Get your cat used to the smells and sounds associated with the baby. Apply baby powder or baby oil to your skin to help your cat associate the scent with you. Play a recording of baby noise. Make this an enjoyable experience for your cat by rewarding it with treats and playing while you do it. If you have friends with babies, ask them to bring their children for short visits.

Carefully supervise these visits, praise and treat the cat for good behavior so that it develops pleasant associations with children. Start getting your cat used to probing and poking children’s fingers. Gently give your cat a little poke, nudge, or pinch. Reward good behavior with treats. Decide if the nursery will be closed to your cat or if she will be allowed to enter the room.

If the nursery is banned, remove any furniture from the room that the cat likes to lie or sleep on so she can use those favorite items elsewhere in the house. If your cat is allowed into the nursery, she will most likely be fascinated by the crib. Prevent her from sleeping in it by placing cat scaring devices, such as the Cat, near the crib. Provide alternative sleeping places for your cat in the nursery. Add a cat bed or cat tree and reward your cat for using them.