# co-sleeping with cat



## mojobot2000 (Jun 29, 2008)

Maybe this is a stupid question, but...my husband and I are planning on co-sleeping with our soon-to-arrive daughter, and we have a kitty who also enjoys co-sleeping. In general, kitty camps out at the foot of the bed and doesn't bother to anyone, but sometimes she gets needy and comes and sticks her paws in our faces, climbs around on us, etc. Now, part of me says, "duh, if she does that with the baby in the bed, just throw her out like you always do," but another part of me says, "WHAT IF SHE SITS ON THE BABY'S HEAD AND SMOTHERS HER? WHAT IF HER DIRTY LITTER BOX PAWS MAKE BABY SICK? WHAT IF WHAT IF WHAT IF...?!"

I could have a no-cat-in-bedroom-at-night policy, but we live in a rickety old apartment with doors that don't stay closed, so I'd have to figure out something clever, and frankly the whole thing is causing me a lot more grief than it should.

Anyone else sleep with a baby and a kitty?


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## countrygirl28 (Jan 26, 2008)

I don't really have an answer for you because I've never really lived with cats, but I just wanted to reply to your post. We have 3 dogs,one of whom sleeps at the foot of our bed, and I think when we finally do have a LO we'll have to kick him off the bed. He doesn't generally bother us at night, but I'd be concerned, especially in the beginning with how he would react when the baby cries at night. Plus, our queen-sized bed will be even more cramped when we add the baby. I think those fears of the cat smothering the baby are from old wives tales. I'm not sure how much truth there is to that. But, if it is something that concerns you, I would try to find something else to do with the cat. You won't sleep well if you are concerned the cat could hurt your baby, and you will most certainly need your sleep! Hope someone else posts who actually has had experience co-sleeping with a cat. I'm interested to hear people's experiences.







:


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## ann_of_loxley (Sep 21, 2007)

Our cat sleeps on the end of the bed too. If I was really concerned about how dirty our cat was, I wouldnt have ever allowed them on the bed! - So for me, not a concern. (but then again, I am someone who does not use anitbacterial everything this and that, who doesnt vax, and who uses homeopathic remedies!) DS has never been ill from our cat! - In fact, I find ourselves pretty healthy compared to many people who know!









About the smothering... well...its a wives tale for starters. Before SIDS was more known about and had a lable - people used to assum it was the cats... SIDS kinda gave cats a bad rep.

And...just as much as you will be aware enough (even in deep sleep) about where the edge of the bed is, and where your baby is in the bed (which is also why you yourself will not roll over onto your baby and smother her) - you will be aware if there is a cat on her that could potentially put her in any danger. (just as much as you will be aware if she gets a temperature, is feeling too hot, too cold, has stopped breathing for any reason, etc...all reasons that make co sleeping so amazing and wonderful!)


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## luv-my-boys (Dec 8, 2008)

you may be suprised your cat may not want to co-sleep with you once the baby arrives. Our small min-pin always ALWAYS slept with us (in the middle of both of us in fact) but as soon as the baby was with us in the bed he no longer wanted to share it with "that baby"







so he moved to the couch. Which we were happy about i guess all the fuss and crying at night was too much for him to take so he moved to quieter quartes


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## NewMama08 (Aug 8, 2008)

I have two cats and was concerned about this too - plus didnt' want the hair around. So towards the end of my pregnancy we started kicking the cats out at night to get them used to it. You could try putting a shoe or something against the door to keep it closed - we do that to keep our door cracked now b/c otherwise it would swing open. We kept the kitties out of the bed for the first few months. Now, though, we let them back in.

One of our cats is more of a head sleeper than the other, and I do keep an eye out on him but have gotten pretty comfortable with the fact that I am aware of what is going on even when sleeping. Also, DS (now 8 months) sleeps in the crook of my arm so it would be hard for kitty to get very close to him.

So, not worried now- was worried then, but probably wouldn't be worried again next time


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## puddle (Aug 30, 2007)

Our cat slept with us after dd was born, but wanted NOTHING to do with her. He wouldn't even come near her. He's still not very fond of her, but is shockingly tolerant for an ornery old cat.


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## NotTheOnlyOne (Oct 23, 2006)

well...

we have two cats, both end up in bed with us often. One time, I woke to check on the baby who was sleeping in the bassinet next to me and found the cat sleeping in there with him!!!! Both were fine, but it kind of freaked me out. It hasnt happened since and I havent kicked them out. That cat did get quite a smack when I found him though. (am I going to get a lecture about GD and pets?)

As for the cleanliness, that part doesnt worry me at all. I do home daycare, if my kids get sick, its from other kids, not the cats. ANd my cats eat mice!


