Kitten advice for newborn baby

[incognito1991]

I have a 6 month old kitten, she is very lovely but curious, anything new she’s in there. I’m due a baby in the next few weeks so wanting to set up the Moses basket and bedside crib to get her used to it before the baby is here, just looking for some advice to stop her constantly exploring them/ruining them. She doesn’t seem to bother with our furniture but I put the carry cot to baby’s pram upside down on top of the wardrobe and she’s constantly at it, getting in it trying to scratch it, trying to get this out of the way before baby is here. Never owned a cat before now so not sure what preventative measures I can take, if anyone also has any tips for a newborn and a kitten that would be great, I do have a toddler and she’s great with her.

Is there anything baby safe that cats don’t like the smell of?
you can also get a water pistol and squirt kitten every time she goes near the Moses basket or carry cot - a bit mean but baby’s safety comes first

I’m not sure, I did recently buy a citrus deterrent spray that I used to keep her away from something but not entirely sure if it worked as she came around sniffing it, I also don’t know if it’s safe for babies

Please don't squirt water at her!

Obviously it wasn't the most sensible decision to get a kitten when pregnant, but she's here now so you'll have to manage the situation.

She might be scared of the baby which will be good insofar as it means she'll leave the baby alone, but not so good if it results in stress/behavioural problems.

Or she might be curious, if it's just a little then that will be fine, if it's a lot then you'll have to keep the kitten away from the baby, which isn't ideal for a kitten.

Assuming the kitten is now spayed, I assume she's going outside or will be soon, which will help as she'll be able to get away from the baby and also gives you some time when she's busy elsewhere so you're not having to manage interactions.

It would be worth installing everything you can to reduce the chance of stress, eg Feliway, adding Zylkene to her food, adding extra litter trays and providing lots of high up places and hidey places.

I had an adult cat and used a mosquito net to keep her out the cot. It kept the mosquitoes out too. 😁

I have an adult but young and really energetic cat. My youngest DC was born at home with the cat present, in the same room - she was very curious. Once DC was out and started screaming the cat bolted! She was really scared of the baby and kept her distance for a couple of the first months which was perfect with the newborn. Only after a while she started checking on the baby and sitting next to DC. My LO is now over 18 months and the relationship with the cat developed very naturally, there is a lot of earned respect between them and the cat is calm and used to a toddler and the toddler knows to leave the cat alone and treat her with caution.

A carry cot and crib are just the sort of things cats will enjoy sleeping in unfortunately.
I don’t think it’s worth putting them up for the cat to “get used to”, I doubt it’ll work and you’re just going to have extra months of keeping the cat away.
You will just need to be extra vigilant when the baby is born and keep bedroom doors closed if you don’t want the cat to get in to the crib.
The baby should be taking naps in the same room as you for the first 6 months anyway so at least you can supervise.
If the kitten is allowed to roam the house at night at the moment stop that now so there’s time to get used to it, we shut the kitchen door on ours so she can only be in the kitchen and back room overnight.
The only way I’d be able to keep her out of the bedrooms during the day is to shut the doors.
It’s likely the cat will just ignore the baby when it arrives and build more of a relationship when the baby is older.

We had a cat who constantly tried to get in the pram with the baby years ago, cat nets notwithstanding. We tried 3 brands. It’s a big problem. Could you consider rehoming?

Well, are you surprised? You but a cosy soft enclosed space and expect the cat to ignore it? I’d not have introduced it til there was a baby in it.

I don't think there's a huge amount you can do, but also, I don't think it's that much of a problem? Just make sure the cat is out of the room if baby is sleeping alone. As others have said, kitten might not like a screaming baby anyway! One of my cats was very aggrieved that he couldn't sleep in our bed when the newborn was in our room, but he got over it.
Please don't worry, it's very normal to have cats and babies - I've had 3 cats and 2 babies in the same time period and it's all worked out fine :).

We already had cats when we had babies (many years ago).
The cats completely ignored the babies and kept away from baby related paraphenalia. NOT 😆.

It really isn't a problem - just ensure when very young that the baby and the cat aren't left together unattended.

This is appalling. Why would you rehome a tiny kitten just because it likes the carrycot? Just remove the cat whenever you want t to put the baby in and don’t leave the baby unsupervised for naps

Beautiful pictures! Mine were the same and just loved to snuggle up when I was cuddling the baby. The babies all had cat hair on their backs and the cats were always in the car seat and pram. I just turfed them out when needed. There are lots of studies about the positives of young children growing up with animals.

Thank you - and agree entirely with all your points.

“Remove the cat to put the baby in”.

😂😂😂😂😂😂