Cat hair?

[JordanKX]

So after a brief scare last night at the prospect of being induced, I realized we needed to finalize "sleeping". Although we plan on LO being in the bed, we put together the crib just to see if the side-car would work, which it does. So I put on the sheets and bumper, returned 1/2hr later to find my long-hair Black darling cat had decided the crib will make a great new bed for HER.

hmmmm.... cat hair + newborn can't be a good thing.

my furry wonder sleeps in the bed with us at night, always has... and it's been in the back of my mind, what issues we'll have with the baby. She gets so freaked out by DSS, I just imagined the baby would scare her away. But... her Hair is everywhere. Any ideas? Other than making her an outdoor kitty?

[KayleeZoo]

We always put long strips of packing tape, sticky side up, in the crib before baby comes. My cats do not like long pieces of tape stuck to them Cats are smart. They figure it out quickly.

Once baby comes, and they hear the newborn shrieks coming from the crib, they stay away. Far away. Sure, they jump in once in a blue moon when the crib is empty, but I just wash the sheet.

I'd never consider making an indoor kitty stay outside- that's a cat owner and 13year veterinary technician talking

[dosergirl]

we use the double sided tape on our furniture to prevent the cat from scratching it, it's made for that and we get it at target, it would do the same thing, prevent the cat from jumping there.

i have also heard that placing aluminum foil in the crib will also prevent them from thinking the crib is their bed.

i don't think our cat will want to go anywhere near the baby, she is very sensitive and babies are smelly and loud

[JordanKX]

double-sided tape... why did I think of that? :-) Aluminum foil sounds fun too - that will certainly drive her nuts, poor thing. Thank you for the suggestions!

[hipmummy]

The aluminum foil works great and you can reuse it over and over again. Most cat's cannot stand it.

[deymm]

You can also get a crib tent to keep the cat out.

[shakenbake]

hehe my cat slept in the crib with my DS a few times when he was a nb he loved him dearly! and i dont buy into the bull of a cat killing a baby for milk

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I still remember the looks on my poor kitties faces when I brought dd home it was like they had seen a ghost.

Love the ideas about the tape and tinfoil. I actually bought a bassinett that had a zip top for camping on it because I feared the cats would jump in with the baby. I ended up pinning the netting to the side since it was never a problem.

The only time I did use it was when I had ds and I had to go the bathroom and left him in it asleep while dd was awake. I always worried she would throw something on him and that let me go in peace those first early days when I couldnt just run in and back out

[lovepiggie]

I think putting sticky tape on the mattress is your best idea for keeping the kitty out...

We had planned on doing this, but forgot... And then my cat made the mattress her own. And I'm feeling way too maternal to kick her out, because she looks adorable all curled up on it. She's my little furbaby.

But before we put the actual baby in it, we're going to vacuum off all the cat hair... And I doubt she'll go in there once there is a baby.

[mamalovesmambo]

I second using aluminum foil. It must make a noise that cats can't stand. Whenever I use it while cooking our cat runs straight out the door! I haven't tried this but I'd cover the crib mattress with it, then next time your cat jumps on it she'll get a shock, and hopefully never go back there!

[confustication]

Originally Posted by shakenbake

hehe my cat slept in the crib with my DS a few times when he was a nb he loved him dearly! and i dont buy into the bull of a cat killing a baby for milk

I'm not a fan of overprotecting kids, but one of my cats (we have three) likes to try to sleep on people's necks. Once the person is big enough to have a stable airway, this isn't an issue. In a newborn, it could be a very real problem (they're really sqishy and the cartilege in the trachea just isn't solid enough to take pressure like that without collapsing.) Overall however, it's never really been an issue.

I do keep a bedspread handy and when I make our bed, I toss an extra bedspread on top for the cat hair barrier- then I just take it off before going to bed at night. With the crib, I put a blanket in there during the day as well so if the cat lands there, the fur is on that instead of on the sheet. I gave up the battle long ago of never having cat fur around.

I tried sticky tape with the youngest cat recently- it backfired, he thought it was a fabulous toy. Same with foil. (Hm, maybe the half Maine Coon/Half Siamese was asking for trouble?)

Regardless, you'll figure out something that works.

[MyZoeJane]

We have two cats and though I love them dearly, I cannot STAND cat hair! It grosses me out to sit somewhere then get up covered. I wouldn't want to sleep where there's a lot of human hair, so why would I tolerate cat hair, KWIM?

So, I've gated the top of our stairway so the cats cannot come upstairs where we sleep at all. I've also gated the living room. The cats have plenty of room and attention on the first level of the house in the family room, dining room, kitchen, and finished basement.

I think that if you have bedrooms upstairs apart from the rest of the house, you might want to consider training the cats to stay out of the upstairs entirely.

[octobermoon]

Originally Posted by confustication

I'm not a fan of overprotecting kids, but one of my cats (we have three) likes to try to sleep on people's necks. Once the person is big enough to have a stable airway, this isn't an issue. In a newborn, it could be a very real problem (they're really sqishy and the cartilege in the trachea just isn't solid enough to take pressure like that without collapsing.)

we have three also, and one of ours likes to sleep on necks as well. i swear she would lay on my face if i let her. she has even slept at the top of my head and loves to walk all over me at night when i am trying to sleep : she isn't too bright, i do not trust her to be around the baby at all! my other two will be fine i think.

[rosedoe]

Originally Posted by KayleeZoo

I'd never consider making an indoor kitty stay outside- that's a cat owner and 13year veterinary technician talking

Amen.

I have three cats. I am not planning on doing anything special. They have stayed out of all the baby's things. So I guess I've been lucky. When my son shows up we'll see how the cats act and take it from there. Right now I am sitting on at the computer with one cat draped over my left shoulder. Her legs on my stomach to keep herself comfy. My little furbabies!

My rabbits on the other hand have been on and into everything that's the baby's that they can get too...I really should try and figure something out with them.