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## Night_Nurse (Nov 23, 2007)

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about it just yet. As some have mentioned, the cat may not want to be anywhere near the baby once she arrives. We had 3 cats when we had our first child (we now have 5 cats). The 3 cat had never heard a baby cry. The first time they heard her, they all had the most annoyed look on their faces and took off running and hiding. they only wanted attention from dh & I when baby wasn't around. They never tried to snuggle up to her, ever. By the time our 2nd child arrived, the cats were used to baby sounds and smells, but still didn't want to cuddle with him too much. When he was around 6 months old, one cat snuggled up at the foot of his blanket and napped with him. It was so rare that I took a photo of it.
Now, I will say, we did have trouble keeping the cats out of the car seat (when it was inside) and the bassinet we kept upstairs, but never, ever while the kids were in them.

If you think you may want to stop sleeping with the cat in your room/on your bed, you may want to start doing this now as opposed to when you may have additional stress with the new baby. I wonder if you could try a large dog crate at night? Or maybe one of those cat "tree house" things. Maybe the cat would prefer sleeping in that?


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## Mom4tot (Apr 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ann_of_loxley* 
Our cat sleeps on the end of the bed too. If I was really concerned about how dirty our cat was, I wouldnt have ever allowed them on the bed! - So for me, not a concern. (but then again, I am someone who does not use anitbacterial everything this and that, who doesnt vax, and who uses homeopathic remedies!) DS has never been ill from our cat! - In fact, I find ourselves pretty healthy compared to many people who know!









About the smothering... well...its a wives tale for starters. Before SIDS was more known about and had a lable - people used to assum it was the cats... SIDS kinda gave cats a bad rep.

And...just as much as you will be aware enough (even in deep sleep) about where the edge of the bed is, and where your baby is in the bed (which is also why you yourself will not roll over onto your baby and smother her) - you will be aware if there is a cat on her that could potentially put her in any danger. (just as much as you will be aware if she gets a temperature, is feeling too hot, too cold, has stopped breathing for any reason, etc...all reasons that make co sleeping so amazing and wonderful!)










I was thinking the same thing too. Chances are if the kitty isn't up by your head a lot now, she won't do it too much later. You will probably sense her there and can put her down if you need to. We have always co slept with the kitties and not had any problems.


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## Lit Chick (Aug 15, 2007)

I had the reverse situation. Pre-DS, the cats were banned from the bed at night. Post DS, I was getting up to nurse (we co-slept but it took a while before we got the hang of side-nursing) and the cats would just rush in. It was not worth the hassle to kick them out. They stay at the foot, mostly. Out girl kitty like to be by our heads, but she's always at the top, nowhere near DS. I think it's fine.


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## bmcneal (Nov 12, 2006)

When DD was little, we had 5 cats. None of them co-slept with us, really, but I didn't mind them being around her. The only time they ever really got near her when she wasn't asleep was when she was "crawling" and our smallest one stepped on her bum.







She wasn't hurt, and actually started laughing. Two of the others actually snuggled up to her when she was sleeping one time, kind of like they were protecting her







I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'd be more worried, honestly (at least with our cats) of LO hurting the kitties when he or she is older.


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## Dahlea (May 15, 2008)

We have 3 cats and 2 dogs. They were somewhat curious about the baby at first and are still when he cries, but other than that, they pretty much ignore him. We usually have at least 1 cat and 1 dog in the bed and sometimes more! It hasn't been a problem for us.


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## eurobin (Aug 20, 2006)

I've got two cats... one has always stayed far, far away from Anna and one loves her. The lovey one is very, very gentle and he puts up with much more than he should from Anna (though not from me!). He co-slept near my feet like always when she was tiny and he still does. He is a very lovey kitty but he only wanted to sniff her then walk away. Cats seem to sense that babies are "useless" to them and they just want a little cuddle time with their mamas to be ok.


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## daniturtle (May 17, 2008)

We co-sleep with a dog and a cat and our 9 week old. (Even though strictly speaking this is a no-no accd. to co-sleeping guidelines...I can't believe how many of the guidelines we break! but I figure the really important ones are no smoking, drinking, or drugs and we NEVER break those). The dog - a pug - sleeps at the bottom of the bed on her own pillow. The cat on the other hand, comes and goes throughout the night and curls up either in his nook- which is in between my husbands arms and body, on my legs (this never lasts long though) or the bottom of the bed near my husband's feet. He pays almost no attention to the baby! And never curls up anywhere near her. He will sniff her briefly- as do our dogs (we have another dog-- too big to cosleep!!).

Before the baby was born we were worried because the cat loves all the baby places - moses basket (that we use for naps and transporting about the house when need some space/not in arms time, like the bathroom), car seat, changing table etc. So we were worried about suffocation too. We asked our vet about it and she told us that cats, while they would be attracted to the warmth of a little baby body, actually don't much like sleeping next to babies cos they squirm a lot. And since I knew this to be true from my own experience- the reason the cat doesn't spend *that* much time on my legs is that I move a lot more than my husband.

