https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 19 Apr 2026 06:16:36 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2756425 Sun, 09 Jul 2017 12:08:55 +0000 Finfan 2756425@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You could put monkey locks on doors of rooms you don't want cats in. We have one on the toddler's room to keep them from going in there. It keeps the door open 1-2 inches for air flow but they can't go in. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2755470 Thu, 06 Jul 2017 01:17:59 +0000 turquoisemama 2755470@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My one piece of advice is that if you are going to shut the cat out of the room, no matter how much they meow or scratch don't open the door. It will be super annoying for a while but eventually they will give up and adjust. This is what we did and they were used to sleeping with us every night. If you let them in after they've cried for a while that will just reinforce they're behavior. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2755107 Wed, 05 Jul 2017 11:52:19 +0000 RKitty 2755107@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Let the kitties explore the stuff now so they get their curiosity out of the way. Once the baby comes they most likely will leave them and everything have alone until they become comfortable with the baby. I had 4 kitties when my LO was born and only one came up to him in the first week. Two stayed hidden for a couple of weeks and finally settled down.</p> <p>It is a urban legend about a cat smelling milk on a babies breath and then suffocate them.... Cat seek out babies because they are warm! And they like warm nap spots. </p> <p>I was worried about one of my kitties because he's a huge snuggler and one time he did lay across my son's head when he was about a month old. I don't know what my son would have done but I moved Monkey (the cat) away quickly and with a firm no. He didn't do it again and snuggled much better after that. He (and one of the other kitties) did seem to understand he was a baby and treated him like a baby kitten.</p> <p>I did evict my kitties out of our bedroom due to space and concern of snuggling with a newborn. They figured it out after a couple of days. Your kitty of course sits outside your door meowing and scratching because he knows it will work and you're going to let him in! Take a couple of nights of not letting him in and he should learn pretty quick that he's been evicted from the bedroom! You just have to be firm and not let him in even when he gets really annoying.</p> <p>Good luck! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2755095 Wed, 05 Jul 2017 11:33:02 +0000 hellobeeboston 2755095@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My cat totally avoided both of my babies... it only became an issue when the kids started crawling and were all over the cat and we had to make sure she didn't scratch them! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754995 Wed, 05 Jul 2017 08:11:47 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2754995@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have heard about putting double sided tape in there (or even regular tape you carefully lay upside down) or tin foil. When the cat jumps in, it scares them and they learn not to jump in there anymore. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754981 Wed, 05 Jul 2017 07:57:50 +0000 avivoca 2754981@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Veggie: The only thing that my cats have been interested in (and only one of the cats) is the infant car seat. I wasn't too fussed about it as she only would be in it when the baby wasn't around. Everything else, they stay away from and it's not been a problem. She's just now letting my 3.5 year old pet her, so they give my youngest (almost 9 months) a wide berth. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754966 Wed, 05 Jul 2017 07:38:42 +0000 Veggie 2754966@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: Yeah, my MIL told us about a story about DHs grandma where with the youngest she'd lay her out in the open porch to sleep, and the neighbor came over and freaked out because cats would smell the milk on the babys breath and strangle her. Ever since then DH has been paranoid! </p> <p>@sillymilly: I will look for those! We just got the cats a new tower so they don't feel too neglected but they'd rather sleep in the swing and rock n play haha. </p> <p>@abbydabbydoodlebug: Aluminum foil is a great idea, thanks! I can imagine they will hate the noise. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754908 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 21:24:55 +0000 Pollywog 2754908@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>best way to keep the cat out? But a baby in it. Most cats I know are initially scared of little humans. This would be one thing I would not stress about now. Once the baby gets here, if s/he sleeps happily in the pack n play and the cat gets in there, deal with it then. A few squirts of water should do the trick. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754882 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 18:47:21 +0000 skinnycow 2754882@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our cat napped in all the baby stuff up until DD arrived. It became a non-issue once she was home - to this day the cat wants nothing to do with DD and she's 15m. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754862 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 14:49:31 +0000 abbydabbydoodlebug 2754862@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When we got out all our baby stuff, we lined it all with aluminum foil and found cat paw imprints in it one day in just one spot, so our cat obviously jumped it, got scared and jumped back out. And he never got back in again so it worked! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754856 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 14:10:00 +0000 Dahlia 2754856@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Veggie: once DD arrived, the cats stayed away. Only now around 2 are they voluntarily getting close to her! </p> <p>We did shut them out of the room when we were sleeping (her crib was in our room for the first 6 months). I don't think they would have done anything, but it calmed my anxiety. They weren't happy about it at first, but they adjusted. