Any tips for keeping cat happy with newborn?

[barmybunting]

We are expecting DC1 in mid Nov, and have one little monkey of a cat, a 3 year old boy who is very full of lovely mischief! He is very much our spoilt baby at the moment, and I am wondering about the best way to keep him settled when we bring the baby home. He generally hides when friends with young children come over.

We already have the baby furniture, pram, everything else set up so that he has had time to get used to it so he is happy to ignore it now. DH feeds him and will continue to do so. His food is in a quiet room in the house, and he generally sleeps in a room the baby will not be in (our spare room). We are not intending to shut him out of our bedroom.

Unfortunately, we also have to move around 6 weeks after my due date, so his routine/life is going to be disrupted again then, but we want to make it as easy as we can for him.

Does anyone have any tips on things we can do in the lead up/when we bring the baby home to keep things settled for him?

Thanks!

[RubbishMantra]

A plug-in Feliway should help.

[bonzo77]

get him used to, for example, not being allowed in the baby's room (keep the door closed), not sleeping in your bed at night. I had two cats when I had DS1, one who slept in my bed, the other who was so noisy at night that he was locked in the kitchen. I started locking the bed sleeper in the kitchen over night a month or so before my due date. She was cross, but had accepted it by the time the baby came. Also discourage the cat from sleeping in the pram / cot / car seat, if that's what you want to do long term. I kept the cats out of the cot, but let them sleep in the car seat and buggy, they never tried to get in with the baby, and would get out as soon as I tried to put the baby in. I figured the baby would soon be covered in cat fur anyway! I never bothered with a cat net. They only showed any interest on 2 occasions: when DS1 first came home they came to investigate the funny noises, and once they slipped into his room and I found them in his cot standing over him and sniffing him. Both cats are long gone now, but I have some very cute photos of DS1 with them when he was tiny, and other cute ones of new cat when she was a kitten with him a little bigger.

BTW, new borns are snuffly and sneezey. I was worried mine was allergic to the cats, but the midwife reasured me that he would be like this anyway, and allergies take longer to develop than that.

[barmybunting]

Thanks Mantra and Bonzo.

Feliway plug in is now ordered. Thankfully, the cat has shown no interest in climbing into the cot/car seat/pram in the last few weeks whilst we have had them out, but I will keep an eye on that.

Good point about sleeping on our bed, he doesn't sleep on there at night but does during the day. The baby and everything else is going to be in our room until we move so no baby room to keep him out of yet, but we will do that for the nursery once we move.

Thanks!