Cats and babies

lostinrates

FWIW about six weeks after I was born my mother's cat had (plannned) kittens. One of those kittens chose me and we were excellent companions throughout my childhood. If I had children I'd probably get a net so that all contact when the baby was little, or couldn't be trusted not to pull tails and poke etc. I often babysit a baby boy whose own cat has learnt to be sceptical. Our cats adore him, and enjoy snuggling with him and will tolerate a certain amount of rough before moving away. I would NEVER let this happen unless I was right there, and his parents are happy. The baby's absolute delight in cats is wonderful, and even at his tiny age he's learning...slowly, that the gentler he is the longer they stay with him.

Swirley

I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who's commented and given me advice - I'm really grateful for it! :beer:
I'm off to have a look at the links picklepick posted :T

925dancer

I have been told there is a risk overheating the baby if a cat sleeps with them and as I said, it's not ideal to have the cat in the cot with the baby.

There is a very small risk of an over friendly cat accidentally blocking babies breathing but that risk is minute, how many households have cats and babies living perfectly happily together?

There's also the ever present battle with the cat hair monsters and for that reason it's nice to keep them out of babies room as much as possible too but the actual health risks are pretty minimal. Certainly a lot less than other household hazards we don't give a second thought to!

albacookie

You could try and get the cat used to you doing baby things by using a doll - feed it, dress it, change it - to get the cat used to the fact that he can't have your attention when you do those things.

juliebunny

Hello and well done for not panicking and trying to get rid of your cat - the shelter I support has tons of calls like that. Your cat would be PTS if taken in by most charities.

I don't have any kiddies but friends at work with cats and kids all say it's best to make any changes around the house BEFORE baby comes along so they don't make the association with the baby arriving.

Good luck with the new arrival when he/she appears!

Rummer

We got our cats when we were expecting our first baby and we just made sure that they had a look around the nursery so it didn't become a room they wanted to get into. When our DD came home for the first time we left her in her car seat and the cats came to have a peek (we were right next to her) both cats sniffed and walked away and that was it. The crying was enough to keep them away and even when she was toddling they kept well out her way. We also made sure that time was set aside for them a few times a day so they got lots of attention and cuddles and made visitors give them attention too.

mountainofdebt

We had 2 cats when Junior was born many moons ago and the only incident we had was when I found the more friendlier of the two in Junior's cot, lying next to him.

I admit I went mental ....there may be no documented evidence of cats accidentially smoothering babies but I wasn't about to look up it up on the internet first......and I never found the cat anywhere near the cot again.