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My cat that I had when Harrison was born was actually scared of Harrison. He was a little curious and would come up when Harry was in his bouncer and have a sniff, otherwise he completely ignored him.
I was just a little more aware of where the cat was at all times when Harry was little. My cat also spent a lot of time locked up in his favourite room of the house when I was home alone with Harrison.
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Your cat sounds very young and playful if it is pouncing around at things! My 2 cats are 9 years old and I've had no problems at all with the baby. As soon as we decided which room was going to be the baby's room, we banned the cats from there. They haven't shown one bit of interest in DS or his stuff. They've never jumped in the cot whether he's been in there or not. They keep their distance! Now that DS is walking around, he follows them and they just run and hide under the bed or behind the couch.
I wouldn't be so quick to give the cat away just yet. Maybe wait and see how it reacts when you bring the baby home. Keep the distance between the baby and the cat and you should be fine.
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I'll second Lisa on this one.
My cat is an indoor cat and she was the queen of the house. She'd bite and scratch us if there was something she didn't like. TBH she was a TOTAL b***h!!! We would put up with it though because she was our baby and I carried her everywhere - TOTALLY SPOILED!!!
Then DS came along. She was very wary of the nb and sniffed him from a distance a couple of times. I think she then worked out he was boring as all heck. NOW - I should put the picture up in my gallery..... he pulls her tail, he pokes her in the nose, he strangles her, he chases her - anything in a cat nightmare happens to her. But she always comes back for more and NEVER bites him. DH and I try anything even slightly resembling what he does to her we get the teeth and claws.
Cats and kids have very odd relationships - I call these two 'Two peas in a pod'. They are always together, it's like they have this psychic thing going on adults just don't understand.
If you're worried about the cot thing phynna's suggestion is great. Apart from that, I think you'll be surprised about the value having a cat with the baby is.
Registered User
My boy went from smothering me when I was PG to not coming anywhere near me when R was born. He has only willingly jumped onto my lap a couple of times since and that was at night when she's asleep in her cot.
He has never liked being in the same room as her and if he's in the house when she cries or squeals and giggles he starts jumping at the door to be let out.
He also prefers to be outside and only comes in to eat. He sleeps in the garage.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
*sigh - I don't know why people think a cat suddenly turns into a baby smothering ninja.
If your cat is a typical lazy ass house model, I expect it will remain that way. Puss may be interested in sniffing around any new stuff that comes in the house, but usually the baby and all the associated noise is enough to have them retreat to the nearest quiet hideyhole....
Life Subscriber
We had a cat when the boys were born. She wasn't very happy about losing her place as "child" of the family, but she was always very good around the babies.
However, having a cat in the house is one of the factors which increases the risk of a baby developing allergies. It doesn't mean it will happen, but it is a factor, so something to consider for you.
Registered User
What a cracker Lulu!! That made me choke on my apple.*sigh - I don't know why people think a cat suddenly turns into a baby smothering ninja
Registered User
I read somewhere that the whole cat on the babys face thing is an urban myth!
we introduced my 10year old princess sylvie, to our ds when we brought him home, she took a sniff then ran outside, I watched her pretty carefully for the first few weeks, but she just wasnt interested at all!
then one night while bfing him, she jumped up on the bed and came and sniffed me, my breasts, jacob, then lay down next to me, staring intently at us for a while, then she went to sleep.
since then she and jacob have been fine together, he is so nasty to her! pulls her hair etc, we tell him no, gently, etc, she has never even growled! but if we are not near she stays away from him.
Registered User
We had no problems - typical "lazy house model"! We just made sure that she had "her" time after Jake went down for his night time sleep and she has been fine ever since. He is 2.5 and she thumps him when he gors too far but has never tried to murder him for usurping her position. We have just brought home number 2 and she hasn't flickered a whisker. She comes and curls up next to me in bed when feeding DD and then DD does back to her bassinet, Millie crawls under the blankets and has her cuddle till next feed.
I guess if you chucked them suddenly outside you could encounter problems, but we just treated it like introducing a new baby to a toddler when DS1 came home.
Registered User
We have 2 cats (8-year-old and a 6-year-old who we think was the runt of the litter as she still acts like a kitten and is a liitle slow). We have had them for 7 years and 5 years respectively. I was worried about how they would react to DS particularly as the older one has big issues with change and is quite nervy. I was also worried as we got the older one from the RSPCA and the reason she was given away by her original owners was because she was found sleeping in the baby's cot.
When we came home, it was the younger one who was scared of the baby (particularly when he cried as it was quite loud). They have both got used to the baby's noises now and we have not had any issues with them. They know they aren't allowed to go into the baby's room (they will actually sit at the doorway and peer inside, but never go in) and it only took a couple of weeks to get them to understand that they weren't allowed in there. Another thing they have started doing is jumping off our bed at night when they hear the baby crying and sit outside his door until we get get up and feed him. It's almost as if to tell us that something is wrong with the baby and we need to do something about it. It's very cute. Also, when DS is on the floor in the living room, they will walk around him, look at him, they may sniff him sometimes, but they have never scratched him or anything like that.
So anyway, I'm rambling. Main point is, we've never had problems with DS and the cats. We also make time each day to play with the cats like we used to before DS came along and I think that has helped too.
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