fact or paranoia?

[qazxc]

Since i became pregnant my boyfriend has been obsessing on various dangers to our (due in oct) baby.
I think that it's probably because it's our first child and he feels a bit overwhelmed and maybe feels a bit of a spare part. but on this occasion his family have joined the fray.
this is their worry : That our cat will murder our child.
namely by smothering in it's cot.
i don't know why our otherwise placid and loveable cat would be suddenly filled with homocidal thoughts but it is praying on their minds.
I don't want to get rid of the cat, she's a part of the family. as far as i know plenty of people have both children and cats and i've never heard of cats killing babies.
surely it's just a matter of keeping the door of bedroom closed (unless molly has attained ninja powers i am unaware of, this would surprise me because she's frankly quite thick).
I've heard of cat nets that can be placed over cots to stop cats getting in. Has anybody tried these?
can people who have cats and babies please write in to tell us how they dealt with the situation?

As I understand it, complete and utter paranoia.

I read somewhere that the reason cats are often accused of smothering of dead babies isn't that the cat smothered the baby at all. The most likely scenario is that the baby had already died and was cooling off. The cat wanders past, notices cold baby and does what a cat would do in the wild, which is to try to warm the baby up.

I know plenty of people whose cats and babies coexist happily - all they do is shut the bedroom door and never leave cat and baby unsupervised. Haven't had my baby yet, but that's what we're planning on doing as we have a rather elderly cat.

Yup, paranoia. Most cats are not keen on wailing, thrashing, smelly and pukey things. You know, like small babies.

My cat has only just started to tolerate DGS and he's 3 in the summer.

I'm 17 weeks and this worry crossed my mind. Cat is currently in training that bedroom is off limits. Seems to be working.

Think it's one of those urban myths though. If it was an actual concern I am sure that medical people would tell us. They seem to try and worry us constantly as it seems anyway. This would have come onto their radar.

My friend has three little ones and four cats, as far as I know they're all

We had this attitude from others too. Our cats were never interested in DS, except the very occasional sniff. Do not let the cat sleep in the babies bed (cat nets do not work incidentally!) because of inhaling the hair mostly, and take reasonable precautions to stop cat going near baby when asleep at least when baby is very small, but apart from that don't worry, really.

My two cats disappeared for about a week when DS was born, so no instant worry in our house!

In all seriousness though, my mum went on and on (and on and on) about this very subject. There were various theories about the murderous tendencies of cats- babies are warm and make a nice cushion, babies smell of milk, etc etc. We bought a cat net but never used it. Passed it on to a friend with a cat for her baby-she's also never used it! Our cats were trained to not go upstairs from me being very early in pregnancy. No problems in this house.

We did eventually get rid of our more unpredictable cat when DS was about 6 months old and mobile but that was more because she was a. A bit sick quite a lot of the time (vet had put it down to old age) b. a bit scratchy quite a lot of the time. The combined worry of DS being scratched and/or munching on a pile of cat sick was too much on top of everything else! She now lives with a family friend and is treated like royalty, so don't feel too bad for her

I think you just need to be careful and not leave it in the same room as the baby, A very good friend of mine found her cat asleep on her 1 year old a few times so they were worried about suffercation, and the cat isn't allowed in the bedroom anymore.

we used to close our door and our cat literally in one night made a massive hole in the carpet from stratching to get in. In the end we put up a baby gate ( the tall ones) so the cats couldn't get in. The fat cat jsut sits outside looking in, but the little one managed to jump over the gate a few times.

My cats turn tail and flee at sight or sound of my son. I don't let them in the same room without supervision but mostly they run away from him anyway.

My cats stay well away from DS - in fact they live almost exclusively in the conservatory on cat slings that hang off the radiator. These are behind a baby room divider/playpen opened up. The only time they go near him is after he has finished his dinner and has dropped it on floor however as soon as he is out of his chair they scarper. The weren't particularly interested in him as a baby and just avoided him so don't panic too much.

