Cats and our Newborn

Ganluan

My wife and I are proud parents of a son as of April 4th. He is still in the hospital as he was born a few weeks early, but is doing well and will be home in the next week or so.

Because he was born early and may be more fussy because of it, we wanted to keep him in a bassinet as we sleep. The big problem is we have 2 cats who also want to sleep in the bed with us, and we are worried about them jumping into the bassinet or reaching up to the bassinet and trying to play with the "toy".

If we close the door and keep them out of the room, they howl like they are being tortured, and it's loud enough to keep us awake even with some white noise on in the bedroom. Their food and litterbox are not in our room, but they want to be where we are. Anyone have any advice on how we can either get them used to being outside the room at night, or ensure there won't be any problems with our son being in the room at night with them? Once he's a bit stronger, he'll be in his crib in a separate room, and we'll be keeping that door closed anyway so the cats won't be a concern.

Aoi Tsuki

'Grats on the new podling.

You've got the right ideas: stories about cats sucking babies' breath out of jealousy are total shit, but cats curling up on the squishy warm thing, not so much.

My best friend and her husband got their animals accustomed to the baby's things first; bring home baby blankets, set up the bassinet, and let the cats go to town exploring. Hopefully, they'll satisfy themselves that nothing about the new setup is that much fun. If they do try to get in, you can look into more drastic deterrents.

I've heard of some people playing recordings of babies crying to gauge their pets' reactions, but unless your cats are really chill, I can predict it'll be pretty much "AUGH WTF WE'RE UNDER ATTACK RUN." Are yours the kind of kitties who want to thoroughly investigate potential threats? (I've got one who's fascinated by my baby goddaughter's screaming, and one who wants nothing to do with her.)

Ganluan

Both of our cats are total wusses and run from most loud noises. I suppose they may just hide under the bed while he cries, but who knows :P

Djeet

Our cat wasn't really interested in the bassinet, cradle, or crib unless the kid wasn't in it. If it was empty then the cat would often want to lie down there. I'd make an effort to shoo her away when I saw her do that. She's pretty chill, though she avoids strangers, particularly those who aren't sitting down.

Assuming your cats are nice your kid will likely just be a curiosity until he is old enough to crawl after and grab handfuls of cat. If cats and kid sleeps with you at the same time it would be best for cats to be out of grabbing range of the kid. 'Grats.

Sir Carcass

We have a 5 month old and 2 cats. One of the cats isn't big on jumping onto things, so she never looked at the bassinet. The other one....

What we did was first kept the bassinet in the room for several months before he was even born. Kind of late for that now, but it allowed us to break him of the habit of jumping into it (which he loved to do). Really, you'll have to be firm and get on to them every time they jump in there, baby or no, just like when they scratch the couch or whatever.

Really what we did was put the bassinet far enough from the bed so that he couldn't easily jump to it and he never tried. I would advise against sleeping with the bassinet against the bed. I know you'll be checking on the baby every 3 seconds to begin with, but after a few days, you'll only check on him every 5 minutes or so. ;-) I find it best to start them on the road to independence as soon as possible. Don't let them sleep in the bed with you and move them into their own room once you feel comfortable enough (with a monitor, of course). I think we put our son in his crib at around 3 months. I've just known far too many parents that have to fight to get their children to sleep in their own room because they waited too long.

We were worried how our cats would react, but they pretty much give him a wide berth, so we haven't had any problems.

Naked-Celtic-Lady

I have two cats... and no baby... but I think in this case you just can't take the risk you know? Cats vs. Your baby. I think it's really important that you get the cats used to not sleeping in your room, atleast while you're little fella is below 18months old. It just truely isn't worth the risk, your baby is the most important thing now.

Maybe try creating a really comfortable area for the cats in the living room? Somewhere warm and Catnippy, If you can create a comfortable area for them and then ignore their howling for a few nights they will get used to the idea of not sleeping in your room.

I hope it all goes well :-) Congratulations

Endomatic

Be careful about where the litter box may be.
Not a cause for alarm really, it's just an avoidable thing and if I had a child and a cat, I'd really like to avoid it if possible and would take extra steps to ensure it.