So basically, I don't worry about it (suffocation) any more. And I have to say I never thought twice - or even once! - about the cleanliness issue!


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Two cats and now two kids. Never been a problem.

-Angela


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## funkymamajoy (May 25, 2008)

My cats stayed away from the baby at night (actually they stayed away as much as possible). But the bed did feel really crowded with me, DH, DD and 2 cats.


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## KatWrangler (Mar 21, 2005)

No problem here either. Well the cat has stepped on the baby a couple of times. Baby never flinched. Normally Beethoven sleeps at the foot of the bed.


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## Eresh (Jul 17, 2007)

I co-sleep with my now 10 month old. We had four cats up until a couple of weeks ago, three of which slept at the foot of the bed off and on. Only one of the cats wanted anything to do with the baby and she would just come rub up against him in the morning after he was already waking up. One of the other cats would sometimes come of up for snuggles but he would never get up by the baby's head.


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## KimPM (Nov 18, 2005)

We had 2 cats when DS was newborn. The one cat always slept on DH's pillow







(I guess the baby crying didn't bother her) and that didn't get in the way of DS at all as he was either in his cosleeper attached to the bed or right next to me on the other side of me than DH. The other cat who used to sleep next to me before DS was born...well she's always been afraid of him b/c of all the noise he made by crying. She hasn't slept with me since before DS was born. No problems there, except that she's been a little upset by not having her "mommy" to sleep with anymore.

Once though, I found the pillow-sleeping cat had found her way into the cosleeper and napped there by herself when no one was in the room. But I quickly put a stop to that so she wouldn't get used to the idea of the cosleeper as "her bed" and she never did it again.


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## simplehome (Jul 13, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mojobot2000* 
"WHAT IF SHE SITS ON THE BABY'S HEAD AND SMOTHERS HER?"

As soon as our midwives left, we turned out the lights and went to sleep. Within half an hour, our 20 pound kitty was in a c-shape, curled around the baby's head. They get along quite well in bed---I wouldn't worry about it. The kitty might be a bit annoyed, but that's probably the worst of it.


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## lifeguard (May 12, 2008)

One of my cats won't go near the baby. The other one loves to sleep in the stroller & the bassinnet but won't go near them when he's in there (or rather peeks in & then walks away unhappily). But she does come & curl up on my chest beside him when he's asleep there.


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## ramama (Apr 13, 2007)

We had two cats when DD1 was born. One was not a lap cat, but always always always had to be next to me and followed me from room to room. The other was an in-your-face-all-the-time cat. They did like to sleep in the bassinet before DD was born, but since we were only going to use it for naptimes during the day and bed-share at night, we weren't worried about anything happening to DD since we would be there to keep an eye on her (rather than sleeping, you know?)

When DD was born the cats had no interest in her. Well, they were interested and would watch her and investigate a little, but I think they instinctually knew that DD was absolutely off-limits. I never had to encourage a separation between cats and baby. It just happened naturally.


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

i have not read all the responses so please pardon me if i am repeating what pp wrote.

we were cosleeping with two kitties when dd was born. and dd just joined in the whole milieu. one of them loved sleeping near my head if not on my head.

guess what she did. when dd arrived she started sleeping right by dd's head. the top of my dd's head touched the cat. another slept between the wall and my dd. yeah now i had a kitty in my face. at first i was concerned. you know you hear all those things.

after a while i just ignored all the sayings. i also noticed they served as great substitute mothers. if i got up at night and they were there with her - dd took longer to wake up to cry for me.

but it was a different story when she started crawling. while one tolerated anything ANYTHING my dd did to her (i had to rescue the cat on many occasions) the tomcat who had been neutered at the right kitten age started spraying and hissing at dd and finally he turned into a outdoor kitty.

i tell you i trust my cats more than i would trust certain folks around me who wanted to babysit. i found my girl cat would 'mother' my dd a lot and she was always right next to dd when dd needed emotional or physical care.

i really feel they taught my dd so much - esp. empathy. while one of them would swipe food off my plate if i wasnt paying attention, they never did the same with dd. yeah i have freaky cats. they just could not resist garbanzo beans.









oh and dont worry. whoever wrote a baby is a mamas heart walking around in a body is soooo right. you freak out about everything. and in time... i learnt to not freak out. when u realise all those billions of what ifs... you kinda roll ur eyes and live life with babe teh way you think suits your family.


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## petram (Oct 3, 2008)

I wouldn't be so worried about the cat sleeping on baby's head, more about the scratching. Our cat used to sleep with us and scratch us numerous times a night, when she wanted us to go to her food bowl with her, to go outside, to get some attention (once we had the energy to actually get up, she'd get the door closed on her). We decided that it was safer not to let her sleep with us once baby arrived.


