In their first year of life?

Obviously this question is directed more towards the people who have had both, or at the very least have had taken care of a newborn/baby for a bit.


I was just really curious

Honestly, I do not have any children myself( and doubt I ever will, do to a medical condition I have) But I have had a lot of experience in child care, which included taking care of infants/one week old(s) for a week or more. So I have spent time with children of all genders/personalities.

Children(babies and newborns) are no walk in a park, depending on the personality they can be quite a handful.

But after raising Miyavi from a month old to now, I have to say that I think puppies are a lot more difficult than babies.

A few reasons why I think that is:
Puppies are far more destructive: They can chew up wires/shoes/blankets etc.
Puppies can bite! and they can also break skin while doing it.
babies nap more(and longer) than puppies, which leaves puppies to get into more trouble!
Puppies can stain carpet and furniture before they get potty trained
Puppies can chew up furniture!

A few things they have in common:
They both need constant attention when awake.
They get you up at odd hours through the night for the first few months of their life.
It's better to have each on a schedule(feeding and potty)

So here is my question: Which do you think is more difficult in their first year of life, babies or puppies and why?

If you want to add to the reasons I listed above, or make your own, feel free to do so!

Babies. Definitely babies.

I'm baised, because I don't really like kids. (Really I only view babies as little tiny things that will eventually grow up to be more annoying humans. XD ) Being the baby of the family I didn't really get much time to interact with one. But now I have two nephews and I help take care of them whenever I'm asked. I think I'm also biased because I can't read babies demands like I can puppies, and I've helped take care of A LOT of those.

Anyway...

Babies are harder to take care of because...
1. They can cry for no reason whatsoever. (Pups do to, but I find it very easy to distract them and they aren't as LOUD)
2. They remain 'delicate' far longer than puppies do. Meaning you can roughhouse with pups sooner without the fear of breaking them.
3. Diapers... I'd sooo much rather clean up dog poo than human poo. Human poo is gross.
4. Babies are also destructive. My nephew would try to pull lamps off tables and would LAUGH at anyone saying 'No!' Pups at least sulk away to find another wire to chew.

Remember, children stain carpets too. And my nephew bit HARD.

babies definitely! No puppy I have ever had has drawn all over the walls with crayon, played in their poop as if they were crayons...nor do dogs require constant watch due to fear of them getting into cabinets as easily with their opposable thumbs...cuz dogs don;t have them lol

Haha you guys bring up good points, I guess im the only crazy person that would prefer a baby over a puppy.

But remember I am asking about their first year of life. I know babies would definetly win the 'who is more difficult' after they are one

no, my son was much harder to handle when he was one (and before then) than my dog ever was. Dogs can be taught at early age to potty outside or on pads, and they are trainable earlier than one in general. Babies are completely helpless...they can't do anything for themselves...eat, bathe, use the bathroom...and the expense makes them harder to care for too. 3 days of formula is 11.00 and thats if you don't need a specialized formula and buy generic.

I still stand that a baby is harder to care for. lol

I have to say babies...

I think for me it was all mental. I knew what to do with puppys. I was confident in caring for them because I'd done it some many times before.

When I had my daughter I was completely at a loss. I had no idea what I was doing, and ran on instinct most of the time. In spite of having read millions of books on it, I still knew nothing and fell to instinct. And not to belittle the love or wonderousness of puppies, but until you actually have a child its impossible to understand the overwhelming love and protectiveness that fills you. Nothing is ever enough because nothing could ever be GOOD enough to be disserving of your child.

Plus animals in general are more self sufficient at birth because TECHNICALLY a human infant is still developmental in a fetal stage. Humans are born like this because of how our brains work. It makes it possible for us to learn and assemalate things more rapidly. Unfortunately, that means a lot of work for momma.

Babies. No doubt whatsoever.

My daughter had colic for the first 2 1/2 months of her life. She screamed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, taking what seemed to be 5 minute catnaps on my shoulder while I walked her. We tried every colic remedy in the book: Car rides, car seat on the dryer, vacuuming with her in arms, rocking... and many, many more. Suddenly, one night, she slept 7 hours straight. I thought she was dead, but didn't want to touch her just in case she WASN'T - it sounds awful, but I held a mirror up to her face to see if she was still breathing.

Babies are not generally even ambulatory for the first six or seven months. They must be carried everywhere. And they weigh more than puppies. I have a permanent crease on my left arm from baby butts. I learned how to hold the baby and write a check at the same time without juggling either one.

Babies before six months are sometimes pretty floppy. If you don't hold them just right, they flop around and are easy to drop. No, I never did, but came close a few times. Even after that, occasionally, they will stiffen up and attempt to FLING themselves out of your arms.

It is far easier to dog-proof a house than to baby-proof it. Let's face it, dogs aren't about to stick their slimy fingers into wall sockets, or pull the sharp knife drawer down on themselves. Or, yank the new kitchen television off the counter and onto themselves just after you'd finished getting it out of the box and set up. Yeah, that happened. The kid was fine, the TV fried.

Dogs are far easier to contain with child gates than children. Especially after the children become ambulatory. Kids learn to climb over those suckers at the drop of a hat.

You can keep a puppy in a crate, where it can't gnaw on things, pee all over the place, crap on the floor, or anything else of an unsavory nature. Try sticking a kid in a crate and see how fast someone calls Protective Services.

People don't object to seeing puppies and dogs on leashes, but if you have an escape-artist kid and need to corral them in public, see how many people make horrified faces at you if you have your kid on a rope.

Those are just a few that are permanently etched in my memory.

~~Wiccan~~

@SesshysRose-Haha I am by no means disagreeing with you dear! I understand your reasons behind your thoughts, completely understandable!

As I mentioned in my first post their are some children who can be a handful from early on.

Luckily I have generally taken care of more mellow ones.

For food, Its kind of even for me. A bag of food for my pup that lasts her 3 weeks costs 45 dollars.

Her collar/leash/toys/treat cost 220 dollars.

Her shots will cost 50 each time and she needs to get 3 sets by time she is 4 months.

Getting her spayed will cost 300

But as I said I understand that babies are no walk in the park

Baby i love my son to death but DANG he is quite a handful he's ten months old teething , crying , and going through that seperation anxiety thing. i have a new puppy too and Brownie is much easier. i think someone else made a good point about training puppys easy but babies are little hellions man....and to think i want 3 now....omg what could i be thinking. and wiccanmethusala serioucly sorry about the colic my lil guy didnt have it but my best friends son did. it was sad and stressing for me too watching her baby cry and you could telll she was worn out from stress. it made me feel bad too because being a mommy i wanted to be able to comfort the lil one as well.....

Well I am clearly alone on my thoughts But all of you guys make good points, and this may be crazy for me to say this but after reading your stories of things you go through with your children it makes me kind of sad that I'll never get to experience that

But hey, at least with all these events, you will get to tease them with it later on when they are older and have their friends or boyfriend/girlfriend over you can kindly share those stories! Hehe you definitely can't do that with animals!(well, you can but I doubt it would be as fun)

as to say dogs, puppies can be difficult too...I had a small dog had to give away cuz he was just too much to handle. Spartacus was a great dog...but he always was in the way...sleeping in spots where he had to have KNOWN he would be sat on lol or walking underfoot just asking to be stepped on.

I guess it just depends on the temperament of the dog...and the child. I guess it's also kind of unfair to compare them as the world views dogs and humans on different standards. As Wiccan said, put a baby in a crate and you'll have SRS knocking on your door...which isn't the case for babies lol

haha true, true.