DH Leaving Baby Alone with Cats

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I'm really struggling with a situation at home and could use some outside perspective. I have a three-week-old baby and we also have cats. Today, my husband left our baby in the living room with two of the cats while the baby was sleeping so he could wash dishes and quickly nip upstairs.

I completely flipped out when I discovered this. In my view, a newborn should never be left alone with pets, even for a few minutes. I've made this request clear before, but my husband is now saying he's not going to follow it if he's "just nipping out the room for a few minutes."

I'm absolutely devastated that he won't honor this simple request regarding our newborn's safety. The cats may be perfectly gentle, but they're still animals with unpredictable behavior.

Am I being unreasonable here? Or am I right to be upset that my husband won't follow this boundary when it comes to our baby?

More importantly, what can I do about this, what do others with cats do?

But what are your cats like? If they are calm and docile then no problem. If they tend to be randomly violent then YANBU.

Personally I wouldn't see any danger in leaving a baby in a room with a much loved cat for few minutes.

Why on earth would a decent pet smother a baby? where do people get this from??

Why are people so defensive about their cats? It's ridiculous.

For Gods sake, a babies welfare comes first, even if there is a miniscule chance that the cat could harm the baby....you would not leave such a young baby unattended with the cat.
The links that have been provided all say the same thing.

We had 3 cats when my dc were babies and it never occurred to me to separate them. I think you're being over anxious.

What do you mean "a decent pet"?! They're animals! I have two cats and a dog, they're all soft as butter but they're still animals at the end of the day and I would never leave a small defenceless baby with them unsupervised. I don't think anyone is suggesting a cat would intentionally suffocate a baby out of some kind of murderous rage, but if they got in the cot next to them, or sat on them because they're warm, they very well could kill them.

Absolutely. With this kind of thing we'd go with whoever is being more cautious, just out of basic respect for each other.

Dcats didn't like DC shattering their quiet existence and so would leave the room if I brought DC in their moses baskets. MiL asked if I would be rehoming the cats when the DC came along! 🤔

Only you know your cats temperament. You can get cat nets if you have concerns about them jumping up onto the crib. I never found a proven incidence of a cat smothering a child and always thought it was an old tale left over from history. However I imagine a toddler pulling at a cat might provoke a reaction

A decent pet 🤣

Nobody is suggesting that “much loved” Tiddles is plotting against the baby cause he’s a bit of a wrong un.

@NestOfWipers surely just one baby losing their life is enough. Do you really need a clinical paper?!

You're definitely being unreasonable. Give the poor guy a break

YANBU, there was a story where a 9 month old was killed by a cat.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/cat-kills-baby-girl-sleeps-21014606.amp

I would never leave my baby unattended with any animal either, but that’s just me.

You’re in for a stressful time, as are the cats. You might as well rehome them if you’re going to be like this.

I think you overreacted.

Try to relax a bit.

This is your first baby, right?

And yet there was also a story from Russia a few years back where a cat curled around a baby who was abandoned in the freezing lobby of an apartment building and basically kept the baby alive all night, and iirc another from Poland another few years ago where a toddler wandered off in winter and a cat did the same - toddler and cat found the next day...

It would be if there was any sctual
proof it was the cat, which there isn't.

old wives tale.