Cot with a hard lid - Protection from cat

[SuperSonic2011]

Hi,

Call me crazy, but I assumed I’d easily be able to get hold of a cot with a hard lid, as I can’t be the only one to worry about protection of their baby from pets. Whenever I Google this, however, it’s generally a frowned upon idea, as people assume they’d only ever be used to prevent toddlers from climbing out of their cots, when they should instead be transitioned to a bed. This would be for a newborn, however. I’ve looked all over, but cannot seem to find a cot with a viable hard lid, only the flimsy net ones. My cat is very determined and loves a snuggly bed, so a net is no use. Besides, she’d get her claws stuck into it.
My partner is an engineer and could easily make one, but I’m just wondering if he actually has to go to all that trouble? Are there any available? If not, why not? Is there something I’ve overlooked? Or is it simply an unpopular concept, due to the resemblance of a cage etc…? At this point, I really don’t care about it looking like a cage, so long as it keeps our baby safe. It’s not as if she’s going anywhere for the moment! 🙂

@SuperSonic2011 when I had my son (now 19) the cat used to sleep in the cot with him......she was at the bottom and he was at the top. They never bothered each other.

There are various safety standards applied to shop-bought cots which will rule out anyone marketing what you are looking for, and could also make a homemade cot quite dangerous. Those standards have been developed as a result of serious accidents involving babies over the years, and apply to everything from the height of the sides, the width of the bars, any moving part mechanisms, what the cot is painted with. I really wouldn't risk making your own, and would instead learn to shut the door. One of those netting solutions might give you additional peace of mind but personally I wouldn't want to faff about with one of them because you end up lifting babies in and out of their cots so frequently that I think they would just get in the way.

Yeah, we don't put babies in boxes. Obviously.

If you're really that worried that your baby isn't safe from your cat, get rid of the cat.

They tried once.. realised they couldn't climb on it. And didn't bother again.
I used it for over a year with no probs

We were also worried so invested in a net and banned the cat from the bedroom. Never used the net. Just start keeping the cat out of the bedroom before the baby arrives so it can get adjusted earlier, not when you bring baby home for the first time.

The cat will be fine. It'll get over it.

My boy cat jumped in with my first born at every chance he got.

He still sleeps next to her and she is 7.

The day she came home, that boy wanted to be as close as possible to her.

We shut our cats in the kitchen at night (we have to go and get our boy cat from our DD7 bed), and this is the main reason we had to.

Do not get your partner to build a cage for your baby 🤦‍♀️
There are good reasons why nobody does this. Once your baby is here, you’ll figure out what they are.
You will have to make sure the cat is kept away from the baby by being vigilant, same way you’ll have to be for a million other reasons. That’s just what being a parent is like.

You’re right, I do trust the cat, and she’s very gentle, but… she’s also a cat, with the intelligence of a (rather silly) cat and likes to snuggle.

I’d trust my partner to design and 3D print/build an extremely safe cot, (he’s a highly qualified mechanical engineering manager who designs cars and safety features of all kinds), but you’re right, it would create new and different risks by the very nature of it being in existence. You’ve talked me out of this idea. ❤️ Thank you for sharing your experiences as parents. This is something we obviously haven’t encountered yet and your knowledge is invaluable and greatly appreciated! x

Aren't newborns supposed to sleep in the same room as you for the first few months anyway?
Just keep the door closed and the cats out.

We have 2 cats and never needed to keep the cats away from the next to me we had in our room or the crib downstairs. If the baby was in it, they avoided it. If the baby wasn't in it, they'd snuggle up in it so I always put a spare bedsheet in it to catch the cat hairs

Put the cat in a cage or a big catio outside
Baby comes first and needs airflow

My cat never went near my babies when they were in their cots. However I am old enough that my babies were put in the garden for a morning nap in their prams. I often found a cat snuggled at the bottom of the pram with them

Yes, crazy. Keep the cats away from the baby. You cant have a lid on the cot.

