Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Legitimate pet advice needed :) (kinda long)
I know most of you don't have a lot of experience with cats, but I figure some methods will work for cats AND dogs. I have two cats, twin brothers (the only two from their litter), who will be nearly 4.5 years when this baby is born. We've had them since they were about 8 weeks.
These cats have been our babies. They sleep with us- one of them sleeps ON me, and the other sleeps under the covers in between us. If we say "It's night night time," they come running to go to bed. Castor comes to me and "asks" to be picked up (like a child, no less- his "arms" around my neck, and my arm under his rump). They do get spoiled, but they don't run our lives, and they do know WE are in charge, which I've heard is common with pets like ours.
My concern is adjusting them for when the baby comes. They will not be getting quite as much attention, and there will be a lot of baby stuff that they will want to take over. (They love to lay in and on anything that I haven't bought specifically for them.) Another issue is that they have only moved once, and we will be moving when I am about 36 weeks, giving them only a month (give or take 2 weeks) to adjust to the new place and the baby's nursery and stuff, before the baby comes. I don't want them to resent or be hostile towards the baby, or to feel "abandoned" by myself and DH. I also don't want them turning the baby stuff into a jungle gym for kitties, or for us to wake up to a crying baby whose sleep has been disrupted by a cat jumping in the bassinet or crib.
What can I do to make this transition easier for them? Are there any web resources I can go to, or any tips and tricks that you ladies know of?
Re: Legitimate pet advice needed :) (kinda long)
Congrats!
Here is a good website and one I reference. There is something in there about cats!
I also like the Humane Society's page on baby prep.
Check out books too- I have one called "Childproofing your Dog (and dogproofing your child)" and they should have some books out there geared toward cats too!
I also have this CD. Warning: when you first blast it, you will look at your DH and shriek, "What in the hell have we done?!?!" It will pass. I promise.
We don't have kids yet, but I have heard from friends who have cats and babies, that it's helpful to bring home something that smells like baby for them to sniff before the baby actually comes home too. Punky's links are also very helpful.
As far as the moving is concerned, we moved our cats up here from South Florida and it took them less than 12 hours to settle in. The girl wandered around crying for a few hours, but for the most part once they figured out we were staying here too and we weren't just dropping them off, they were fine. (Mostly I think they were thrilled to be out of the car since we drove up here.) They are also very cuddly, affectionate, dog-like cats who sleep with us and get all excited when we a) come home from work, b) feed them, c) go to bed, and d) wake up. I've often wondered how they will react when we bring a baby into the mix, so I'll be eager to see what works best for you in terms of introducing them!
I'm concerned about my cats too once we finally have a baby. They aren't too spoiled, but they are very curious and I know they will be all up in the baby's stuff, lol.
Like PP said, I've heard bringing something that smells like the baby helps. Since your cats enjoy the bedtime route you have, I'd try to continue that as much as possible. I know it will be hard at first adjusting to the baby's "schedule". But I think if you at least try to maintain a few things you do just for them it will make things easier.
GL!
Thanks for the great resources and tips! I'm not OVERLY concerned, I just want to give them the easiest adjustment possible. I know the move will be hard on them- when we moved here, it took them a few weeks to adjust- and it will be a little more stressful this time with all the baby stuff happening in such a short time. But in general they are extremely sweet and affectionate cats, so eventually I think they'll adjust.
I'll let you ladies know how they handle it!
Honestly, they will probably hide. They may be curious after a few weeks, get a whiff of them, then move on.
Then once baby starts crawling, they may just go back into hiding for a while. When baby becomes mobile is usually when issues arise- but you just have to be prepared to deal with them
We don't have cats, but we have a dog, and this has definitely been something in the back of my mind. Like Rynna, not too concerned, but we would like to get him prepared for BabyBaby as much as we can. Thanks for the book rec Punky, I'm going to definitely check it out!
GL!
She went to sleep when I turned the CD on. I think it has been a better tool to prepare me. haha.
The next step is to get the swing and stroller/car seat in here so she can get used to the swing noises and motion and train to heel while walking next to a stroller.
The things we think about as dog mamas! lol