Opps, sorry my phone wasn't working properly what I was going to say is:

My friend has three little ones and four cats, as far as I know they're all ok with each other and she's never had any problems.. and I think they mostly steered clear.. I'm sure you'll be fine, good luck!

If your cat is as wise as mine it will stay at a safe distance glaring at the crying lungs and grabbing hands of your child. DS is 2 and everytime he enters a room my cat exits pretty quickly.

I agree that you have to be sensible when your DC is a newborn - don't leave the doors open so a cat can get near it, don't leave them alone etc.

Your DP is being a worry-wart!

Congrats on the pregnancy :)

I have actually woken up with a cat asleep right on top of my head before, so I can see why people get concerned about the possibility of a cat suffocating a baby - I'm sure it can happen. But that just means you manage the environment, don't leave the cat and child unsupervised together, get a cat net to ensure the cat can't get into the cot etc. But like others have said, it's far more likely your cat will be avoiding the baby at all costs anyway. I'd put this one down as paranoia.

I googled it - there is one reported case where a cat could possibly have been responsible for the death of a baby. I think that was a statistic from the whole world, not just UK. It is therefore, as far as I'm concerned, not anything to be concerned about.

Oh its all just an old wives tale....i do think you should always take sensible precautions where babies and animals are concerned, but when i was pregnant with my first, my mother told me.....not to let the cat near a sleeping baby as the cat will suck the babies soul out of it! I mean, ffs, where did that come from, and how could anyone believe such tosh????
I have always had cats, and never had a problem with them other than cat hairs, and i am due to birth no5 anytime now.

not to let the cat near a sleeping baby as the cat will suck the babies soul out of it!

Ha ha- love it. Although my cats are quite evil looking, so you never know :-)

Second what others have said that the cat will probably be keen to avoid the baby. I just kept mine out of the bedroom if DS was napping/sleeping in there but never had any problems

i don't have a cat but when DS was a baby i used to let him sleep in the pram in the garden and MIL went nuts about a cat potentially jumping in the cot with DS.

i bought a catnet to humour her (it's actually still in the box as never used it!) BUT if it makes DH feel more comfortable you could always get one... just google "catnet for cot".

CONGRATS ON YOUR PREGNANCY TOO! I am due in october as well and being a bit of a worrier myself about it!

From what I've heard, it's that cats find babies lovely and warm to sleep on, and as a result there is a risk of suffocation. It is a very small risk I'd say, and as with any pet, just use your common sense and don't leave them alone with the baby.

We currently have five cats and are expecting baby number four.

Babies one to three are much bigger and have never been sat on by a cat. In fact my 18 month old is only 'just' able to get her little hands on our laid back cat, after learning to not run at, shout or annoy him and therefore get within range !

Cats go out of their way to avoid babies and children, when possible. Like PP said, just check cats haven't got into the room with your baby unsupervised.

What cats DO like are soft warm empty spaces, like moses baskets with blankets, prams with footmuff. I use to turn moses basket upside down or on it's side whilst empty and put plastic tray/basket in the pram when that is not being used by a baby.

I found cat nets useless, as our fat cat discovered they would collapse under his weight and enable him access to the empty moses basket, sigh.

But none of our cats ever tried to get into any space with a baby present IYSWIM. Your boyfriend is worrying for no reason.

My 3 practically left home when DD was born. They certainly never came into our bedroom when DD was in there alone. The female cat who has a very strong attachment to me, would come and lie with me when I was asleep, but as soon as DD stirred she was out like a shot. On nights we co-slept the door would be shut.

Now they tolerate her as she's 2.7 and is starting to figure out that if she's calm and quiet they are happy to sit on her lap and let her stroke them, although she is partial to chasing them still

Some people just panic at the idea of animals with babies. We had one HV say we would have to get rid of the cats when DD was born. I just laughed.

I have four kids and four cats, if anything, cats don't like babies or toddlers, they avoid as much as they can. I have caught them sleeping in the travel cot that we have in the livingroom a few times, but only when it was empty.

We keep the bedroom door closed so the cats don't sleep in the cot in there, thats because of the fur though, not because I'm worried about baby being smothered.