How to keep the cats out of the baby room?

[pete_c]

Wife suggested (she and I are not into cats though) getting rid of the cat. Both of us have owned dogs though but do not have one currently.

My sister had a 6 year old dog when her first child was born. One day she "caught" the dog in the play pen when my nephew was about a year old.

She ended up giving the dog away.

A cat story:

In college we had a cat in the apartment for about 6 months. We had it declawed and it turned to biting a bit. Funny though one day was lighting an old fashioned stove in the kitchen of the college apartment. None of us really knew how to cook. We decided to eat duck that night and bought two ducks and a quart of orange juice. Turned on the gas, answered the phone, lite the stove (the cat was with me). I guess there was some time between turning on the gas and lighting the stove. The stove oven kind of blew up and literally threw the cat and myself across the kitchen onto the sink (it was across the stove). Both the cat and I got a bit singed (one side of the cat had no hair and same with me). One day one of my room mates wanted to give the cat a bath. He did. Then he used a blow dryer on it and it fainted.

 

[Neurorad]

Our cat was really a non-issue with our 3 kids. Extremely docile, loved attention. We really didn't have a concern about smothering. I don't think it really happens.

Don't let the baby sleep in the bed with mom, though. Mom smothering, although rare, should be a concern. More of a concern if mom is a heavy drinker.

 

[felixrosbergen]

Maybe i'll just take the wait and see approach..

They do jump onto the kitchen counter so i don't think the crib itself would be too much of an obstacle..i don't really see then landing on the rim though and balancing..they're not that talented.

As far as giving up the cats it's simply not an option..we've had them for close to 7 years now and they're like children to us. The wife would make me give my left nut before she would give up the cats.

One if very sweet...the other is super sweet to us but is the devil herself to strangers (goes after them hissing and clawing, then comes to me and rolls over on her back wanting her tummy rubbed and purring...) so she would never find a new home if she had to go to a shelter.

 

[mustangcoupe]

Our cat doesn't want to be near our little one. when we first put in the crib the cat investigated it but it became a loss of attention, worst case she does now is sleeps on the carpet in the babies room (it is the only carpet in the house)

 

[etc6849]

Simple.

You need a shock collar with a remote. Wire the remote into your HA system using a relay. Next, attach a proximity card or key fob to the cat; you could even imbed an RFID chip in its leg to track its location. Install a proximity sensor or RFID reader near the door of the baby room. When the cat enters the room, the proximity sensor will activate, triggering the relay which will switch on the shock collar's remote. Next, the cat will be shocked for x seconds. If the cat continues to move into the room, it will continue to be shocked at x second intervals until exit.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

In college we had a cat in the apartment for about 6 months. We had it declawed and it turned to biting a bit. Funny though one day was lighting an old fashioned stove in the kitchen of the college apartment. None of us really knew how to cook. We decided to eat duck that night and bought two ducks and a quart of orange juice. Turned on the gas, answered the phone, lite the stove (the cat was with me). I guess there was some time between turning on the gas and lighting the stove. The stove oven kind of blew up and literally threw the cat and myself across the kitchen onto the sink (it was across the stove). Both the cat and I got a bit singed (one side of the cat had no hair and same with me). One day one of my room mates wanted to give the cat a bath. He did. Then he used a blow dryer on it and it fainted.

Dude, if you are ever in Vegas, I have GOT to party with you!!!

 

[Paul]

I'm surprised that nobody has said this already, but why not just put in a louvered door?

 

[beelzerob]

Our first kid we were also cat paranoid, and we used what nov suggested....a canopy that fits over the top of the crib. Keeps the cat out of the crib, but otherwise everything is open as normal. Wasn't very hard to use (not cumbersome)

 

[Neurorad]

Rob - how soon after the baby was born did you ditch the canopy?

 

[priorityelectric]

So...not really HA related but wanted to get some input from you bright minds anyway.

The wife and I have a baby coming in a month or 2 and we also have 2 cats.

Our cats LOVE to lay on us while sitting, watching,tv and sleeping This is obviously a cause for concern wrt to the upcoming little one.

However we also don't necessarily want to keep the baby's room door closed all the time.

Somebody at some point had mentioned a screen door in addition to the regular door...which sounded good except...
- it would be pretty ugly
- the solid door swing into the bay room, so the screened door would need to swing out...

Altogether not a very attractive situation.

Somebody else had mentioned some sort of retractable screen which rollls up/in sideways and supposedly you can mount these inside the jam.so at least when we're not using it it wouldnt be in the way like a screen door would.

I'm starting to investigate this option, but wanted to see what other possible ideas there could be short of killing the cats, high voltage tasers, etc as i'm sure are about to be suggested. :angry:

Any input would be appreciated.

