Ideas on How to Keep Cat Out of Nursery

We bought a playpen net at Toys R US and rigged it to fit snuggly over the top of our sons bassinet. Then my hubby tied a few bells to the top where the kitty would try to jump in. Our cat only tried once to jump in (the bells startled her) and the bells alerted us that she made the effort to get in. It was a funky little concoction but it worked. Good Luck!

Hoenstly, unless the cat has a bad temperment, it probably won't harm the baby. But on a different note, it is safer o keep the door closed and just get a monitor, ( they even make them with video screens). I used to leave my kids doors open every night. But then I started to do research and think about a few things. First, if there is a fire, the doors should be closed. It is amazig what just the heat and the smoke can do to your little one. Secondly, it allows you to hear the dorr open and close, so then you know when someone is coming and going. Don't freak out. I say this because there will come a time when your child will not stay in thier room for bedtime. He will even come out at odd hours of the night. You will want to hear him leave his room. It will be easier to start the habit of closing the door now, than it will be then. When I finally started to close my sons door as a toddler, bdtime was even more difficult, it was a horrible experience. I have always closed the door with my daughter, he can't stand it open. I say get a monitor and close the door.

My suggestion is buy a monitor to hear the baby and close the door so the cat stays out!

I acctually had the same problem, and I just have a good baby monitor that I keep in my daughter's room so I can keep the door shut. She's two now, but I still do it and it works great!

someone has probably already mentioned this,but I would replace the existing door with a screen door. I always hated having the kids bedroom doors closed, still do, so sounds like the best solution to me.

We had a similar problem with our first child. They sell nets that go over your bassinet and I believe you can get them for cribs also. They are domed so they don't make the child feel like they are closed in. Hope this helps.

Get a monitor that you can carry anywhere around the house the keep track of the baby. The door does not need t o be left open for this.

Cats are attracted to the scent of milk (breast or formula). I would buy a baby monitor and close the door or put the cat in another room with the door closed at night. Do not take the risk!

We didn't have cats when my kids were babies, though my toddler was still in a crib when we got out cats. It wasn't a problem with her being older, though. Anyhow, I did babysit and have this problem recently. I had to put the baby downstairs because it was the only free space...I put him in his pack and play and there is no door to the downstairs area. My cats wanted to be in that pack and play!! I took two baby gates and "stacked" them so that one is on the floor and the other one right on top...since they are held on by pressure you don't need to depend on the ground to assist in holding them up. The cats are used to one baby gate and can easily jump over that, but two gates was just too much work. If I had seen an attempt to get over the two I would have added a third. That would be a huge pain in the behind if you had to get in to the room several times a night but if you want the door open then it works great. Also...I did hear about the netting but I haven't see it in action so I don't know if it only covers the top of the crib or the sides as well. I'm only bringing it up because I know that my cats go through the sides, not the top of the crib. We just moved my toddler out of her crib but the cats only jumped over the top a few times before they figured out the short cut of going through the slats. Shutting the door is obviously the easiest. Just get a baby monitor and make sure that you search the room for cats every time you leave and shut the door again. Oh yes...congrats on the new baby!!! Yay!!!

Being a former cat owner (my sweet cat died at age 14 after our 3rd baby), I always kept the door shut and used a baby monitor.

We recently bought a new home and while house hunting I saw a nursery that had a simple, full-sized, wooden screen door on it. It looked incredibly cute with the theme of the bedroom and it kept their cats out. Plus when your son is older, it'd be a great way to keep him IN his room for time out! LOL! Just an idea...
Good luck!

I personally wouldn't risk the fact that the cat may want to snuggle and end up accidently sufficating the baby. I would get some baby moniters and keep the door closed, just until he can hold his head up on his tummy or turn it if he needs to. They even make ones with the screen that lets you see the baby but those can be expensive. Hope this helps. You deffinately want to protect your little guy.

I bought a crib tent online for this very same reason. I actually found our big 20 lb cat in the crib a few times before I had the baby so we put one of these tents on.
The cat and our now 8 month old are the best of friends and I like that the cat can go into the nursery but can't get in the crib. I think we found ours at walmart.com

Congrats on your little one!

