There's been a lot of old wives tales made about cats or kittens with babies. One i've heard of recently which is a kitten sticking it's head in a babies mouth. Another one is about cats stealing a babies breath. Since i've grown up with cats my whole life, I feel these are complete BS. My wife however is a little more concerned. So, what would you suggest I tell her? We have cats in the house right now, and I absolutely refuse to give them away. Any suggestions on what I could do to make her feel more at ease?

I have two cats. And they are like family too.

We have never had any issues with the cats and the baby. They are very gental to the baby, and although we have gotten a few scratches here and there, nothing major and usually, i hate to say it, the baby deserved it - he wouldn't leave the cat be and the cat told him off the only way she knew how.. a swipe.

I know some people have had issues with the cat getting in the baby's crib. And ours will lay in the crib sometimes, but only when the baby isn't in it, lol, they want nothing to do with this smelly thing that annoys them.

Good Luck!

The cat stealing a baby's breath sounds like a nice tall tale or a myth, not a wives tale. I know my sister-in-law has a cat, and has with all her kids, but she rarely has issues with the mixture. Other than no changing the kitty litter while pregnant there should be no reason to have a problem with a well behaved kitty and a new baby.

If any of the cats I have ever had, would be stupid enough to stick their head inside either of my kiddos mouths, well they would probaly get bitten. My kids are just like that, its like I dont feed them or something (which I do BTW) but their all o whats this let me chew on it. :D

Something we'd ALL be better off remembering is that old wives tales are often rooted in fact.

I swear there is already another thread around here about this exact same thing too.

The stealing a babies breath bit is because a cat likes the milk a baby eats/drinks. You need to watch the cat around the baby, the cat means NO HARM, it just wants a taste of what smells SO good on the babies breath. They get to purring and licking and their nose is over the babies nose and their mouth is over the babies mouth and guess what? It can suffocate a baby. COMPLETELY unintentional, but VERY possible.

Don't blow things off without a little effort in to discovering the root. Now there is no reason to not keep your cats. Just don't be stupid. Don't leave the baby and the cats unsupervised together, just like you shouldn't leave a baby and a dog unsupervised. Just use common sense. Animals/Babies unsupervised are a potentially bad mix. Don't do it.

What if all of your animals are outside ones? :confused:

They get to purring and licking and their nose is over the babies nose and their mouth is over the babies mouth and guess what? It can suffocate a baby. COMPLETELY unintentional, but VERY possible.
I seriously hope noone would allow any pet to get that close and involved with a young child. A couple pats is enough for both sides. Pets are not toys and people aren't pet toys either.

I have also heard of cats sleeping on a baby. They like the warmth and cats seem to like to sleep on top of as many things as they can. The weight of the cat on the babies chest can restrict the breathing. But usually, cats don't much care for babies, and don't get that close to them. My cat gave me such a dirty look when he realized what my second son was. His look said “You had to bring home another one?”

You people know, all these stories got to come from somewhere, right? :D

Thanks for all the replies folks,and I DO appreciate them! Anyway I have gotten the wife to calm down after some discussions, and doing some research with her. Again, I never believed any of this stuff myself.

Either way, this will hopefully be the last talk her and I have on this subject!

If its not, have her join and we can talk to her. Another option is that she can research how the tale started. Here is a great example of many wives tales that are often told to new parents to paranoia them. From a random site I found one day:

Cats can steal the air from a baby's mouth.

False. This tale goes back hundreds of years to a time when cats were associated with witchcraft and evil spirits. Cat-lovers, rest easy - it's anatomically impossible for a cat or other animal to suffocate a baby by sealing the baby's mouth with its own. Even so, cats and other pets (http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/home/pets.html) should be supervised around small children and introduced to a baby gradually. You should also keep cats (just as you should keep other items, like blankets and plush toys) out of your baby's crib or bassinet.

If its not, have her join and we can talk to her.

LOL! I may ask her to join up, even if she doesn't bring that subject up again.

She would like this forum I bet, so i'll see what I can do!

For now, I hope the "Evil Cat" discussions are a done deal. She seems calmer about the whole situation now, so i'm hoping it stays that way!

My only concern with a cat or any animal and a baby is the risk of them liking the taste of the baby's milk, or formula and licking it off them. The risk of them maybe biting or scratching the child's face when doing this, and then the same risk when it comes to the child having real food.

Otherwise it's just common sense. These things are just silly stories, nothing else.