How to train a cat,... Home automation style
get a couple of X10 Motion sensors battery operated.
you can attach them low on the wall on the entry.
you will need a receiver as well.
then something that will drive the cats out fast kinda scare them so they bolt each time and never go back.
disco light? noise of some sort. Better to train them in advance.
Parts list.
1 or 2 motion sensors battery operated - X10 ms13a-c
1 receiver X10 Tm751
then figure out something to plug in to scare kitty out of room.
Before baby it could be a loud radio.
after baby it could be a strobe light partially blocked so no one else ( baby does not see light )

 

[beelzerob]

Rob - how soon after the baby was born did you ditch the canopy?

Hmm...neither of us can remember specifically. We were borrowing it from someone and I think she needed it back, and we didn't feel the need to buy one ourselves at that point. I'm thinking something less than 1 year old. I think we also became convinced that the cat wasn't interested in the baby at all, so were less concerned.

We didn't bother with it for our 2nd kid, and the cat wasn't around for the 3rd kid, soo....

 

[elcano]

I think that it will depend a lot on your cat temperament. Our cat was a very passive persian, and never got interested in the babies.

Our house (in the Caribbean) does not have centra HVAC. Each room has it's own window unit or mini-split A/C, so we must close the doors for it to work. Therefore, we always got to use baby monitors. During the first three months they slept in a small crib in our room, but them moved them to their own room afterwards. The cat, who used to be a lot more frequently with us or inside our bedroom got to stay our. At some points she protested it by pooeing at a carpet or some other prohibited place, but nothing else beyond that.

I, however, remember that we trained her earlier in her life for not jumping in the dining table. We have spray with water and each time that she attempted it she received a quick spray of water in the face, for about two weeks. This worked forever.

In your case I could recommend a two-way approach. You use a baby gate to show to the cat that when the gate is closed this is an off-limit area. I got a tall (36") gate in ToysRUs for other reasons recently. Then your could place an IR beam based sensor outside of the baby door. I got a nice one with relay output in Radio Shack, but here is another:
http://www.smarthome.com/70422/Enforcer-In...1-S35RRQ/p.aspx

Once the cat ever dares to get close to the fence, you can trigger a deterring response or alarm. A quick shot of compressed air or water spray would be awesome, but would not pass the approval of the decoration department. Probably a simple alarm/notification could work. Once you hear the alarm you catch the cat and ground it to a crate for about 15 minutes. Eventually he will get the gate-alarm-punishment association. Ideally, the alarm should not trigger when the gate is open or uninstalled. Eventually, you will not need the alarm anymore. Notice that for this to work you need to respond to the alarm within seconds, not minutes.

 

[tmbrown97]

Mav,

We had some concerns like that when we were having our first baby; we have 2 cats, one who's old, fat & slow - doesn't take much more than a small baby gate to keep him out. The other one is the "b*tchy kitty" - even when I stack two baby gates in an opening, she can jump up on top, balance for a second, then jump over. Our other concern: indoor only cats barf inside more than we'd like. We're like you - cats are family, not a houseplant you give away because it doesn't fit anymore.

At first we were pretty worried given one cat's temperament and love of getting into places she shouldn't - considered the canopies, etc; but in the end, realized it was a non-issue with our cats. Granted, we keep the door closed if the kids are in there sleeping; but when they're not, we like to leave the door open... at our last house, cats had free run of the place; in this house, we generally keep them off the 2nd floor, which helps. Whenever we catch the b*tchy kitty upstairs, she gets a rather unpleasant toss back down; it definitely demotivates her.

Honestly the only issue we've had with our cats and the babies is that the b*tchy one likes to sneak in and sleep under the crib, so it's more when she's meowing to get out of the room while the kids are sleeping. I have zero concern with them going into the crib with the kid. Cats figure kids out fairly early on - they're fun to play with, and they're interesting to explore - but the cats keep their distance... and as soon as the kid has any sort of motor function control, you'll introduce the two and the kid will pull a few tufts of fur out of the cat (they just don't understand "Gentle!" at under a year old) and the cat will develop a healthy fear of the kid and watch its back. Our B*tchy cat will bite/attack/swat at me if I come near it - with the 2yr old, they swat at each other, but the cat would never bite her.

I put "getting rid of the cat" up there with putting your kid in a bubble-wrap suit before going to the playground - it's ridiculous and unnecessary. Anyone here have any stories of their cats actually causing any problems?

 

[batwater]

I put "getting rid of the cat" up there with putting your kid in a bubble-wrap suit before going to the playground - it's ridiculous and unnecessary. Anyone here have any stories of their cats actually causing any problems?

+1 on what you said regarding bubble-wrap suit!

We've had cats as long as we've had kids; they figure each other out and all is well, it's a part of life. The last of 3 kids went off to college this fall, we never had any issues with the cats causing any harm to our kids (other than one having allergies but he elected to take shots rather than get rid of the cats)

We also have 2 dogs, same thing, had the dog before kids, during, and now after.

Critters are a great way of teaching responsibility, the facts of life (and death) and highly therapeutic, can anyone tell me that a purring cat in your lap or a wagging tail as you scratch their ears doesn't just suck the stress right out of you?

-Ben