there was one thing the doctors carrying out the research emphasized: the importance of washing hands. You don't have to use antibacterial soap, because there's no need to do so, all that counts is to wash your hands for at least ten seconds with soap. This is the most effective form of protection against infections and it's important to teach the little ones about this as well. Whether or not you have a pet in your home.

Source: https://goo.gl/XT4zwy