Hi L.-

I can understand your concern about your cat...everyone had me freaked out about our cat and baby issues..oour cat was an unspayed female,which they say is the worst. They have nets that you can put over your babys crib to keep the cat out...good luck and hope that helps!

K.

when both my kids were infants, we had to sequester our cats to a part of the house where I knew they were closed off. They were way too attracted to the warmth of the baby - and it made me nervous. That's my only suggestion. My cats sleep on my head - I didn't want them doing that to the baby. I don't think it is a silly fear - its legitimate. The "sequestering" doesn't have to happen for a long time, and might only occur when you are sleeping and can't keep your eye on the nursery.

Hi L.,

Well, everyone knows cats are jumpers, climbers etc...so a 'doggy' type gate is out of the question. You might want to consider putting a screen door on the nursery. Food for thought! Good luck!

Close the dooor and use a monitor

We had cats when our son was born. Since his room was in the loft, we couldn't close a door to keep them out. What we ended up doing was getting a crib net. It's like a dome tent that attaches to the top of the crib. It's strong enough that the cats can lay on it and it doesn't collapse (I can say this from experience). You can usually find them at either toys or babys r us.

My friend put sheets of tin foil in the crib and on the foor of the nursery to deter the cat for a while before they used the room. She said it worked. Also, crib tents are made for keeping cats out of the crib. Hope that helps!

This is a slight tangent, but...
For everybody's safety, health, and peace of mind, make sure your cat's immunizations are up-to-date. And try to keep him indoors (I know that there are some cats who just won't stay in - we had one that would wait and wait for his chance to get out and the take it). If cat does go outside, make sure that you brush him regularly (with a brush made for animals), inspect him regularly for mites, tics, and fleas, and bathe him as needed. You will keep kitty healthier and reduce the chance that he will come home sick with something dangerous for your family, especially baby.

There is spray you can get at PetSmart, that has an odor they can smell but we cannot. Spray it on the outside of the doorway, it is non toxic. Also a spray bottle of water if the cat goes in the room without you there! :)
However, letting your cat get over his curious nature will help a lot too.
I also had a baby gate up in the kids room. The cats could jump over it but didn't for whatever reason.
I have three cats now, but had two when my kids were born. They snooped around, even slept under the baby's crib a few times but lost interest very fast. If you allow them never to go in, I found with cat's it makes them even more determined.
The old wives tales of cats bothering babies is just that.
I wouldn't want my cat sleeping "with" my baby, however if you just shut the door during naps and bedtimes I see no reason to worry about that.
At naps the door was always shut and I had a baby monitor. At night I opened the door but the cats much preferred to sleep with me! :)
Go get a baby monitor for the naptimes, so you can shut the door and at night put even a baby gate up on the babies room, make it higher then typical, but not enough room at the bottom for him to go under and spray some of that stuff from Petsmart.
Good luck, soon enough when your baby is mobile, that cat will disappear, hee hee. Mine are just now coming out when the kids are around after three years! :) They hid with both of mine once they started to crawl and used to just come out after they were in bed! :)

The old wives' tale is that cats "suck" the breath out of people. My neighbor used to invite our cat over all the time--meaning she'd let it in when it was in the back yard. My cat used to play with their dog. Then they put in a doggie door and the cat would come in as a welcome guest any time she wanted. They loved our cat.
Then she had a baby. One day she found my cat sleeping UNDER the crib. She freaked out because she didn't have any sense in her head, and my cat got hauled off to the pound to be put down. Nice, eh?
If you don't trust your cat's temperment, that's a different story. If you're afraid it might harm the baby, then I would just shut the door. We usually shut the door anyway.
You could also get a crib tent. That would keep the cat out of the actual crib without keeping it out of the nursery.

I heard a great idea that worked for a friend of mine. They replaced the door to the nursery with a screen door which kept the cat out, but allowed the cat to still be involved and see what was going on. It also allowed them to be able to check in on the baby easily too.

get a good baby monitor and close the door. make sure the cat is out first and close the door.

