keeping cat out of crib

wrote in message
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s
her around during the day. I guess I'm just worried that the cat is
going to try to sleep on her face or something, although my husband and
I both think that DD is old enough to wake up, push off the cat and
scream before she gets suffocated. What do you think?

I think you are worried for nothing. Why would a cat sleep on
someone's face in the first place? And if your daughter wasn't
getting enough air, she'd stir and that would disturb the cat.

If you are more comfortable keeping the cat out of her room,
it's up to you of course. One caution is that I had a friend
whose cat, once banned, became *determined* to get in
that room. It became a huge headache. It was a different
situation though -- in that case it was a long-standing cat
that had been replaced by a new baby, and that might
have had a lot to do with it.

We never banned our cat from our baby's room, and he
figured out pretty quickly that there was nothing of interest
in there.

Bizby

"bizby40" wrote:


wrote in message
roups.com...
s
her around during the day. I guess I'm just worried that the cat is
going to try to sleep on her face or something, although my husband and
I both think that DD is old enough to wake up, push off the cat and
scream before she gets suffocated. What do you think?

I think you are worried for nothing. Why would a cat sleep on
someone's face in the first place? And if your daughter wasn't
getting enough air, she'd stir and that would disturb the cat.

Actually I've had cats that slept on my chest or close to my face if I
didn't make them move. And my dad wasn't very fond of cats because
when he was a kid sleeping in a bed full of other family one of the
boys pulled the cat's tail and the cat scratched him badly on the back
of the neck trying to get away.

But I don't think any of those situations apply in this case.

The old wives tale used to be that the cat would 'steal the breath' of
the baby.

I'm not buying that either.

If you are more comfortable keeping the cat out of her room,
it's up to you of course. One caution is that I had a friend
whose cat, once banned, became *determined* to get in
that room. It became a huge headache. It was a different
situation though -- in that case it was a long-standing cat
that had been replaced by a new baby, and that might
have had a lot to do with it.

We never banned our cat from our baby's room, and he
figured out pretty quickly that there was nothing of interest
in there.

Bizby


grandma Rosalie

wrote:
We got a cat this weekend and she is very friendly...maybe a little too
friendly. She jumped into my 1.5 year old DD's crib at five this
morning and scared her half to death. I'm wondering if anyone else has
experienced this and what they did to keep the cat out of the crib. I
don't really want to lock the cat in the basement at night, although it
might come to that. I can't close DD's door right now because we don't
have central air and her door has to be open so her room doesn't
overheat. I'm not getting much sleep because I'm so worried about the
cat being in DD's room.
Any suggestions?

I have experienced this -- with new(er) cats we got when our youngest
was 1.5 years. The cats would jump into the crib (or bed), DD would be
taken aback, and then, well, they just started sleeping together.

Our cats are indoor only (so there's no flea issue), up-to-date on
shots, and are excellent bed-warmers during the colder months - it's a
win/win all around. I know, some folks would view this as 'unhygienic,'
but from my perspective, everyone is happy. The big thing I've noticed
is that these (newer adult) cats have now grown up with children
around, and that has become their 'normal' lifestyle, versus our
geriatric cats from the 1.5 decades of pre-children days, who felt that
the children were Something To Be Avoided and Not What They Signed Up
For. My daughters are incredibly pleased to see 'their' cats running
into their rooms when it's time for bed


Caledonia

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
Actually I've had cats that slept on my chest or close to my face if I
didn't make them move.

Yeah, mine likes to sleep on my chest, but not on my face.
I think cats are aware of what faces are and wouldn't intentionally
sleep on them. But even if it did, a 1.5 year old is certainly
strong enough to roll over or whatever and displace the
cat, probably without even waking up.

After the first post, I figured she wanted to keep the cat
out of the room because it has startled her child, and
that's surely understandable. I just don't think their
is any actual risk of suffocation.

Bizby

"bizby40" wrote in message
...

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
Actually I've had cats that slept on my chest or close to my face if I
didn't make them move.

Yeah, mine likes to sleep on my chest, but not on my face.
I think cats are aware of what faces are and wouldn't intentionally
sleep on them. But even if it did, a 1.5 year old is certainly
strong enough to roll over or whatever and displace the
cat, probably without even waking up.

After the first post, I figured she wanted to keep the cat
out of the room because it has startled her child, and
that's surely understandable. I just don't think their
is any actual risk of suffocation.

Bizby

oops -- I just don't think *there* is any actual risk of suffocation.

I don't really think that there is a suffocation risk either, but
sometimes I do tend to go off the deep end a little bit with my
concerns. I never thought that I'd be one of those ridiculously
overcautious moms, but sometimes it seems that I am.
The cat did jump into the crib again last night, so we'll have to try
to deter her somehow. I think I'll start with the contact paper as that
seems to be cheapest. I wish that DD would just get used to the cat
sleeping near her (I mean she LOVES the cat during the day), but
judging by the way she cries I'm not sure that she will.
I went in there last night and there's the cat laying happily in the
crib while DD is crying "No kitty, no!"

"bizby40" wrote:

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
.. .
Actually I've had cats that slept on my chest or close to my face if I
didn't make them move.

Yeah, mine likes to sleep on my chest, but not on my face.
I think cats are aware of what faces are and wouldn't intentionally
sleep on them. But even if it did, a 1.5 year old is certainly
strong enough to roll over or whatever and displace the
cat, probably without even waking up.

After the first post, I figured she wanted to keep the cat
out of the room because it has startled her child, and
that's surely understandable. I just don't think there
is any actual risk of suffocation.

I agree. I think that is an old wives' tale.

grandma Rosalie

I went in there last night and there's the cat laying happily in the
crib while DD is crying "No kitty, no!


this kid is not too young to learn about pecking orders. Teach her how
to give the catso a good slapso. No, it won't turn her into a sadist
or a bully. Every species will kick intruders out of the nest.