Cats and Bubs

[Ells]

Hi All

Any advice on gates for baby's room that will keep away a cat that loves cuddling up in bed?

I have read screen doors work however is there anything else on the market that suffice that is less permanent i.e. no drilling into doorways required.

Thanks
e

[kristy J]

cats are sneeky. can suffercate a child in a moment. i would go the screan door. the holes can be patched up and re painted later. better safe than sorry.

[Astrid]

cats are sneeky. can suffercate a child in a moment. i would go the screan door. the holes can be patched up and re painted later. better safe than sorry.

As a cat owner who has cats that have not shown any attempt to sleep with either baby, I would love to know of any actual cases of cat suffocation. I find whilst my cats love to sleep in any bed, once they work out a baby is there, they jump out very quickly all without any training from us. I have heard to be careful with cats, but honestly have never come across any news article or verifiable incident where a baby has died due to a cat.

[Snoopea]

As a cat owner who has cats that have not shown any attempt to sleep with either baby, I would love to know of any actual cases of cat suffocation. I find whilst my cats love to sleep in any bed, once they work out a baby is there, they jump out very quickly all without any training from us. I have heard to be careful with cats, but honestly have never come across any news article or verifiable incident where a baby has died due to a cat.

I agree with Astrid,
I'm yet to hear of a cat suffocation, my cats always disappeared when bub's was around. A girlfriend of mine bought a mosquito net and use to put that on her cot just to give the cats the idea that the cot was a no go area!
Good Luck with it, I wouldn't be going to the extent of a screen door tho!

[krisp]

We have two very big very heavy male Burmese cats and we have never had any problem with them sleeping on or near our 2 bubs. They have cuddled up to them if we've all been on the lounge together but soon jump off if the bub makes a sudden move. Generally cats don't like the unpredictability of a baby. I do however keep the door closed when Ewan and Paisley are sleeping. People seem to think cats have this 'thing' about suffocating babies, they are just looking for warmth not a baby to smother!

[Arimeh]

We've never had a problem with our cats going into his cot or anything. When I was about 6 months pregnant we started training our cats so they wouldn't go into his room, and they know not to go in there.

However, you can get things to go over bassinettes or cots to stop cats climbing into the cot ? At least then you wouldn't have to damage anything

[Cally]

Before DD was born, our cat was caught a few times asleep in the middle of the cot (admittedly it was right in the sun and I would have found it a nice place to snuggle up to!!). Since DD has been in the cot, the cat hasn't gone near it. The cat sleeps in the laundry at night time and we know where she is during the day. But a few pats / grabs from DD has shown the cat that it's best to keep away from her and that's probably the best training!

[Lulu]

Yeah, I really think the cat thing may be a bit of an urban myth? Never had a problem with mine and at one stage I had three of them - all girls.

Got a big, ****y boycat now and still never had a problem, he didn't like the noise either...

[Evie76]

I'll seventh that!! Never had a problem with the cat. Great companions now though.

When Daniel was asleep I'd just shut his bedroom door. The monitor would pick up any sounds well.

[AngelPunks]

we never had a problem with my cat and my nieces and nephews & they were usually in a basinette or on the floor when they visited, also my brother had a cat when they were little as well

my cat poked her nose over the edge of the basinette once, didn't like what she saw/smelt and never went near the babies again - she'd not even show a claw when they started climbing over her as they got older (she was a kitten when the 2nd one was born) - she just used to let them do whatever until they let go enough for her to run

[Phteven]

My cat used to try and sleep with Mr 2 and he still does - he's crazy about him for some reason.
We had a hammock and we kept a mozzie net around it so he couldn't jump in there.

[StrawberryMumma]

Hey Ells

I haven't got much advice on what might be good to keep pussy out!- but similar to the other girls, when our bub came along, our cat couldn't stand being anywhere near her.
Like someone else said, when I was UTD, to my horror I found our cat asleep in the bassinette a couple of times. But when DD came along, our cat got too scared of her (crying was too noisy, and those jerky baby movements) would freak him out.
However, I was mindful of where he was most of the time JIC. So I would just shut doors to keep him in or out of a particular room so he was kept away.

[Ells]

Thanks everyone - great advice!

The two cats are confined to a room at night time and I will ensure I keep and eye out on the little burmese during the day. To date they do disappear whenever there are small kids about so I'll assume the same will happen with bub.