Babies who have pets are healthier

I love articles like this! Apparently studies have shown that infants who have exposure to pet dogs and cats have fewer respiratory infections or ear infections, and the course of treatment for the infections they do get is briefer.

Here's the link to the article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/247591.php

Not only do I appreciate this because it promotes a healthy relationship between families and pets, but also because it helps to counter some of what I feel has been overprotectiveness of children so that they are not "exposed" to this and that.

For some reason the effects noticed are stronger for children with dogs than for the ones with cats, but both types of pet register the effects. The suggested reason is that contact with the animals helps the immune system develop more quickly.

Which makes a lot of sense to me!