Keeping cat out of baby's room

[Lindsey (thefunkyinuit)]

Thanks for the advice 

The only contact Mollie has had with babies is when my friend brings her little girl Brooke over (only been a few times from birth to 6 months) Mollie went up to the carrier and had a sniff & then settled on the settee, one time she didn't even stir when Brooke cried, other times she has looked up and then gone back to sleep. She's not a fan of young kids, she runs off when my other friend is round with her 4 year old Jake, but hopefully she will get used to my little boy as he will grow up with her, not suddenly come storming through the house wanting to play with her like Jake does! I'm also planning on bringing a blanket home with baby's smell on & letting Mollie smell it before baby comes home. I really want the introduction of my little one to be as stress-free for Mollie as possible as, lets face it, she's also my baby! 

[Stuart]

First off Congratulations 

got plenty of good advice already, but as Helen says

Has Mollie ever experienced babies/toddlers? If not then I have a feeling she will do her best to actively avoid the strange noisy arrival so she might not even be interetsed in coming in the bedroom while baby is in with you or nursery later on!

Of course Marissa was here before Robbie, But He just doesn't go into her room  and I'd say He'd never seen a baby before going by his reaction, tis quite funny, in fact, I don't
think any of the furbaby's round here have one, they all go around with a confuse curious look on their faces 

I'm Betting that Mollie would be the same, but then again, better off being proactive for peace of mind

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cot-Cat-Net-Clippasafe-/130718672024?pt=UK_Baby_Baby_Safety_ET&hash=item1e6f70a498#ht_500wt_1415

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I would keep the door shut and just over a metre is easy for most cats to get over.

Cats are the nosiest so sure she would try at least once.

I think its a good idea to start preparing now as you are so as not to upset Mollie overnight

[Tiggy's Mum]

I thought I would start keeping the bedroom door shut, but do it gradually one night a week increasing to the door always being closed at night before baby comes along - any other advice on this please?

This sounds very sensible, means she will gradually get used to it and not associate being shut out of the room with the arrival of the baby.

With regards the nursery when baby is a bit older, I think it would just be easier to keep the door closed. If you did have some sort of screen (I think a baby gate will only encourage her to go in there as a challenge!) then the light coming through the open door/screen might keep the baby awake. My sister doesn't have any pets but the nursery door is always closed at babies bedtime as with the blackout blind and the door closed to block out light they sleep much longer. They have a good baby monitor and going in to visually check doesn't wake the baby up.

Has Mollie ever experienced babies/toddlers? If not then I have a feeling she will do her best to actively avoid the strange noisy arrival so she might not even be interetsed in coming in the bedroom while baby is in with you or nursery later on!

[Angiew]

pet screens aren't that expensive. Lidl were doing a fly screen (frame and mesh) for about £25-30.

[Lindsey (thefunkyinuit)]

Hi everyone, I wasn't sure where to put this! Some of you may know that i'm expecting my first child in October - I think I posted when I was 12 weeks gone and had just had my first scan, well I'm not almost 26 weeks & am pleased to say that everything is going well & that i'm having a little boy!

Anyway, for the first few months baby will be sleeping in our room at night so we will keep the door closed & Mollie will most likely sleep in her bed at the top of the stairs (she usually sleeps in her bed in the early hours of the morning but does also like to sleep on our bed, I thought I would start keeping the bedroom door shut, but do it gradually one night a week increasing to the door always being closed at night before baby comes along - any other advice on this please?

I also want to be able to keep Mollie out of the nursery at all times, previously my rabbit lived in there so the door was always shut, Mollie would sometimes follow me in & have a sniff around but would usually retreat on seeing the bunny as she's a scaredy cat!
As the bunny was in there, I think she knows she is not allowed in the room but as the door is now sometimes open, she has ventured in a few times but come out straight away when I have caught her! I don't want to have to keep the door shut all the time, especially when baby is asleep in there as I want to be able to look in on him easily. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could keep her out of there? The only things I have thought of so far is installing a mesh screen door but this would be quite expensive, or getting an extra tall pet gate (about 104cm) which may (hopefully) discourage her from going in there, I know she could probably jump the gate if she really wanted to, but I'm not sure if she would bother trying...


Thanks everyone