We have an 18-week-old kitten and are getting a 10-week-old one on Thursday. My due date is in 10 weeks.
Our kitten loves to come visit us at night and often sleeps in our bed.
I think we will probably have the baby sleep in our room in a bassinet at first. This means we have to kick out the kitties. I know they will be heartbroken, and I am going to be heartbroken too.
Has anyone dealt with this? What's the best way to manage this situation?
watermelon / 14206 posts
Kitties will manage. They'll either move to another part of the bed or decide they don't want to be near your LO. They're young enough that adapting will be super easy. 
honeydew / 7811 posts
They will sleep with each other! It's a great thing that you will have two! Good luck!
bananas / 9118 posts
We didn't worry about it- the cats avoided him like the plague at first, then adjusted. We never worried about kicking anyone out or in, we just let the chips fall. We placed a few comfy beds around the periphery and let them sleep wherever.
The nice thing for your kitties is that they are quite young, so making the decision how about how you want to manage them now is preferable to when they are years old and set in their ways.
watermelon / 14467 posts
We never worried about it. They stayed away from her Moses Basket and slept on the opposite side of the bed.
apricot / 319 posts
Yeah, same as PP, we didn't really change anything in regards to the cat. She avoided baby at first and, only now at 4 months, is finally comfortable being around him. But she never posed any harm. We have a house rabbit who used to have run of the apartment, but he now lives in the bathroom for now since baby has come home. He's liter trained but isn't neutered and has some territorial/sexual marking and would absolutely urinate all over everything 24/7. So, for now, he's been banished to one room instead of 5 
pomegranate / 3231 posts
Wait, so no one closed the bedroom door with the baby in the room? We are worried about the kittens jumping into the bassinet, etc. I wasn't planning on allowing them into our bedroom at all when we're all sleeping in there with the baby.
cantaloupe / 6397 posts
Our dog slept gated in the walk-in closet for 4 weeks until LO moved into her crib, he didn't care and actually stayed sleeping in there for a while even when he was no longer gated!
I worried about it too, so I totally understand!!
apricot / 319 posts
No, we left the door open and kitty slept between me and DH or at the foot of the bed, as usual. Before LO was born, when we were just setting everything up, kitty did jump into the bassinet. We put a sheet of aluminum foil down and that stopped that. Then, when baby came home, she didn't want to even go *near* him and, later, recognizes certain spaces as belonging to baby and not her.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
Our dogs have slept on our beds with us on/off for the past few years. When I was pregnant, we trained them to sleep in their beds at the foot of our bed (they've always had them there). DS was in pack/play next to my side and it was fine...they evenutally made their way back after we moved him into the nursery, but it got to be annoying, so we've gone back to firmly making them sleep in their beds.
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
@ElbieKay: No cats so no advice but I saw where you put your due date was in 10 weeks and I was like wow, that's so close! And then I saw your screen name, and realized that I only have 10 weeks to go too!! Whoa! Can't believe how close we are!
Just had to share. Lol
pomelo / 5820 posts
If they're used to sleeping in your room, I'd probably start getting them used to not being allowed in. Our cats used to sleep in our room, but we started locking them out, and they got used to sleeping downstairs. Now, they don't even try to go in our room. They're pretty adaptable, though it may take several nights for them to get used to the new routine.
eggplant / 11824 posts
Our cat slept in the bed with us pre-LO, and never tried to get in the bassinet or near LO when we began cobedding.
I see no reason to lock them out of the room; that will likely create jealousy and cause more problems. Cats understand what babies are
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
@ElbieKay: I always found it was hard to lock kitties out because they like to scratch the carpet under the door until they've ruined it... And we let them in...
I think it's hard to lock a cat out of a room. if baby will be right there with you, I wouldn't worry about it.
watermelon / 14467 posts
@ElbieKay: Honestly, the cats stay far away from the things she sleeps in (except the bouncer. Autumn loves that). They have never gotten into her basket or her crib. Autumn, my calico, is a long cat, and if we close the door, she reaches up and wiggles the doorknob until we open it.
We didn't want them to feel alienated, so we didn't change anything regarding where they were allowed to be. We set up the furniture about 15 weeks before she was born so they would get used to seeing it. They never got into it.
honeydew / 7811 posts
We were just hyper vigilant and kept a close eye on cat and baby. The cat did try to get into the pack n play once or twice. I think it depends on the cat! Ours is unfortunately a little aggressive, so we have been teaching him to stay completely away from the baby.
pear / 1609 posts
I was so worried about out cat and DS. We couldn't keep the door shut in our room because the cat's litterbox and food were in our master bathroom. Our cat didn't go near him for a while. He tried jumping in the bassinet a few times when DS was not in there. And I just took him out and told him no.
