I already have 2 fur babies that I apparently attachment parent already, because they sleep in the bed with us.
I love the idea of co-sleeping with a newborn, and I really don't want to kick the cats out (I realize some might not understand this, but it's important to me).
On the other hand, my baby comes first. I'd heard that cats smothering babies is more like old wive's tale than reality, but I still want to be on the safe side. Anyone have ideas/experience with this? I've looked into crib cat-nets which keep cats out, and I've thought of using a bedside crib. Could this work?
Re: Co-sleeping (with cats?)
Only recently (DS is nearly 2) has one of them warmed up to him enough to let him pet him. We've coslept since DS was born with no trouble at all.
If you would like to cosleep, I'd see how the cats react to baby before buying any fancy contraptions. If they want to snuggle him like you do, you may need to make some changes. Chances are, though, that they'll find somewhere else to sleep (maybe even at daddy's feet, safely away from LO).
Our cats have decided they are going to be ds2's guard cats. I would find the orange tabby in the crib without ds and if I put him in there she would move to his feet or the furthest corner from him and when she got tired of him kicking her she'd move away or she'd jump out. If I was rocking him, she'd lay across the back of the rocking chair by my shoulders. If I put him in the high chair (even before he started solids) she'd lay across the tray. The grey tabby would curl up under the high chair. Now that I have his crib next to our bed instead of the bassinet, the grey tabby has taken over guard duty: he sits on my nightstand near the crib or at my feet. The only time I have seen him in the crib is when he saw something outside the window on the other side of the crib. Before I moved the crib, whenever I would take ds2 into "his" room, the grey tabby would have to come in with us and give the room an inspection and then he would lay down in the doorway.
Lately, at night we've been locking the cats in ds1's room with him for reasons not related to how well they get along with ds2.
The cats have licked ds2's hair a few times, but they have never scratched or done anything else that could harm him.
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Our cats sleep with us and we co-slept (although did not bedshare) for the first 6 months. I kept the cats out of the room. They adjusted and, now that we've transitioned LO to her room, the cats are back in.
I don't know, I adore our cats, but the bottom line to me was that I don't trust them 100%. Why? Because they're cats. I'm not in their head, I can't tell them what to do, and I know I couldn't live with myself if something bad happened. I hated keeping them out, but they adjusted and found other places to sleep - I did make our guest bed available to them and it has a very comfy down duvet that they ended up sleeping together on.
They don't seem to hold it against us that they were kept out for 6 months. :-) I probably wouldn't be okay co-sleeping with cats in teh room until closer to a year old. But that's just me. I tend to be a worry-wort. :-)
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my faithful sleeper relented and took to the foot of the bed. I thought everything was fine. I laid my sleeping newborn on the bed towards the foot and went to the kitchen for a drink. I was startled by his blood curdling screams. Kitty had clawed his face twice while he was sound asleep.
I have been working with her sharing spaces with my baby while petting her and reassuring her. I didn't realize I put baby in harms way by placing him near her "spot". Just be careful.
eta...just wanted to add, since the incident she sleeps at the foot of the bed with DH, myself and baby. She will venture up to baby's feet for petting now and again, but we've had no incidents like that again.
Our cats were 13 and 21 years old and died within a month of each other before DD turned 6 months old so my experience is limited besides being anecdotal.
Great advice from all the previous posts. If you are in the bed as well I would imagine it might be okay (depending on how your cat reacts to new baby) as you would notice wake if the cat was getting in your and babies space.
We didn't bed share until my son turned 1 and it's just after he wakes up in the motn if he does. Most of the time our cat is also at the foot of our large bed. However, we close our son's door at night and naps to be on the safe side and we don't leave the two of them alone. Our cat is great, but our son is still learning how to treat him. (LO been "batted" a couple of time when he tried to ride the cat.)
I have heard that female cats are more likely to want to snuggle with baby than male cats, and my cats are both boys, but I think that is probably hocum. :P