Training the Cats

When my sister came over, I had her help me blow up some red latex balloons to put in the crib:

Now you might wonder why we did this. Here's the answer:

Our cats currently sleep on anything and everything they desire. And my husband and I have been of the idea that they should not be allowed to sleep in the baby's sleeping areas. At least for now. Orange and fluffy above especially loves to hug and groom things smaller than him, and while it's sweet, it worries us. Part of the reason we wanted to get the bassinet and crib set up so early was to train the cats to stay out of them.

I researched and researched and finally decided that latex balloons would be the best way to go. One, for whatever reason, my cats are scared of them. I brought them home once (the floaty kind) and they would not come anywhere near them. Two, if they were to try to jump into the crib, the balloons would either pop or hit them, neither of which they would enjoy. We learned the first night that we had the bassinet that the balloons were quite effective. In the middle of night, startling pops woke us up. Two balloons had burst, and while we don't know which cat was responsible, neither of them will go near the bassinet now. I've removed the balloons at this point from the bassinet, and so far, no cat sightings in the bassinet.

With the crib, you'll notice that there's now space for the cats to land and lay down should they desire. Our grand hope is that by the time the last balloon comes out, they won't have any desire to be in the crib at all.