Cat owners - your advice on baby monitors please!

[Boos75]

Hi,

I am 37 wks with DC1 and we have a much loved cat who is 2.5 yrs old but I'm worried about him sneaking in to the baby's crib. He has 'previous' for this as we got him a year ago from a cat rescue centre as his former owners got rid of him because he was 'into everything' and always sleeping in their baby's moses basket. They weren't nice people though, especially as he was also underweight and had a bad case of fleas :(

I know he may be fine and just want to keep well away from the baby but he sneaks around as cats do and suddenly appears in the room with me - he loves getting into boxes and small spaces.

As we need to get a monitor I wondered if there was a better one to get bearing in mind my concerns? I was leaning towards a movement sensor as friends say they're great but then if he jumps in the crib that won't set it off - or the other option is a video monitor so I can keep an eye on him? I don't want to risk not getting the best monitor just for a worry that's not likely to happen so any advice you have would be great. Thank you!

Shut the cat out of the room if baby is alone in moses basket. If you're there you can keep an eye out, but you can get cat nets to put over the basket in case he sneaks past you. That's what we're doing re: our two cats, anyway!

I don't have any advice I'm afraid but also interested in hearing ideas anyone may have. I haven't bought a monitor yet either.

Wondered about trying to scare them out the cot / basket before baby arrives? Read about balloons in cot but knowing my two mogs they will just ignore cot while balloons are in there and jump in when I take them out to make room for LO!

We're having the baby in our room for a while, so obviously won't need a monitor for ages. but in John Lewis they sell 'cat nets' to go over the moses basket which I'm thinking about!
www.johnlewis.com/230415687/Product.aspx

We have a very sneaky but very loving big ginger cat who checks out everywhere and we just KNEW would be sneaking into Moses baskets and cots as he loves making a bed out of any open drawer or cupboard. I grew up with cats so asked my mum what she did and she told me about the cat nets as mentioned above. I took a look at them in John Lewis but was so sad- I wanted a pretty nursery and they were like putting a lid on the cot! So anyway I started thinking that I wanted to get a pretty mosquito net that hung from the ceiling and that I could use to drape around the Moses basket or cot to prevent the cat jumping up and in. I searched on eBay for a single one and almost ordered one but then I was at Ikea and I found this ikea fabler bed canopy and it looks fabulous over the Moses basket and now the cot. But not content with that alone as a solution I bought a video monitor summer video monitor and attached a bit of ribbon and hung it inside the top of the bed canopy so we can see our baby perfectly as we see the view of the entire cot, so whichever corner he wriggles into and would be able to see an invading cat (which we never have as the canopy has done the job!)

tbh to start with you will probably have baby sleeping wherever you are, just because it's handier. i always had mine sleeping downstairs so i could keep an eye on them when they were tiny.

when you're at the point where you want to put baby to sleep upstairs then surely you just make sure the cat isn't in the room each time? if you always keep the door shut you'll know he can't have got in?

My two cats love sitting/nesting in things they shouldn't, but they kept their distance from my DS. Once the moses baskets/cribs/cots smell like your LO they should go somewhere of their own if you provide it, it is usually the warmth they like, so that it why they seem to hop in as soon as you remove the baby.

we are in a conundrum we have a cat who will get in the fridge and go to sleep if you leave it open to put the milk in the ceral (i have 4 dc that were born in a barn)!!!!!!! any way i am soooo worrid as she wasn't here for the other 4 so don't know what she will be like i have had the cat nets befor but found our old cat had got under it and was nicely snuggled up at the end of the moses basket one day!!! i can shut the living room door at night to save the pram etc but what about in the night. i am a baby and can't sleep with the door shut or light off (blame The Bliar witch Project and a muppet of an older brother!!!!!) i am 27 my 5 year old gets up and turns the light off in the night and i like a comedy scetch lol up down on off lol any who have 9 weeks left and not sure what to do!!! any ideas!

We put a stairgate at the bottom of the stairs before Boy was born (my cats aren't bright, they never attempted to jump it), but to be honest, once he was there the cats buggered off elsewhere. Even now if they see him speed-crawling towards them shrieking, they flee. Fast.

When he was little I just never let the cats alone in the same room as him.

I think ours will end up been locked out :( i feel mean!!!!!!!!!!

We used a cot canopy type net like this to keep our cats out (but not as gaudily designed)

Give the cat a chance.

We have an old Tom, who also loves boxes and small spaces etc. We have never used cat nets or special monitors, and he never bothered DS as a baby (now nearly 3). In fact, he pretty much moved out when DS was born. Not completley, but has always totally disinterested in him and started sending loads of time outside.

We have a 2 yr old dd and a 3 yr old cat. It worked perfectly. He used to try to get in the empty basket before she was born but her crying etc made him avoid her for a few months. Then she was weaned- the pair of them are thick as thieves. She gives him treats, dresses him up, carries him about and her first word was cat. All the toddler play mates she has love him and he will let them stroke and brush him. He is currently sat here with a hair clip in.

Oh yes dd said I love you for the first time yesterday- but she said " I love you Rooney " that's his name !

MrsVidic, your post has really made me laugh. My cat is such a hard one to call. You often think he will hate something and he ends up being totally fine with it so who knows.

Thanks for all your posts ladies - will have to see how we go. I have a cat net for the cot and will just keep an eye on the moses basket during the day.

I love your post too MrsVidic! I have such fond memories of pushing our old family cat around in my dolls pram when I was little (lots of photos of a terrified puss!). I think it's so lovely to grow up with pets that I don't want to get too stressed out about the first few mths because of that.

I've heard that laying tin foil down in the cot/crib/moses basket/bouncer after you've bought them will ensure that a cat will only ever investigate once! Ours hate tin foil so once we're all set up I'm going to give it a go. Has anyone else tried this? We've bought the summer video monitor with pan and zoom so that we can spy on the babies to check up, but if they're alone in the room the door will always be shut...

Also though, I reckon a cat net is a good call even for when the babies aren't in the cot to stop the cats from kipping in it...