Cats suffocating babies - myth or experience?

[SmithTheCat]

Hi,expecting first sprog v soon. Cat seems determined to sleep in moses basket and cot. Have bought it own cat-basket but ignors it. Looking into buying a cat-net but seems v.fiddly to have to take on/off basket/cot in middle of night for feeds etc. Fairly convinced that cat will react with total horror at being confronted with real live child as it already views visitors' children as being evil and therefore to be avoided. However my M is convinced it will curl up in the cot and suffocate the child. Has anybody had any actual experience of cats/babies other than hearsay? Cot/cat-nets any good? Thanks.

Will the basket be on a stand? Our stand made the basket too unstable for the cat to want to jump in - he stood on himd legs and peered at the baby a couple of times but that was it. You can buy rocking bases for them too - this would put the cat off even more, I guess?

That said, I'd be unhappy about moses basket being used by a cat. not only suffocation - and this could be an old wives' tale, but you can imagine how it could happen - but also hygiene. If I were you, I'd keep it out of cat's reach until baby arrives, then keep cat out of the room where the basket is, unless supervised.

I read in a magazine that there has never been a reported case of a cat suffocating a baby. can you put something on the moses basket.cot so the cat cannot get in to it just now so it never thinks of them as beds? Personally I wouldn't like any of my cats sleeping in the babies new things.

I have 3 cats and one (soon to be 2) babies, yes they do avoid all things baby like the plague. Only one will allow DD to stroke him (she is very gentle with him no pulling etc) probably because he is so fat he cannot be bothered moving out the way.

They have a system in place, sleep all day whilst she is up and when she goes to bed at night they come downstairs for a fuss etc.

Smith, when dd1 was a baby she was asleep in her moses basket, the cat went up to her room and jumped in. He put his paw on her chest, she opened her eyes and screamed. The cat got such a fright he never did it again!!! She was about a week old at the time.

Not sure what the moral of this story is - can't say that it would be a good idea to replicate my dd1's experience, really!

we used a cat net with our first, over the carrycot. but then we just got used to shutting the cats out of the room where the baby was. cats eventually learnt they no longer ruled the household!

where do you live? the cat net is now going spare.

cats still tend to sleep in baby's cot if allowed, for example if we go away for a few days I find her cot is full of cat hair.

What can I say?

Cats suffocating babies is a load of old bollocks. This myth is the biggest reason that adult cats are in rescue centres beacuse families with a new baby give them away. Cats and babies can live in harmony together. If you visit the cat protection league website there is some advice.

You have to inrtoduce them to baby's cot/moses basket before baby arrives, as they are curious creatures they will want to investigate, but once baby arrives they will give it a very wide berth. Once baby strats crawling, you'll probably find your cat will leave home of it's own accord

We have two cats. When DS was born they steered well clear -

Bog off, Blu

The most frightening thing about cats and new babies is just how big the feline buggers are, IMO.

You might find that the cat is far less likely to want to sleep in the cot and moses basket once the baby's in there; our cat took one look and decided that she wanted nothing to do with this baby, and kept as far away from dd as she could. We bought a cat net, but it was never used because there was no need.

my cat would sleep in the carrycot or cot if he got half a chance -- but we managed to keep him out by closing doors etc.

It's really not a problem IME

Whenever I think of cats and moses baskets I think of that film (stephen king???) where they were convinced the cat was sucking the life out of the baby at night, and it turned out to be an evil demon thingy and the cat was protecting the baby

Obviously none of that helps you in the slightest, unless you have a big baby breath stealing demon problem in your area....

what's the story, blu?

Is it Blu who's just anti-cats?

Apparently when I was a toddler the neighbour's cat used to get into our house during the day, and during the night would sleep on my bed, curled up next to my head, with its tail wrapped around my neck. I don't remember this at all,b ut it gave my mum the heebie-jeebies because the cat had a very fluffy tail and mum was terrified it would smother me.

Later, in my teens, we had a cat who used to sleep on my bed with me, ususally in the crook of my knees, but sometimes triedt o get as close to my face as possible. She never actually got on top of my face, but she would wrap her tail around my neck and sometimes climb onto my chest and drool onto my face.

You could try laying a sheet of sticky-backed stuff sticky-side-up in the moses basket and the cot. It should spook your cat horribly, and it might leave them alone afterwards. I would definitely train it firmly to leave the baby's bedding alone. You could also arm yourself with a water pistol or plant spray and zap the cat every time it shows too much interest.

Yuk at the thought of having a cat sleeping in the baby's cot or moses basket. I'd never let a cat do that. Yuk Yuk yuk all that cat hair over everything.

My cousins cats kept doing this before their baby arrived at the just stopped them coming up stairs, not sure how though.

get rid!

We had 2 cats when our boys were small. We never had any problems. I think the cat / baby thing is an old wives tale. I never worried wbout it. Cats did not go near the babies for years although one did pee on our bed the first day I bought the baby home!

Yes, I am anti-cats
Not people with cat-related names, though!
And your cat lovers let cats sleep in baby's cots and moses baskets? Full of cat hair?
The fleas, the toxoplasthingy, the bottom-licking, the dead-mouse-enhanced saliva all over thier fur...
EEEEUUUUGH!

PEE? In your Bed? And you sat there and fed your newborn?

And people complain about cleanliness in hospitls....

hehehe blu

I always forget that you are a cat-hater, mainly because you and I think along the same lines on most subjects. Not cats though!

Message withdrawn

This particular cat-lover always went to great pains to keep the cat away from the baby's cot, pram and so on (although the cat was terrified of dd - still is, in fact). I love my cat to bits, but people will always come before cats in this house. My dd's bedroom door was and is always kept closed so that the cat can't get in and leave hairs on dd's bed.

Miaou. purr purr.

My Mum has cats, last week I went around and DS2 was in his car seat on the sofa ( he is 20weeks). Mum's cat continously tried to lie ontop of ds2 in his seat, everytime I turned my back the cat was ontop of him !!

Also we had a cat, when dd was born it deliberatly scratched her in the face on two occasions, after that we gave him to family friends.

Some cats I'm sure are fine, but our was extremely jealous, and last week to have my ds2 sat on was scary !! Depends on the nature of the cat I think.