Tend to put animals into cages, not babies. That’s why they don’t do hard tipped cots. A hard topped cot is a cage. And babies don’t belong in them. Excludes the cat from the room completely or cage or refine the cat

I really don't think a new born baby would like to sleep in a cot with a lid.

As pp have said, I bought a net for the cot. Used it about twice. Cats had absolutely no desire to go anywhere near a baby.

I think a far more legitimate worry is whether you baby is ever going to want to sleep in said cot. DS hated it and all naps were on me/ in a sling and could only be put in the cot at night when I was there once fed to sleep.

Instead of worrying about the cats getting in the cot and buying nets etc I would make sure you have bought a/ some slings/wraps and practiced how to put a baby / doll into them so you don't suddenly finding your self trying to learn how to do it with a crying baby in one hand (speaking from experience here).

Good luck with everything. Enjoy your LO when they arrive.

Good call OP! Good luck with the pregnancy and hope your cat and the new arrival become best buddies (but not in the cot!). Xx

So disappointing that when someone comes on MN and asks a specific question about something so many responses are to tell her she's wrong to ask and her reasons for asking are bad or stupid.
It didn't seem this way even 5 years ago, and it seems some accounts are only here to do that.
OP I agree, it is strange there is no catproof lid or cot, although that netting dome looked good. You will have enough worries and if your DH can make a lid that does the trick then go for it, the world will catch up or it won't. You will be far past the issue by then.

When my littleone had terrible excema I couldn't understand why there were no babygros with integral hand coverings and was told it was because the wouldn't be able to suck their fists, how silly of me. Now these things exist and are popular.

Give us a break. She's asking why she can't find a baby cage for her newborn, and should she have her husband build one!

Sometime you really do have to say 'youre being ridiculous, cop yourself on" and have a laugh.about it.. nothing disappointing about it, and nothing new either.

I would assume its because it would trap heat and/or risk baby getting trapped between cot and lid as they get older. Plus it would look like a weird cage/coffin setup, surely?

We had one of the net covers which seemed to work. Tbh we only really used it to stop the cat getting in the cot and shedding fur etc when DC wasn't in there, turns out cat was shit scared of babies and gave them a very wide berth.

OP is the one needing a break, and asking for it apropriately.
"A baby cage for newborn". listen to yourself! Find an emotive word for a safe place for a tiny defenceless baby, purely to make the OP feel bad. It is the bars that lend to that description not any lid.
Anyway, I am sure you are happy to have got a rise, since that's what you posted for. Enjoy the morsel.

It's a myth. They just like the heat. All that stuff about them deliberately smothering is scaremongering and complete and total nonsense.

This is what I was getting at, but didn't want to come right out with 'myth' as there will always be someone whose second cousin's music teacher's stepson was smothered by a cat. But I had babies and cats and never an issue and I never heard of anyone having a problem with a cat getting in with a baby - cats usually steer well clear!

I mean I can see why it would worry parents at times. My cat sleeps on my head lol but it's not like they are demons who think up evil plans to smother lol 'I'm going in to this cot deliberately' lol

Just put the baby in a big Tupperware box. What could go wrong? Or maybe a box with a lid made of wood.. what are those called again? Oh right, a coffin

Seriously, you're pregnant and you can't think of why this is a bad idea? That doesn't bode well

Keep the cat out of the room if you want. The old wives tales of cats and babies are massively overblown anyway

You're definitely not being over cautious - I found our family cat asleep on my newborn's face in his moses basket in the middle of the night, the cat just wanted a warm place to sleep.

Absolutely freaked me out but luckily no harm done. Newborn is now 34. The cat was securely prevented from going upstairs again. Not sure about a lidded cot though, I think cat exclusion is your option here.

There's an old wive's tale about cats stealing the babies' breath when sniffing them.

AFAIK cats like a warm bed and are inquisitive about new members of the family, but I don't know that they're harmful.