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## not now (Mar 12, 2007)

Two cats, the fat one used to sleep on my chest but no longer does. He will sleep next to my son or by his feet. The skinny one sleeps in the bassinet.


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## KBinSATX (Jan 17, 2006)

The cats don't sleep in bed with us. Our kids do. LOL
We LOVE living in the country with our many pets and I want to be able for my kids to enjoy them as well. I wonder if early exposure to allergens extends to things like pet dander etc. and not just food.
Either way when my kids are still tiny I want them to be able to sleep in a relatively clean place. No cat littered paws, hair, etc. No danger of a kitty sleeping too close to baby's head, etc.
Why take chances. They love the couch just as much.


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## rmzbm (Jul 8, 2005)

We have 4 cats and each comes and goes all night - no biggie!


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## Quindin (Aug 22, 2003)

My nose itches just thinking about a cat in my bed!!


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## keilonwy (Dec 4, 2007)

2 cats who used to love sleeping with us - we started locking them out of the bedroom in general when we brought my son home, because we thought it was best to have an allergy-free zone as much as possible (he was born at 28 weeks). They were upset at first, but now they're totally fine and no longer scratch at the door or meow all night...I guess I let my cats CIO? Can I still be an attached parent?

It's actually great for us, too, because they no longer wake us up at 6 a.m. to be fed, although now Gwyn does it for them.


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## Halfasianmomma (Nov 1, 2007)

I have 3 cats (2 scaredy cats that came from an abusive home and 1 very needy Main ****). When I got preggers, I was afraid that the baby would react to all that cat hair, so we put the crib together early and "trained" the cats not to go in it (with a little spray bottle filled with cold water). They still have their own space; they're just not allowed in the sidecared crib, or her bouncy chair, etc.

When we brought DD home, the two scared cats wants nothing to do with her. They were petrified, especially if she made a sound. The Main **** immediately adopted her and became her guardian.
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...ekittylove.jpg

They don't cosleep with us at night though, mostly because the big kitty purrrrrrrs super loud and keeps us all awake. The other two are happy to be away from baby.


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## rissierae (Feb 5, 2008)

We have 2 cats and I thought that we would probably end up kicking them out of the room when ds was born, but they have never been a problem. In fact I think that one of them has bonded with ds because we all sleep together. Now, when ds plays on the floor, the one cat kind of watches over him, and doesn't seem to care if his tail or hair gets pulled.


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## SandraS (Jan 18, 2007)

We co-sleep with baby and THREE kitties. I wouldn't change a thing, and I don't worry one iota about "kitty litter paws" - cats are very clean!


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## lawschoolmama (Mar 12, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *puddle* 
Our cat slept with us after dd was born, but wanted NOTHING to do with her. He wouldn't even come near her. He's still not very fond of her, but is shockingly tolerant for an ornery old cat.

We had the same situation. Kitty left our bed for a while, then came back, but always stays near the foot of the bed (after giving DD a little sniff when he jumps up). DD LOVES Kitty; Kitty, well, he's pretty tolerant for being kind of a grump!!


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## sofiabugmom (Sep 23, 2003)

Every cat's personality will be different.

However, we co-slept with FIVE kitties and a preemie (with no health issues other than being tiny), and had no problem.

DD actually rolled over on to one of the cats and all he did was look at her as if to say, "Uh ... no, sister, this is *my* spot." Then he waited patiently until I moved her (I woke up AS she was rolling off of my chest), then went back to sleep. Next night, he was in the same place, NBD.


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## Miss 1928 (Nov 12, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *puddle* 
Our cat slept with us after dd was born, but wanted NOTHING to do with her. He wouldn't even come near her. He's still not very fond of her, but is shockingly tolerant for an ornery old cat.









:

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lawschoolmama* 
We had the same situation. Kitty left our bed for a while, then came back, but always stays near the foot of the bed (after giving DD a little sniff when he jumps up). DD LOVES Kitty; Kitty, well, he's pretty tolerant for being kind of a grump!!









:

Our kitty, who DD loves more than almost anything else in the world, will occasionally join us, but only at the foot of the bed.

The only time that the Kitty ever slept near DD was when she was a wee baby and it was just after I gave the cat a bath on a rather cold day, she snuggled up to DD for warmth.







: Other than that the cat avoids the child. She only tolerates me, DH and DD (she _hates_ everyone else), but she still avoids DD, who likes to sit on her.







Poor kitty.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Halfasianmomma* 
I have 3 cats....... The Main **** immediately adopted her and became her guardian.
http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...ekittylove.jpg

They don't cosleep with us at night though, mostly because the big kitty purrrrrrrs super loud and keeps us all awake. The other two are happy to be away from baby.

What a sweet photo! Aaaawwwww!


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