Mommies of babies with pet cats

[poochie]

I am thinking of getting a bassinet for my DD for when the baby is born. Do they make netting to put over the bassinet. She is worried about the cat, whom by the way she simply adores, but is a bit leary of with the new baby.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Virgo10]

Are you worried about the cat jumping into the bassinet? While I can't speak for the way all cats act, we had a very territorial Siamese when both of my kids were infants. She never wanted to get near them.

While a net of some sort sounds like it might work, I would think the only way to really keep a cat away from a baby is to keep the door shut to the room the baby is in.

 

[phillybeth]

Cats suffocating a sleeping infant is an old wives' tale if that's what your DD is thinking of. I second the suggestion of keeping the door closed. Fussing around with netting trying to get to the baby seems to be more trouble than it's worth IMO.

 

[poochie]

I remember a portable crib/bassinet I had for my kids that had a zipper netted top which you could close which more than likely was for mosqetos and bugs but that always worked. Do they still sell anything like that?

 

[crazee4mickey]

A net wouldn't stop a cat from getting in the bassinet as it probably wouldn't be strong enough to support the cats weight if it decided to try to jump in. The cat wouldn't be trying to jump in to suffocate the baby...that is an old wive's tale but it may like the secure, small area within the bassinet to sleep or the chance to snuggle with a cuddly,warm human!
I had two cats with my babies and the best way to keep them away is to have the door closed all the way (as our cats will hit the door with their heads and body even when it is slightly latched until the door opens because they want to snuggle in the warm beds with the kids they love) or train them to stay away by making a loud hissing noise and commotion which startles them whenever they head towards baby's room. They become accustomed to knowing that when they hear the hissing sound they turn away from where they were heading and go the opposite direction(sounds weird but it works great).

 

[swilphil]

I remember reading not to use the nets because the baby can get tangled in it. Our two cats never got in the bassinet when the baby was in it. They did like sitting in it before the baby was born though.

 

[DisneyPhD]

We have a cat and had 2 babies come into this house while the cat was here. The cat was curious about the babies, but very cautious about the baby. The cat would jump in both the crib and basenent once when we put it up to explore and check it out, but never when the baby was around.

When a newborn baby cries it is very upsetting for cats. Ours would get very concenred and come get us. He would hoover around like a mamma cat being sure we took good care of the baby. (I think a newborn sounds a lot like a baby kitten.) Of course out cat is an 12 year old male house cat that has never been in the same room with another cat since he left his litter.

I wouldn't really worry about it. We did keep the door closed so that cat couldn't get in with our 1st DD, but didn't bother with our 2nd since she sleep in the room with us in a bassenent (along with the cat who sleep on the bed.)

Here is the odd thing. Our cat doesn't like kids, at all. However she LOVES our baby. The baby will lay on the cat and he doesn't care. He just takes all the love she can dish. However this is not true of older kids. Rather fussy old cat.

 

[chris1gill]

I pretty much agree with everything that has been said. I would be worried about that netting being a choking hazzard to start with... anyhow, we were very worried that our cat would jump up and in with either of our children when they were babies. Well, our cat didn't really want to have much to do with a fussy baby LOL... he kept his distance from both of them... only once did I ever find him in the crib & it was right after we'd put it up... we yelled, he jumped, never did it again!

 

[jenm2878]

My brother has two cats, and when his wife was pregnant they didn't put the mattress on the crib. The cats would jump in and land on the springs/slats, and would jump right back out because they were uncomfortable. After a couple of times they associated crib to being unpleasant, and have never jumped in the crib with the baby. As for the bassinet, my SIL would just make sure the cats were out of the bedroom at night and closed the door. (when my niece slept in the bassinet beside the bed) Now that she's in the crib they don't even close her door and the cats don't bother her.

 

[Disney Ella]

We put a screen door on the babies' room when my kids were little. We could hear and see the babies and the cats couldn't get in. The cats found those cribs awfully comfortable. While it's true that cats can't "suck the breath out of babies" if the cats lie too close to the baby and the baby can't turn it's head yet, it won't be able to breathe.

We got crib tents when my kids were 18 months old to keep them from climbing out of their cribs, but it also worked to keep the cats out. The crib tents are made of sturdy mesh and a baby can't get tangled in them. Maybe a crib tent would be an option when the baby is moved from a bassinet to a crib.

 

[Kermit]

We have a dog. When our first was born, we wanted to keep the dog entirely out of the baby's room (which was also our room), mainly to keep all the hair away from the baby. We didn't want to shut the bedroom door because the AC and the heat don't work as well when the door is shut. So we got a baby gate to keep in our bedroom door. We got the nice kind that you can open and close with your feet while leaving in the doorway all the time. It worked great.

With our second, we didn't bother. We knew well enough how our dog interacted with babies to know that he was protective but not going to try to sleep with the baby. And our second child wasn't premature, so we weren't as worried about the dog's hair.

 

[DisneyBug1995]

We also got a crib tent when my son was born. I had bottle feed 2 kittens who were very loving and liked to cuddle. I was worried that they would want to cuddle with my son while he was sleeping and didn't want them to accidently suffocate him. The crib tent worked great. The cats would jump on it and climb all around on top of it and it always supported their weight.

 

[poochie]

Where did you get your crib tents?

 

[DisneyBug1995]

I got my crib tent at Babies R Us.

 

[LoveWDW]

We put a screen over our bassinet when the babies were in it. The kind of screen that you can buy at a hardware store, made to insert in a window that doesn't have a built-in screen. It comes framed and can be adjusted for size. It also easily can support the weight of a cat.

 

[katerkat]

I've seen the crib tents, but a friend had one and the cats bent it by jumping on it before the baby was born. I decided it was useless. My two cats inspected the bassinnet before Russ was born, but once it was his bed, they wouldn't go near it. (His bouncer seat was another story. ) They don't mind Russ, but they won't come near him. He even sleeps on our bed sometimes, with the cats at the other end, and I don't worry.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

In our last house, we had a screen door on the nursery. In this house, we closed the door to our bedroom--hated to do it, our old momcat (actually a male, now deceased) just loved us and all the baby's soft, warm things. He was also a "kneader", so in addition to the smothering concerns, we were worried about him scratching. He slept in the carrier all the time!

My sister got us a kitten right after kid #3 was born--he loved to jump into the portable crib. I didn't like it, but didn't get too upset because she was only in that when I was awake and downstairs, so I could keep on eye on things. It also had a cover, but we didn't bother. Now we just won't let any cats in our bed for #4--sigh! I miss the old momcat kitty who napped 23 hours a day--he was a great cat!

 

[mariolatry]

If you set the bassinette up before you use it, place some tinfoil or double sided tape in it. Cats hate both of those surfaces and only have to jump on them once or twice to be turned off to that space forever. We put tinfoil with tape over the top of it in the crib, the bassinette, and on the changing table. She tried it once, jumped back down, and has never tried it again.

 

[katerkat]

Oh, yeah, don't forget the changing table. You don't want something like this!

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

We wouldn't allow our cat to jump on the baby's furniture before he was born. Now that he's here, the cat doesn't want anything to do with him anyway (as a matter of fact, he'll only come out to sit with us when the baby is sleeping). But just to be sure, we close DS's bedroom door.