From the pet (animal) will start, you will learn responsibility and everything important. For the baby, you have to wait until you are ready. It will come on its own with time :). You know that it will not be the same as with a pet, but it will be similar. You can also get a German Shepherd dog if you like animals very much. This dog is very protective and helps a lot in raising a child. When you plan to have a baby, you can get yourself just such a dog :). See on the Internet videos of these dogs, how much they like children.