Older 'siblings'?

[WifeofAnt]

Well we have this spoiled little dude (he's about a year old) and I really don't know how to break it to him that he won't be an only child for very long. Ever since we left him with a babysitter to go back home for a baby shower he hasn't wanted to leave my side (he's even in my arms now). He crawls into bed with me in the morning, sometimes kissing me to try to wake me up if DH isn't home. He even follows me into the bathroom! Normally this is all pretty cute but the other day I found he chewed through one of the baby's pacifiers (and we only bought 2). I'm not sure if he knows there's a baby on the way but every day that goes by he gets more and more clingy. I don't know how to get him to 'chill out' and I don't want him getting jealous and trying to hurt the baby when I can't pay attention to him all the time anymore.

Any advice from BTDT mamas?

(Oh btw, he's a cat.)

[MeepyCat]

Oh, you poor people!

First, honey, two is the wrong number of pacifiers. You either need none or you need LOTS. (When DS was three days old, he took a pacifier and slept for six hours straight. As any parent of a newborn would, we rushed out the next day and bought a dozen - one for each diaper bag, and for my jacket pockets, and a stash by the changing table and a stash by the crib! pacifiers everywhere! DS never consented to take one again. I still occasionally find a pacifier - ancient, creaking, coated in goldfish and granola crumbs. DD has no interest in them either.)

Second, oh you do not know what you are in for. The day we first walked into our house with the new baby, our younger kitty looked at the thing in the carrier, shot us a look composed of anger and betrayal, and vanished to the third floor for a week. He came around eventually.

[stik]

Pregnant ladies smell awesome. My cat was totally all over me when I was pregnant too. He's just trying to guard his awesome-smelling territory. He's like Edward to your Bella, if Edward was focused on shedding instead of homicide.

Once the baby is born, you will start to smell like things that are less attractive to cats. He'll find a new love. If it doesn't make him aggressive, you could offer him some catnip "from the baby" to help him chill out about the situation.

[cristeen]

My cats knew I was pg before I ever POAS. It should have clued me in, but it didn't. They were all over me.

When I went into labor they disappeared. It took until DS was about 3 mos for *my* cat to start coming around me again. The other cat still has very little to do with me and DS is a year old.

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

I haven't BTDT, but I will give you hope - we have 2 cats and they are incredibly good with our baby. They will sit there while he tries (and increasingly succeeds in) grabbing their whiskers and ears and fur.

Lest you all think I'm negligent and asking for trouble - this happens because they insist on walking over and nuzzling him. They're either extremely loving or exceedingly stupid. I haven't decided which yet. I do intervene though

So it can work out. This is our second baby. There was a small adjustment period with our first, but this time I think they just rolled their eyes and got on with it.

[SilverFish]

my cat is incredibly clingy all the time. he drove me crazy for the first few weeks when i was all hormonal and exhausted and overwhelmed with baby love. now i have love and mental energy to spare for him and enjoy spending time with him more than before.

on the other hand, he LOOOOOOVES tzippy incredibly, and she loves him. they cuddle so much and entertain each other more and more every day.

chances are that your spoiled brat will get used to the new hierarchy soon enough. he might not be that interested in the new baby, or he might love it. but do get used to the idea of cat hair all over your baby stuff.

[WifeofAnt]

Originally Posted by stik

Pregnant ladies smell awesome. My cat was totally all over me when I was pregnant too. He's just trying to guard his awesome-smelling territory. He's like Edward to your Bella, if Edward was focused on shedding instead of homicide.

Its really annoying when he decides my lap doesn't exist anymore and insists on walking and standing on my belly.

I'm surprised there's not hair all over everything yet. Our swing has been set up for at least a month or two and besides the first time I set him in it for a picture he refuses to acknowledge it exists. Its harder to keep him out of the pack n play though. I've mostly been able to keep him in the changing table only but he sneaks down into the bassinet when he thinks I'm not paying attention. I'm hoping getting all the stuff set up ahead of time helps him with the adjustment.