With our first child we put balloons in the crib and in the room. Our cats wanted nothing to do with them. They stayed out of the crib. Of course you don't want to put them in the bed with the baby, but try it with the room. With our second though the cats had become immune to the balloons and were no longer afraid of them. Number 2 was three when the baby was born. I have also hear that there is a plant that will detract them, but I haven't been able to find out what it is yet. I know there are some that you plant outside, but I couldn't find the inside plant. HOpe it helps.

We also had problems keeping our 2 cats out of the crib when our first boy was born. While keeping the door shut was the best option, sometimes it just didn't happen and they would be right in the crib. What finally worked for us was getting a spray bottle with water and spraying them with it when they would go in the crib. Kind of cruel I know, but it did work (and it takes a few times). Also, I read somewhere to put aluminum foil in the crib and when the cat jumps in it scares them... we tried this and it didn't work, but maybe for you it would? Good luck! :]

You won't be able to teach your cat to go away... cats don't work like that. What you can do is one of two things.
First off you can buy a monitor and then close the door. That is what me and my husband are doing for our 5 months old. The cats love her and her room, so we just shut the door and turn up the monitor. Easy as that.
Second and something we also did was by a tent/canopy thing that goes over the crib. I believe you can find them online or Babies R Us. It attaches to the crib and it pretty sturdy. The box even shows a cat climbing on the thing. Not sure I totally buy that idea, but still made us feel good. However once we just started to close the door the tent seemed silly and kinda pain to open all the time. So we took it down and it is now in the garage.
Good luck

https://www.totsinmind.com/
You can find tents here... all different sizes as well.

The cat needs a place of its own. Especially at night. As mean as it may sound lock the cat in its own area so you won't worry about it suffocating the baby. I am not sure if your cat is an inside or outside cat but until the baby is older I would say outside for the cat if possible. It is cold so I am not sure how that might work but the garage (if you have one) is a great place (don't forget the litter box) for the cat to hang-out while you relax and enjoy your new little one knowing he is safe. Happy mommy-hood. =)

Some of the best photos I have of my daughter sleeping as a newborn/infant was when our little old kitty (who had thyroid issues and needed to stay warm) would cuddle up next to her in the crib. They both seemed to enjoy sharing the warmth. It never bothered me in the least. That being said, my other two cats would explore the nursery but never hang around to nap, the babies moved and made weird noises so the younger cats found someplace more restful.

This may sound strange, but it works great - put a screen door on the nursery door. The cat can see in feel like he's part of the action, you can hear your little one, but the cat can't get it. It's not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it works like a charm.

It seems like I've heard or maybe we even did.. put tin foil in his crib for awhile. The cat will not like that and it should deter the cat. Oh wait.... it might have been something kind of sticky like contact paper. I think either will work.

We have this same problem. What we have done is put a "hook latch" at the top of the doors to our son's rooms. This keeps the door cracked about 3 inches so that we can hear them but it keeps the cats out. Good luck!

Get the Tots in Mind Crib Tent. We just adopted a cat and I got my tent on craigslist for about 1/2 price. It has given me piece of mind that the cat won't try to cuddle our little girl!

We got a baby monitor for the room that also had a motion detector. We placed the transmiter to face the door. Any time the cat would walk in it would set the alarm off. We would then rush in with a water bottle and spray the cat. It didn't take long for the cat to learn it didn't want to be in that room.

I'm surprised no one has said just train your cat. My dd is 2 but she doesn't want the cat in her room. It doesn't go in there. We told her no and put her out the door. We just trained her as to which cupboards in the kitchen she is allowed to jump up on and which ones she is not allowed on. I've left her favorite treats out on the ones she isn't allowed on while we left for the day before and they have gone untouched. but if they are on the cupbaord she is allowed on...gone. It takes a little bit of persistence but if you see the cat starting for the nursery you put your foot out and say no. Cat's are smart, and they are trainable.