At what age is it safe to let a cat into a baby's bedroom while sleeping?

Question

I have a 10 month old child, and I would like to start leaving his bedroom door open at night while he is sleeping. However we have a cat, and I am not sure if it would be safe to leave the door open for fear the cat would go in and lay on his head while he is sleeping. He does roll and everything at night. When do I not have to worry about the cat suffercating him?

Answer 1

Cats smothering babies is an urban legend. It should be fine. There is no scientific evidence to support the myth.

Answer 2

Good for you for doing your research! You'll make a much better pet owner with every piece of knowledge! Pay attention the the other answer here that is serious - very good information. A kitten learns how to be a cat from its Mother between 4-6 weeks. Baby shots are very seldom given before 6 weeks and preferably 8 weeks if the kitten is in a safe place. By eight weeks the kitten should be spayed or neutered. Be sure to ask the questions when you contact any of the shelters on Petfinders. You will want a record of its shots to give to your own vet so they will notify you when boosters and new shots are due. The declawing is like removing the first joint of each of your fingers and lots of cats never get over the pain. We never reccommend it! Toys and scratching things are a great answer and you should be trimming your kittens' nails from a very young age to get it used to it. The water bottle training works and Hartz makes a good spray that does not stain most things (spray a little spot first) that will deter a cat who has decided to scratch something that is not his. Did you know cats sleep about 18 hours a day? Good luck to you !

Answer 3

Oh my goodness, Rebecca, at any age! The thing about cats being jealous of new babies or covering their heads and smothering them has absolutely no basis in fact.

There was a wonderful little article in Family Circle or Woman's Day a year or two ago. A cat was featured because he had won an award. A mother of a new baby (under 3 months) was working in her kitchen one day. Her baby was asleep in its room, and she had a monitor on. Suddenly she heard a terrible, hair-raising howling through the monitor. She ran to the baby's room, and found the family cat up on the dresser right beside the monitor, making an unearthly distress howl right into the speaker. And in the crib she found her baby, cyanotic. The baby had aspirated some vomit and had a blocked airway. The cat realized the gravity of the situation and called for help. The mother gave CPR, called 911, and the baby survived. But only because of the cat.

I really could tell you story after story about cats saving households, alerting to trouble or danger, etc. My own cat wakened me to a prowler one night by jumping up on the bed and nipping lightly at my eyelids with his gentle, wee front teeth.

Cats are territorial animals, and when they live with you, they consider your home their territory. And you and your family are their everything. They may not show it; differing personalities express this bond differently. But they know every little nook and cranny of their territory as you will never know it. They are acutely aware of normal, and they are profoundly bonded to you and your family. And so, they know when something is not right. And because whatever is wrong lies within their territory, if it is critical, they will alert to it.

You have nothing to fear from your cat. He isn't going to do anything to hurt that baby. He knows that you love the baby, and your cat loves you and has already accepted your son.

If it would make you feel better, you maybe should call the vet. But I'm sure he would tell you it's okay.

Answer 4

You can buy crib or cot cat nets that you fit over your baby's bed. Make sure that it's fitted taughtly otherwise the cat might use it as a hammock. See the link below for more details.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clippasafe-Cot-Cat-Net/dp/B0006H4PEO

The old wives tale about cats suffocating babies is untrue. It most likely came about, because cot/crib death (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) was not known about until 1953. The presence of a cat in or near the crib is not evidence of suffocation - it is circumstantial. A cat is just a convenient scapegoat.

Answer 5

I had my first cat when I was about 5 months old and i lived to tell about it. I think you might of read too much of those old wives tales. Your cats not gonna plop his fury booty on your kids head and anyone who told you he would is nutty. The only danger from cats is from the bacteria they can carry in their nails after using the litter box. If you keep the litter clean and your cat reguarly bathe's himself your fine.

Answer 6

Your cat is not going to suffocate the baby. The crib and its fittings are far more likely to injure the baby than any cat. If your baby can roll over and turn its head, it is fine.

In fact, the sooner you expose children to animals, the less likely they will develop allergies to animals as they grow up. It preps their immune systems and normalizes them to animals.

Answer 7

Bratgrr1 got this exactly right. This is one of the silliest old wives tales out there. Your cat will not smother the baby. Read her snopes link. There is absolutely no truth to this at all.

Answer 8

If your baby can turn his head well and can roll over, then he will be fine. With my kids and cats I was more concerned when the babies were awake and torturing the cat that they would get scratched. One of my cats would sleep with the babies, he would lay along side of them....to keep them warm? : )

Answer 9

Right now. There were a couple of cats who regularly checked on my nephew when he was just a tiny thing, and it never hurt him. Unless your son is allergic, exposure to a cat won't hurt him at all.

Answer 10

We never had a problem with any of our cats getting in the crib with our kids. Supposedly cats are drawn to the smell of milk on the mouth of babies.