Also my DS is now obsessed with our cat. He follows him everywhere and his first word (other than mama and dada) was cat. We have two dogs too but he loves our cat!
pomegranate / 3438 posts
We thought our cats would avoid the bassinet when DS was in there but they didn't! We had to shut them out of our room for the five weeks we had DS in there. We would try to leave the door open but our one kitty kept trying to get in with him. They eventually got used to it and slept together in our living room.
pomegranate / 3231 posts
I just tried putting a piece of foil on the floor to see how Marshall would respond. He stared at it, fascinated. I picked him up and put him on the foil. He stood there for a moment and then calmly walked off. Then he started attacking the foil and bit off a piece. So, unfortunately I don't think the foil trick will help train my little imp!
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
My cats never showed an interest in being near E! They wanted her bed, but not if she was in it
grapefruit / 4187 posts
My Mom used to lock our family cat in the basement (finished) or laundry room at night with her food, litterbox, toys, etc. If you just lock the cats out of your room they will meow really loudly and scratch at the door. It's hard enough waking every couple of hours to feed a new baby, being woken up by loud meowing would just be the worst!
pomegranate / 3231 posts
@Modern Daisy: We live in a condo. We have an open plan living room / kitchen, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It's all one floor. So, if we kick out the kitties they will definitely be meowing at the bedroom door.
Now I'm thinking that we should let them in unless/until there is a problem. I am surprised that so many people just kept their pets in the room! Our kitten loves to cuddle with us but he is also a little aggressive when he's feeling playful. I'm not worried so much about him smothering the baby, but I'm concerned about play-attacks. Our toes suffer occasionally!
I think we have to wait to see how they get along with each other. Supposedly the older one will be less bitey towards people once he has a fellow kitten to roughhouse with.
eggplant / 11824 posts
@ElbieKay: My cat is legit very aggressive towards everyone but me, my husband and LO (bites/scratches – has drawn blood, etc.) and we were very worried about how she would interact with LO. Like I said above, cats (like most animals) do understand for the most part that babies are babies – and therefore off limits. Our cat has never scratched LO or been aggressive with her at all and she leaves LO alone. We all sleep in the bed together, and there haven’t been any issues. If LO annoys the cat too much, the cat will just gently bop her on the hand with a paw (no claws), or come and bite either me or my husband lol but she has been extremely respectful and gentle with LO from day 1 (which is *not* her personality!). Hoep your kitties react the same way!
pomegranate / 3231 posts
Thanks everyone! I really thought this was a black and white issue, but maybe it doesn't have to be. I am allergic to cats -- this is a hypoallergenic breed -- and we got them because my husband is a cat lover. We have had our kitty for only 8 weeks and I can't believe how quickly I've grown attached to him. He is the first cat I've ever been able to interact with. Normally when I am home he follows me from room to room. The handful of times we've needed to shut the door on him for only a few minutes, he has gotten so freaked out. The meowing is so sad and pitiful. I know I have to put the baby first but it was really making me sad to think about kicking him out at night. If you had told me three months ago that I would feel this way, I wouldn't have believed you. In fact, before I met him I had told my husband that the cats would not be allowed in our bedroom at all!
I attached a photo so you can see what a cutie he is! The other photo is from the breeder. We are picking up the second little guy on Thursday.
pomelo / 5257 posts
Omg, they are adorable!! We have three kitties and I wonder all the time how they will interact with our children. I really hope everyone gets along I've had cats since I was born and as far as I know my parents had no issues when I was a baby. I actually wonder if locking them out when the baby comes could make them resentful toward and suspicious of the baby? It might be better to see how everyone gets along. Also my cats just scratch at the door and carpet incessantly if we try to lock them out, haha,
pomegranate / 3231 posts
@Danizaur: I am totally freaking about the the 10 weeks thing. I do not feel ready at all! Pregnancy hormones have really messed me up and I have been socially hibernating. I really hope I can have a positive birth experience. Part of me wishes I could just go back to my old self, and part of me just wants to rip off the bandaid and have this baby already. The waiting is definitely the hardest part.
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