Sarina, cat questions

Has your cat stayed out of the crib and baby gear since you put down the tin foil?

Back on that old thread when I mentioned it, I also mentioned another idea my aunt used at Christmas to train her cats to stay out of the tree. Just wondering if you saw that, because if your cat won't stay out of the nursery then you could try it.

We have 2 cats. The puker has been around for the last 2 babies coming into the house and never tried to get into the crib, so I'm not worried about her. The other cat came into the house when my son was 13 mos old. He never tried to get into the crib, but it was already there and my ds was older. I'm worried about his behavior when we bring this baby home, since seeing a newborn will be new to him.

We only have to pack n play set up. Right now it is in our room, but will go downstairs for daytime sleeping and the crib will be set up in our room (next week we're setting it up). Ever since the pack n play was set up, I've lined it with tin foil and neither cat has gone into it. Once the crib is set up, I'll put some foil in it too. My cats do come into our room all the time and sleep on or under our bed. The boy cat is obnoxious when locked out of any room, he'll scratch the door and won't give up until we let him in. He has his nails, too, so I don't want damage. I hope he won't attempt any crib exploration.

Have you set up the basinet in your room yet? Line that with foil, if it isn't already. If you find that after Aniras is here, the cat can't stay out of her basinet, you may have to use the gate for your room and then switch it to the nursery when you switch her to her crib.

I was just wondering the other day about how things were going between you, the cat, and the nursery!

I think I need to try the foil trick. My 10 year old cat was in the crib 3 different times when I tried to leave the door open. The other option if that doesn't work is this crib tent...

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2404625&fromRegistryNumber=65158589&product_skn=950613

I'm really worried about her because she loves to lay by your face and I'm afraid she'd do the same to Matthew.

Jenni, try the foil and see if it works. Cats hate the foil. If it doesn't work, then remove the mattress and lay a sheet over the spring bottom. One time before dd 2 was due, the cat we had at that time thought it was ok to hop in the crib. He hopped in with it just the way I described and his feet went thru the holes between the springs, but he wasn't hurt because I had the sheet (twice thick, folded in half) that protected his paws. It scared the crap out of him, you should have seen him trying frantically to get out.

It was the first and the last time he ever went into the crib!

so with the tin foil, do you have to crinkle it up first then lay it out? or do they just not like it at all even when it's spread out neatly??

On my pack n play, I have both the diaper changer and a newborn napper (not the bassinet part, the napper is like a papasan that sits above the bassinet part). For the diaper changer, I laid one long piece of foil in it. For the napper, I laid 2 shorter pieces and conformed them more to the napper. I kept them neat, so I'd be able to see evidence of paw prints. So far, no evidence.

I'd leave them neat, they will make more noise then if the cat jumps on them.

Sarina, it is working in the pnp napper, it should work in a regular style bassinet. I'd think she'd be more tempted to try out the bassinet, since it is cozier than the crib. Imagine a kitty all curled up sleeping in the bassinet. Since she is scared of the foil from the crib, put some in and maybe she won't even go into it once she sees it in there. Hopefully she'll make the association.

I'm going to continue to use the foil for a while after baby is here, too. When baby isn't in the crib or the pnp, the foil will be set back in. You know how curious our furry friends get.