cats and cribs

Anyone know of any good tricks to keep the cat from wanting to go into the crib?  We'd like to condition ours to stay away from the crib before the baby arrives.  Last night, I found mine snuggled on the changing table and I picked him up and put him in his cat bed in our room.  The crib isn't assembled yet but when it is, I just know he'll go in it....

[lisantony]

i would get a small spray bottle and spray him when he is soemwhere he is not supposed to be , it worked when my son was going to be born. And the cat did fine and left him alone.

[Kassimom]

A friend of mine put a damp towel on anything that belonged to the baby (after first covering with a large trash bag on the cloth items like the bouncy seat)You just have to make sure that the towel's stay damp, because the cat will try and try again to investigate this new furniture in his house. You want to make it as unpleasant as possible so that the cat doesn't want to sleep there.  It really made her feel better because her cat slept with her two sons and she didn't want it climbing in to the crib with her sleeping baby. Not a gaurantee though, as I have a ding **** cat who would likely climb in anyway!

[Kassimom]

oh and also wanted to mention that cats like to sleep in the highest point possible, so it might help to provide him with alternatives to the changing table, like perhaps putting the cat bed on your dresser. (I know it looks tacky, but so does cat hair in a baby bed! ;)

[ni]

I have bastards for cats and the spray bottle DOES NOT WORK!  I know for most cats they do work.  Can you keep the doors closed and buy a "video" monitor for your baby's room?  Thats probably the only way to really keep them out of there.

[Kassimom]

I just also wanted to clarify that my firend started this a couple of months BEFORE the baby was born. By the time the baby got there, the cat had learned that the baby furniture sucked for sleeping and only investigated the baby when it was on a blanket on the floor. I just wanted to clear that up. She did not have the damp towels on ther when the baby came! by then the cat was as trained as he was gonna get!

BTW, I have a funky cat too. If you sprayed him with a water bottle he would look at me like "Is that all you got?"

[IWantToBeAMom]

A friend of mine installed a screen door in the bedroom doorway.  She has a cat and two dogs - it works good.

[Christina S.]

OMG the spray bottle does not work for my cats. THEY DO NOT CARE!!!!!!
One of my cats love to try and get in the bed with my 15 month old every night he will meow and purr before he does it and a few times I have caught him in it with him and I lost it.
I have sprayed him and tried everything, he knows its wrong because if I hear him meowing before he does it I jump and he runs.
I heard of another good idea and it is to get one of those zip up tents. They cant jump in, I think I might try that.
When we have a newborn it would be a good idea because they cant move as much, my 1 year old will wake up screaming.

[susanelizabeth]

We actually did get one of those crib tents at our shower but I will try the spray bottle and the damp towel - good ideas, thanks.  Our cat does not like to be wet....

[Danasel]

Yes, I know of people who used the tents over the crib and playpen.  My cats love the changing table too.  They don't seem that interested in the crib though.
Dana

[Christina S.]

One of mine like the crib and the other could care less.
The cat that likes the crib will not get the hint. He knows its wrong and watches for me not knowing im behind him, and runs fast and I have to chase him around the house.
I have caught him right on him before and since then I sleep very lightly and have tried closing my door but get worried because my other son is in the room next to me and I like to hear for him, expecially since he likes to sneak to the kitchen in the mornings without telling me he is up!!!
I almost got rid of him because of it, It drives me nuts, especially when he wakes nathan up and he wont go back to sleep

[GinGib]

Before our son was born his room became off limits to the cat. If he headed that way I would run screaming at him like a crazy woman (the same scream he got if he got on the kitchen counters) and he very quickly learned that the crazy lady wasn't worth going in that room. That was a huge!!! fear of mine. They say cats will get on the baby's head for warmth or whatever so I wanted to make darn sure he stayed away from his room. Good Luck!! Ginger

[Christina S.]

lol, That  is what I do, I run towards him like a nut!!
They try and sleep on the counters and the cofee & dining room tables and it is nasty because they leave cat hair behind!
The thing is nathan is still in my room and until we move in april he wont have his own room. I swear you would think this cat would learn and he freaks when I walk towards him but he still doesnt get the hint!! @@

[Kassimom]

Ginger is right, some cats do try to sleep very close to the baby for warmth and sometimes that translates to on top of baby. My cat tries to sleep on my and Dh's chest at night and I have caught him on top of my DD once as well, right across her neck. Let's just say I doubt he will ever do that again (or at least won't be dumb enough to get caught!) I definitly plan on using my friends damp towel trick when we start installing furniture. But even better I think I will also do the crazy woman thing and hope it works to keep him out of the nursery altogether! But every body do watch your little ones and the kitty-I would definitly shut the door of whatever room the baby is sleeping in when he/she first comes home.

[GinGib]

You guys are going to think I am crazy but while on the cat subject I just have to tell this story. For years the cat's litter box had been in what was going to be our son's room. we remodeled while pregnant and moved the litter box to the garage and put in a kitty door. One day my husband and I were both home, sitting on the couch talking. We heard what distinctly sounded like someone using our toilet. We looked at each other, our eyes got real big and we went running to the bathroom. The lazy cat was too lazy to go out in the garage to use his litter box so he was peeing in the toilet!!!! We had to pick ourselves up off the floor and we both admitted that if the other had told us this story there is no way we would have believed it!!!! True story, I swear. Ginger I was always a little leery of the cat after that. ha ha

[Siren]

Gingib - that is soooooo funny!!!  I wish I could train my cat to use the toilet!!  Wow, that was hilarious... I needed the laugh, too, so thanks :)

I've heard that cats sleep near babies not just for the warmth but because they smell like MILK!!  And the cats just want to be near that milk smell.  On the other hand, I've also heard that cats smothering babies is an old wive's tale... but I've had no personal experience with it, so who's to say?  I'll definitely be careful with our cat whenever (if ever) the time comes that DH and I have a baby.