LewieP's Mummy

You could always buy a cat net to put over the bassinet - I had one from my children's pram, as our next door neighbours had 3 cats, and I worried about them climbing into the pram when it was in the back garden.

Toxin01

To be honest, it might be safest just to get rid of the cats.

Sir Carcass

I would wait and see if they're going to mess with the bassinet before I go getting rid of cats or locking them out.

Beren39

Congratulations on your little one, I think the advice that's been given is pretty good, you're definitely going to have to break the cats of their habit, I'd recommend keeping your room shut even during the day to help accelerate the process. As for toxiplasmosis gondii, while I would recommend keeping the litter box far away from any infant, toxiplasmosis isn't really a concern outside of fetal development or in individuals with a compromised immune system (since he's a bit premature, you'll be good after a month or so on the immune front). Chances are he will be infected in his lifetime anyway, but that won't even be an issue until he's in his 'crawling around sticking things in my mouth stage'.

Just_Bri_Thanks

LewieP's Mummy wrote: »

You could always buy a cat net to put over the bassinet - I had one from my children's pram, as our next door neighbours had 3 cats, and I worried about them climbing into the pram when it was in the back garden.

This is by far the lowest impact solution thus far.

Ganluan

LewieP's Mummy wrote: »

You could always buy a cat net to put over the bassinet - I had one from my children's pram, as our next door neighbours had 3 cats, and I worried about them climbing into the pram when it was in the back garden.

Is there a good place to find these in the US? I looked up a couple online and they were 60 bucks or more, which seems a bit much for a piece of mesh :P

Quid

I'd go with the cat net. It seems like the best option for just in case.

Sin Twin 1

Whoa I thought this was about Cat Koras invetro fertilized lesbian egg babby, whoa talk about sit down and have a talk with that kid about the birds and the bees ... and crazy lesbian moms.

Trillian

Would mosquito netting not do the job just as well? Maybe weight the sides down with some books to keep it taught.

oldsak

Ganluan wrote: »

LewieP's Mummy wrote: »

You could always buy a cat net to put over the bassinet - I had one from my children's pram, as our next door neighbours had 3 cats, and I worried about them climbing into the pram when it was in the back garden.

Is there a good place to find these in the US? I looked up a couple online and they were 60 bucks or more, which seems a bit much for a piece of mesh :P

If you can't find one or order one at a reasonable cost, why not just make one? It doesn't seem overly complicated. You'll obviously want to give it a dry run before the baby comes home.

Figgy

Here are some links that might help you:

"Introducing Your Cat to Your New Baby."

Another thread (elsewhere) with this exact question.. but add a dog.

Bassinet Net @ Toys R Us (5 bucks)

LadyM

Either get a cat net or just continue keeping them out of that room. Yes, they will squall at first. But eventually they'll figure out that you aren't going to give in and will get over it.

Ganluan

Excellent, thanks guys. I was looking for "crib nets" but should have been looking for "bassinet nets" for our particular case. By the time he's in a crib he'll be in his own room anyway away from the cats.

Werewolf Gamer

I have a 6 month old and a cat (a dog too). My cat was sneaking naps in the bassinet before the baby was born and we tried lots of different things to try to get him to stop. When the baby did come home and he discovered the little person was in there he stopped. The movements of the baby was enough to keep the baby away. Of course then he decided to sneak over and sleep in her crib while she was in a bassinet in our room. We kept the baby in the bassinet in our room for 3 months then moved her in her crib in the room with her big sister. The cat stopped trying to sleep in the crib after that.
My cat is extremely sweet and curious about the baby. Up until now he generally avoided her. Now however she can sit up and has begun crawling the cat is checking her out to see if she is able to pet him yet. My cat is an attention whore.
I haven't had issues with my animals and the baby but with all animals you always want to keep an eye on them. Sometimes for the animals sake!
My German Shepherd is a great example. She's super sweet and patient. A few times the baby has made a speedy crawl over to her tail and has grabbed, yanked, slapped the dog. My dog doesn't care and adores the children. I am however always right there no matter what.
Cats are much easier to deal with babies. I wouldn't worry too much. Your biggest issue might be the shedding of their fur wherever the baby sleeps or likes to crawl.