HELP....practical advice wanted

mercman_3 · 31 July 2005 at 5:41PM

once again we turn to the MSE forum in a bid to help us get some practical advice from people.

wife is now only 5 wks from giving birth to our 1st born, but we have this to worry about

We have a v v spoilt cat who we have had for 15yrs (he has and always will be 'the baby') We are a little concerned that he may inadvertantly jump in with the baby during the night (while hopefully we grab some sleep)!

We are trying to think of practical solutions to this. Baby will be in with us in a moses basket, how can we give it some protection from tigger wanting to cuddle her?

Ideas we have had thus far are

1. Buy an enclosed fire guard to put around the moses basket
2. Buy a cot instead of a cotbed (cotbed is too big for our bedroom) and place moses basket into that
3. Buy a travel cot and place moses basket in that (height isnt very good so may struggle getting her in/out of moses basket) and then making some sort of wood & chicken wire framing to go over the top

Anybody else out there have had babies whilst owning a 'HOUSE CAT'?

your help would be greatly appreciated

Regards

P&P

bigmuffins · 31 July 2005 at 5:53PM

Hi
Congrats - hope birth goes smoothly for you both!
I think you can get anti cat/insect cot & pram covers - they should be in all the stores (mothercare etc) or try the great little trading co - I remember seeing them there.
My friend's cat was the same - v jealous of new baby and kept peeing in the baby's car seat & bouncer. Was fascinated by baby's eyes and would have scratched him had they not had a cover on!
All the best

Edinburghlass_2 · 31 July 2005 at 6:18PM

Easiest and cheapest method would be to lock the cat out of the bedroom, at night anyway?

You may well find, as I did, that the cat hated the baby anyway and stayed well away from it

Bun · 31 July 2005 at 10:47PM

We have four cats, all of whom used to sleep on the bed before mini-bun arrived. We stopped them sleeping on the bed a few weeks before arrival. We bought cat nets but never actually had to use them as they were a bit freaked out by him at first. Let your cat get used to the baby gradually. My husband used to bring back the t-shirts he cuddled the baby in while we were in hospital so they knew the scent. As long as you fuss the cat as much as you can then hopefully you shouldn't have too many problems. Best not to leave anything on the floor (baby bags etc) just in case of weeing though. The cats were allowed in the bedroom the rest of the time, and also unless min-bun is in his bedroom they can go in there too (we put a heavy toy in the cot though to keep them out) It stops it becoming a place of intrigue and is good for allergies too. The cats protection league does a leaflet, alternatively you can ask at the vets for advice.

Congratulations and good luck by the way!

mentaljessie · 1 August 2005 at 12:17AM

I trained as a Nursery Nurse and it was always rammed down our throats by my tutors that a cat net (I think you can can get them from Mothercare) is to be recommended, As an owner of 5 cats myself, it's something i would get. The reason being for this that a particular tutor whom was previously a health visitor, had to deal with an incident involving the family moggie and the new baby fortunately all was ok in the end. Congratulations!

katglasgow · 1 August 2005 at 9:42AM

Hi I was in a similar situation with my beloved cat before my son was born and I just wanted to let you know it had all worked out fine!
We started shutting cat out of our bedroom about a month before I was due so that the cat would get used to this before the baby actually came home. We bought a special cat bed from Argos and to my surprise my cat actually uses it now every night!
I had an insect net for the car seat that fitted the moses basket well but actually, once at the very beginning I found my cat asleep in the empty pram and I gave him a massive row, and he has never ever done it again since.
It is probably a good idea to gwet into the bahit of stroking your cat a lot less now as well so again he gets used to it before the baby comes home.
When m,y son was tiny, the cat was not interested in being anywhere near him - way too noisy! As he has got older, they have become great friends and Ewan loves to stroke the cat and Felix responds by gently head buitting him. They love each other to bits and I am very proud of my cat!
Good luck x

rchddap1 · 1 August 2005 at 9:45AM

My sister has 2 cats (one is extremely large and soppy). She hasn't had a problem with her cats & her son when he was born. I would also suggest shutting the cat out of the bedroom in which 'sprog' is going to sleep.

maggie1976 · 1 August 2005 at 11:26AM

Either a cat net, or I've also heard that putting a baking tray (quite a deep one) filled with water inside the moses basket and/or cot is a good idea, so that if the cat jumps up, it gets a nasty wet shock and doesn't do it again.

Obviously that's only when the baby's not in there! You could try it now to get the cat used to where it is and isn't allowed to be and see how you get on.

Good luck - we're going to have the same dilemmas in a few months - we have 3 cats, and baby no. 1 due in December!

Savvy_Sue · 1 August 2005 at 11:54AM

You may need catnets of different sizes, for example for the moses basket and the cot when you get it and the pram if you have one. A little insect net might be sufficient for that if you put the cover and hood on, if that's not too hot.

I'd say the main thing would be to make sure there's always one over anything you don't want the cat in, from as soon as possible. But I'm not sure I'd be convinced that a cat net would keep a cat out of a moses basket, and once the baby's wriggling I guess there's a risk of fingers getting caught?

Lots of other good tips from cat owners, which I'm not, but I have seen several happy families with spoilt cats transformed by the arrival of sprogs!

PS I babysat for my friend's 3 kids once and found the cat was more trouble than the rest of them!

Zziggi · 1 August 2005 at 1:03PM

We have 2 overly-pampered cats. I was very worried about how cats and babies would mix when ds arrived as i was going to be a first-time-mum. We bought cat nets and used one over the moses basket and had one for the cot. During the day i just used the cat net over the moses basket that was in the lounge as i was in and out the room all the time. At night i still used a cat net over the cot just to be sure but also shut the door completely so the cats couldn't get in while i was asleep. I can honestly say i never ever found the cats anywhere near the moses basket or the cot. When we brought ds home the cats had a little sniff of his feet while i was cuddling him, then from then on they made gave him a wide berth and basically ignored him. Now ds is aged 3 they love him and sleep on the floor of his bedroom.

Good luck and hope your cats are as amenable as ours were.

mercman_3 · 1 August 2005 at 7:14PM

Thanks for all the responses, please keep them coming

Regards

Pete

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HELP....practical advice wanted

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