[toughcookie]

WifeofAnt: one word for you: FOIL.

cats hate foil. set up all your new baby stuff, basinnette or crib and clothes, blankets, etc, then let them sit out for the microsecond it takes for your cat to think "oh, goody!" and settle down on them, then toss him off, set up the foil, and try not to feel too guilty with delight.

we have a dog too, and it worked for him - he wanted that boppy and sheepskin so badly, but the foil really discouraged him.

eventually when baby comes you'll have to use vocal corrections, but as previous posters have pointed out, nothing will be as yummy to your kitty as they are at this moment, pre-partum!

[MaerynPearl]

my cats knew i was pregnant

one protected me all the time, the other hated me

when mae was born (homebirth) they came in... heard her noises... jumped on our bed to investigate and then ran out of the room. I only just started seeing them again last week (5 weeks later, but ive confined myself to the room most of the time as it makes feeding/changing/napping easier and ive dealt with a horrible case of mastitis in that time)

now they will come around us but avoid the baby. before she was born they thought her bouncer, swing, car seat, stroller and crib were all beds for them. now that they smell like her, we dont even have to put things in them to keep the cats out, the cats want nothing to do with them.

having had 5 different cats between my 3 kids plus the 7 different cats my mom had in that time.. i feel pretty confident in saying when baby comes... kitty will not try to maliciously injure him. kitty will try to stay as far away as possible. Its when baby is mobile and can chase/grab kitty that kitty becomes a danger (and baby becomes a danger to kitty) before then if kitty goes near baby and baby does something kitty doesnt like... most kitties just run away.



oh and not only do cats not like foil, they hate the smell of lemon juice.... we had a problem with them going potty in a corner that used to have their litter (our fault for not slowly moving it... and expecting them to adapt right away, I know better i swear) we sprayed it with fresh lemon juice a few times a week and that took care of the problem, they avoid that corner like its going to come alive and eat them.

[wholewheatchick]

Just saw this and couldn't help but comment, DDC buddy, because I am soooo with you!

Eddy is our cat, and as DH put it, he is NOT wanting this "human kitten" to show up. What I am most worried about is sleeping. We are going to co sleep with Squirt, but Eddy ALWAYS sleeps with us. On my side of the bed. He gets very cuddly when it gets colder, so I am worried that he will want to snuggle with the baby. Of course, I"ll be snuggling with the baby, too, so I hope that avoids any potential conflicts. I know you're not "supposed" to co sleep when you have pets in the bed, but normally Eddy stays down by my feet, so we'll make it work, somehow.

And yes, Eddy isn't too happy about my disappearing lap. And everytime he settles down on me, Squirt starts thumping around in protest. We haven't set any baby things up yet, so I'm not sure how he's going to react to that.

You'll have to tell me how it goes, since you're due 2 weeks before me!

[northerngirl]

We have 2 dogs and 2 cats. My cats are 13 years old now. Shortly after dd1, 4.5, was born one of them peed in dd's bouncer. And it took a while to figure out where the hell that pee smell was coming from. And they loved to sleep in the cosleeper. Which made me mad bc it was COVERED in hair, but fine bc dd never slept in it. Then I sold it on craigslist and it took FOREVER to get all the friggin hair off it. Its funny looking back.
Dd loves the pets. And so cute when she was a baby and pet them SO gently, sometimes.

[treeoflife3]

My cat would do anything she could to be on me. when I'd lay down on my side to go to sleep, barely 30 seconds later and she was still laying on top of me.. sometimes trying to balance on my arm.

Once kiddo was born, she didn't try to come near too much. She hated kiddo and prefered to stay in another room. Sometimes when kiddo was sleeping and I wasn't in the room with her, she'd come by me again but mostly it took a long while to warm back up. She has never tried to do anything to kiddo though. Even now with kiddo chasing her and junk, she still just hisses, bats her paw once (we adopted her declawed) and then runs and hides under something haha. I think only once did she nip at kiddo but kiddo was pulling her tail so I can't blame the cat. She didn't bite at any rate and kiddo usually leaves her tail alone now since that surprised her so much.