Cats + newborn advice

We rehomed Bailey (4 years old) about 6 months ago. I’m due a baby in a few weeks. I know he came from a house that had kids and they had two babies while he lived with them so he actually has more experience than me 🤣 he’s such a loveable big boy and wants to be involved in everything. He jumps into the next to me, car seat, pram basket etc and thinks every baby thing is for him 😂 do you think he will settle okay when the baby comes or should I be doing anything to help at the minute? We never let him stay in the cot or anything he gets swiftly evicted I just don’t know how he’ll react when he realises there’s a real human coming home.

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I’ve got 4 cats and they were fine when I bought my baby home, they gave her a little sniff and ran away 😅 she is now 7 months and tries to grab them so they don’t go near her, we just don’t have the cats in the bedroom when we go to sleep

I have multiple cats and they’ve all been good with all of my children. Only thing I ever did was not let them in the bedding areas like the moses basket and cot and bedrooms xx

I have two cats, they lived with us for over 3 years in a very quiet home with hardly any interaction with a baby/young children and I was really nervous about how they’d react. But o shouldnt of worried at all. One is not bothered by him at all but doesn’t go over to him either. She just acts like he doesn’t exists and gets on with her business 😂 and the other is always watching and smelling him and being so gentle and lovely.
Only tip I have is if you have swinging chair put that out now for them to get use to it as mine were a bit freaked out by it at first. I also have a panda teddy that plays music that they didn’t like but got use to before the baby came.
Also try not to shout or tell the cat off for going on baby items so he doesn’t associate the baby/baby items as a negative reaction. If they jump in his cot I just gently take them out and try and out items round it so they can’t get into the cot etc.

I have no idea but as a dog person I had to come on and tell you how cute your cat looks!!!!!

My cat was in everything, thought everything we bought was for him, baby’s been here 7 months and he’s still absolutely disgusted with the arrangement and won’t be in the same room as him 😅😅

I have 2 cats - one is very affectionate and needy the other is a butt but he’s my first baby! I love them dearly

I just have an issue with my first cat being obsessed with baby’s nursery - it used to be their sun room but we kicked them out of it like 2 months before baby came cause they would scratch on her rocking chair

6 months in and he’s still goes to her door when she’s sleeping and tries to scratch and meow at it

Obviously this is causing issues for me cause I can’t do anything when baby is sleeping cause I have to guard her door otherwise he’ll wake her

I’ve considered giving them away cause of this but I feel bad

I’m gonna try stick it out

My late coco was the grumpiest ball of fur ever known and hated everything and everyone and she claimed every baby thing first. but when baby arrived she was the sweetest and most caring ever. She didn't live until baby's first birthday but I know she would have been the bestest big sister.

I’ve got 5 cats 2 rescues and dogs including a street dog. Mine were the same all over the baby stuff before she arrived. She’s now 15 months old. 3 of the cats will let her stroke them, be around her etc, the other 2 cats couldn’t care less. They never bothered her when she was in the next to me only one time I recall that one jumped in and jumped back out the minute they saw her 🤣 I also shut her room off until she’s older and can decide if she wants them to join her. Your cat should be fine. They’re so adaptable. Lots of affection and they will barely notice a change x

in our community

Is this clever or cruel?

My husband and i were talking and with social media and the internet in general being a terrifying dumpster fire, we are trying to figure out the best way to keep our son safe while still teaching him how to safely be online and moderation.

We landed on the idea of giving him the 90's kid treatment. A computer in the living room for us to keep an eye on what hes doing online, and once we feel hes mature enough to hang with friends without adult supervision he gets a flip phone. When we feel he is responsible enough and he earns and saves up the money for the physical phone, case, and screen cover, then we will be happy to take him to get a smart phone.

I thought this was air tight, but now my brother says its cruel to give a kid a flip phone, and besides he can just use his friends phones at school.

My husband and i remember a time before the internet, and we remember having complete access to something no one understood yet. We saw unspeakable things and are always battling with the urge to put the phone and social media down. I dont want that for my son, especially with his brain so vulnerable still.

If your partners parent passes away

And you and that parent didn't get along are you still go to the funeral?

Not my situation!

Partner no longer wants baby #2

Before our son was born we originally both wanted minimum 2 kids but we were hoping for 3-4. My partner found the birth traumatic to watch and also struggled a lot with the newborn/baby stage. He no longer wants to have any more children and it’s completely breaking my heart. I need another baby. We’ve spoken about it a lot and the options. He said he wasn’t COMPLETELY closed off to it so I asked him to try and work through his feelings and reconsider his decision. He eventually said he definitely doesn’t want another. I know that I will always want one and my feelings will never change. Do we have to break up or does anyone know anything else I can do to help change his mind? Has anyone else’s partner said this and then changed their mind? I don’t want to break up because I adore him and our life together and I’d hate to split up our family for “selfish” reasons and make my son miss out on having both of us together but I just don’t know what to do

Nursery funding

My child turned 9 months last week. I applied for government funded hours nearly 2 months ago and so well within the required timeframe for the April term, however upon receiving my first invoice without the funding applied and having questioned this, I have now been informed that the stretched funding doesn’t start until 4th May.

Has anyone else been told it won’t start until May?

The government site states it should start from April 1st, and so I intentionally set my nursery start and return to work as the start of April for that reason, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to afford the nursery on my sole income without the funding

Jealous of my husband

I’m so jealous of him and it’s making me resentful. We have a ten week old and I’m jealous that he is at work all day. I’m jealous he can leave for lunch and actually eat an uninterrupted lunch. Take a phone call uninterrupted. Chat with a friend he runs in to uninterrupted. Even go to the bathroom when he wants uninterrupted. He comes home from work when he wants. He’s not on a set schedule. Some days are late some are early. It depends on when he’s done. I’m jealous he can come home at 10pm and shower, eat and go right to bed uninterrupted because I already have the baby asleep. He doesn’t have to worry about anything house wise or baby wise because I’ve done it all. Meanwhile I’m covered in puke and crap and smell like rotten milk. When he is home he is VERY active and helpful. So it’s not that. I’m just jealous his world hasn’t changed and mine has I guess. This isn’t something he’s doing wrong so I’m not sure how to get past this. I wish I could keep him home all day because that’s how helpful he is, but I understand he obv needs to work.

Calpol

My mum has just given my 4 year old calpol because he asked for it. He isn’t poorly (although was last week, been fine this week) he just likes the taste of it. My mum didn’t check, didn’t ask, just gave it to him and when I’ve questioned her she said “he asked for it”. Then quizzed 4 year old who said he asked for it because it tastes nice.

How would you react?