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754840 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 13:13:05 +0000 sillymilly 2754840@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My cat thought most of the baby items were for him at first, but once my DD came home, he tended to keep a healthy distance from her, as the unpredictable arm/leg movements of an infant were too much for him. He still likes to lay on her play mat though, but we've at least curbed him from playing with the toy birds/squirrels attached to it. Petco has little carpet squares that aren't very expensive, and we've put them down in our rooms with baby items to give him an alternative place to lounge. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754837 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 12:57:39 +0000 peaches1038 2754837@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our cats would get into the swing or cradle before DS came, but never did again once he was here. They still sleep on his changing pad but that doesn't bother me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754808 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 10:04:33 +0000 yoursilverlining 2754808@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Cats do not kill infants; that's an old myth. Babies move and wriggle and no cat is sitting on a wriggling baby, suffocating them. Cats are curious and the more you make something forbidden and important, the more interesting you make it. Why not let them check out the furniture and let them get it out of their systems? Our cat was obsessed with laying in the basinette (especially when people took her out of it or shooed her away from it) before LO was born. She never bothered with it once LO arrived. Cats know what babies are just like dogs do. Your cats behavior pre-baby isn't indicative of their behavior once your baby arrives. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754805 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 09:54:45 +0000 Veggie 2754805@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ElbieKay: @erinbaderin: Putting a towel down is such a good idea! I'm going to do that the next time I wash the sheets. </p> <p>@Littlebit7: I'm glad it was a nonissue, it'll be interesting to see how our cats react to the baby. And that picture is so cute! </p> <p>@mamabolt: Haha, that sounds like our one cat. She loves laying on all the baby things. It's cute but also drives me nuts because everything was cleaned to get ready for baby. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754792 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 09:01:59 +0000 mamabolt 2754792@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ours loved sleeping in bassinet, mini swing, and on the changing pad, but it never really bugged us. But if you want to deter them from getting on the baby surfaces now, you can put something like foil, bubble wrap, or spiky plastic on the surface so the cats don't enjoy jumping/laying on them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754788 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 08:51:12 +0000 Littlebit7 2754788@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our cats did the same until baby arrived. But after she was here it was really a non issue. They more or less avoided her area and chose to snuggle next to us. Except for twice when they climbed next to her and fell asleep, which honestly was adorable. But they are complete and total non issues with our kid. Once she became mobile they have kept a healthy distance from her.<br /> Like above, I kept a towel on her stuff so I didn't have to wash often<br /> They still like her changing pad since it's in a nice sunny spot.</p> <p>ETA: LO was 9 days old in this picture. </p> <p>[attach=6581/17/oskjtc.600x450.IMG_5461.JPG] </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754763 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 07:57:03 +0000 erinbaderin 2754763@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did the same thing, covered the mattress with a towel until the baby arrived. My cats used all the baby stuff for naps (even the infant car seat!) until the baby arrived, and sometimes we still find one of them asleep in the crib, but never with the baby. We never shut the door to our room or anything, and they both slept in bassinets next to our bed for the first 4 or 5 months, and we never found a cat in there with them. Once they moved to their cribs in their own rooms we shut the door while they're asleep. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754761 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 07:51:46 +0000 ElbieKay 2754761@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We left a towel covering up the baby's sleeping spot so that if the cats jumped in while it was empty then we could just remove the towel for the baby instead of washing sheets each time.</p> <p>I forget what we did with the cats while we were sleeping the first three weeks while my husband was home. After that we slept apart for five weeks. He slept in the spare bed in the nursery while the baby slept in his swing, and he got up with T to feed him. I slept in our bedroom with the cats and set my alarm to pump. This was due to an extenuating circumstance because I had a lot of nursing pain and could not handle nursing round the clock.</p> <p>At that point T slept in his crib in the nursery so we just closed the door. Eventually we started doing more cosleeping but by that point I was not as worried about the cats.</p> <p>If we have a second baby, we will probably just let the cats into our bedroom because we have seen them around T. There was never a problem, and they have zero interest in sleeping with him. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-keep-cats-away-from-baby#post-2754737 Tue, 04 Jul 2017 05:49:20 +0000 Veggie 2754737@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ftm due in two weeks and I'm slowly bringing the things needed for baby out of the closed off nursery and into our bedroom. We plan to use the pnp as a bassonet but our one cat keeps jumping in it! Every time I see her do it I take her out, I've moved it across the room so she can't jump in from the bed (but she still jumps in from the floor). Now I have to rewash the sheets because they're covered in cat hair. My biggest concern is what to do when the baby comes! My husband is really worried about her trying to snuggle with the baby and end up strangling him/her. I think that's a little extreme, but she is a little cuddler. We've tried to keep our door shut but our other cat sits outside the door scratching and meowing until we let hin in. Any suggestions?? </p>