Cats and babies

I have three cats. (I know, insane - it'll never happen again)

I heard a rumor about people putting screen doors on their nursery bedroom doors. That way they can keep the cats out, but still see in. Has anyone actually done this? I really don't want cat hair all over my twin's cribs and such. I wish they were indoor/outdoor cats and I'd leave them outside, but we live in a neighborhood where wildlife likes to take them as scooby snacks. So inside cats they are!

 

I've heard of that too! We have two cats, and we honestly haven't had any problems. I think they were so scared of the babies at first, that by the time they were used to them, they were not even interested in going in their cribs.

For the 1st 3 months we had the babies in a crib in our bedroom. The cats sleep with us in our bedroom too. Once they moved to their own room, we just started shutting their door while they are in there at night and for naps.

You could wait and see how it goes!
Suzi

 

We have 4 indoor cats and haven’t had any problems with them – One of my girl cats has visited the crib a couple of times, but it was while I was standing right next to it and there was no baby in there so I quickly shooed her out of it, she hasn’t been back in there since. If you find a cat in the crib use the good ole squirt gun or water bottle to teach them it’s a no-no to be there.

My thinking is that (especially with cats) if you put up a screen door, that just makes them want to be in there EVEN MORE, heehee. They will then devise a way to get in there and probably ruin all the hard work of putting up the door in the first place…

Good luck though.

 

I have 2 indoor cats, and they've been very good with the babies. They were scared of them at first (I could just see them thinking, "Doesn't smell like a cat...too small to be a person...so WTF IS it?!"). Now they're more laid back. They let the babies pet them (with my guidance to keep things gentle), and if the babies chase them they just retreat. They almost never go in the cribs, and when they do I give them a quick squirt with the squirt bottle. But they're really not interested, I think because they KNOW it's baby territory.

 

We have two very inquisitive indoor-only cats, and no problems here. Neither of my cats have shown any inclination to jump into the cribs and they pretty much left our girls alone for the first few months. Now there is a mutual love-fest between the girls and the cats... the cats are always within a few feet of the girls and the girls try desperately to pull the cat's fur at all times. The cats still have never made a move for the cribs, though.

I don't think you need a screen door. As for the cat hair, you can just brush the cats more regularly and shoo the cats away from your twins if it bothers you.

 

I have 5 (!!!) cats and it was never a problem. I just shut their door and cranked up the baby monitor.

 

Ditto the PP's. I don't think you need a screen door. At least wait and see on it. A good alternative might be an extra-tall babygate (or two baby gates stacked if you're desperate). But I'd wait and see: both our cat and our dog are so good with the babies that we haven't had to worry at all. I was a little grossed out the first few times I found animal hair in their bottles, but I got over it.

Our cat has really surprised me because he is not the friendliest beast, yet he lets the babies "pet" him (which often involves grabbing handfuls of fur), and he doesn't care at all. Yesterday DS grabbed the cat by the ears and tried to give him a bit open-mouth baby kiss but fortunately I was there to stop that!

The cat has never once tried to jump into their cribs. When he does go into their room, he usually grabs a spot on the rocking chair.

 

I have two cats and really the hair isn't all that bad. I set up their bassinet long before they came home and used double stick tape and a spray bottle -- they were squirted anytime they jumped in there and the tape just was not cool, or at least that's what one of my cats said!

 

We have 3 cats and have not had one problem. I was worried b/c when we set up the nursery before the babies were born one of the cats liked to go in there all the time. One cat is really friendly, and he will come up and sniff the babies if they are playing on the floor, or try to sit in our laps when we are holding the babies, but that's about it. We leave the nursery door cracked open at night (the door is really squeaky if you close it all the way) and in 4.5 months have never had a cat go in there, they won't even if me or DH goes in. I would wait on a screen door or crib tent until you know if it's going to be a problem.

 

I have 3 indoor cats (had 4 but had to get rid of 1 when I got preg), when the crib was first setup they were curious, as well as when they babies first came home but now they couldnt be bothered with the crib. I was even thinking about taking the crib tent off the crib.
My kitties are very confused by the baby toys though, 'Why cant we play with them, they make the same noises as our toys?!?!'

My youngest kitty, Merrick, I call her 'the babysitter'. She comes to get me everytime one of the babies cry, its very cute! I let Maia 'pet' her the other morning, she grabbed a fistful of kitty and Merrick just licked her 'you have to be nice if you want to pet me'.
And my boy kitty, Lucius, likes to groom me, he'll come over and lick my hair while I am sitting on the couch, and he will ocassionally groom Sofia (not Maia since she has almost no hair lol), lick her hair and purr like crazy while she's sitting with me!

As for the cat hair I vacuum like every other day and use the extension brush to do the furniture once a week, but I always have even before the babies came.

 

I have two indoor cats, and it's never been a problem. One thing that happened inadvertently before I had my older child -- we assembled the crib, but hadn't bought a mattress yet. The cat jumped in there, and her little legs went through the holes in the spring/platform, and scared the crap out of her -- she never jumped in again!

But, we have a newer cat that we didn't have then, and she's never once even attempted to jump into a crib this time around.

Babies tend to be loud and squirmy, and most cats like to keep their distance! Mine are just now okay with a little petting from the babies, but they both still run from my 4-year-old, LOL.

 

we have two cats and althougt one did like to try and nap in the crib that was in our bedroom before the babies were born. They never went near the cribs when there were babies in there. they were too afraid of the little noise that the babies made.

 

We have always had cats and never once had a problem.

If you are concerned, a screen door sounds like a good idea. Maybe one of those retractable ones.

 

We have an indoor that we've had for years and we call our 'first child' all the time. It was suggested to me before the babies were born to put tin foil in the crib. Apparently they don't like the way foil feels on their paws so it would keep them out and then when babies came home they wouldn't have an interest i n the crib. We did this with the co-sleeper, but not the cribs. She never once tried to jump in either of them so I don't know how well the foil theory works. As for the cat hair- she's pretty good about staying out of the nursery all together, but anyone who has cats knows that their gets everywhere. We just vacuum a few times a week and it stays under control.

She does get confused about them though! If she's on the bed while I'm dressing one or changing one and the baby starts to coo or cry she looks confused and then irritated that her sleep is being disturbed and she runs off to another sleep spot!

 

We have 2 indoor cats and I have to say that I am very proud of them, they have been wonderful with the babies. They actually come to get us when the babies are crying (probably to tell us, MAKE THEM STOP!) and they are curious about the babies but they have not gone in the crib but they will sleep in the babies room or sleep outside their door.

 

We have three cats and a dog. The cats worried me...I figured they would be jumping in the cribs and such. So when we set up the cribs (long before the beebs arrived) I lined the mattresses with aluminum foil. Cats hate it. If they jump in once and see/feel/hear the foil, they won't do it again. I kept foil in the baby stuff until they came home, and then removed it. The cats haven't gone near their stuff!

 

I also did the tin foil & laughed because my kitty saw me take it out & was asleep in the crib that very same day! So, I figured she'd be in there as soon as the boys came home but NO WAY! She likes to sleep UNDER the crib, but won't go NEAR sleeping inside of it. In fact, both my kitties keep a good distance from the boys, ESPECIALLY when they're being noisy. They'll relocate to get away from the noise & usually jump up on our lap, see a baby, & leave. Hopefully they'll get more used to them (they're getting better). My sweet girl kitty even lets them 'pet' her occasionally...but not happily !