# Sleeping In Our Bed...



## go4me77 (Jul 16, 2010)

Our kittens are nearly 5 months old and they have always slept in our bed, but my husband and I aren't sleeping well WITH them. I have been reading up on what you should/should not do and I read that it wasn't a good thing to let your cat sleep in your bed. Uhoh. I want to break the habbit quickly now, but read that it's nearly impossible once they start. 

I'm willing to try to change their behavior, but worried it won't help. I've had other cat owners tell me "lock them in a room at night" but I don't think that will help them or us. First of all, I think that's just inhuman. (think of how you would feel if someone locked you up at night.) Second, the cats would meow and cry all night. Again, not a solution to the issue. 

The site recommended that you get them their own bed. (Ok, I can handle that) and let the cat sleep in your bedroom but not WITH you. They will know you are there, without having to be all over you.

Anyone else having an issue with a kitten/cat sleeping with you? Do you have any other ideas?


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## Ducman69 (Aug 28, 2010)

go4me77 said:


> I'm willing to try to change their behavior, but worried it won't help. I've had other cat owners tell me "lock them in a room at night" but I don't think that will help them or us. First of all, I think that's just inhuman. (think of how you would feel if someone locked you up at night.)


Does a goldfish mind its fishbowl? Probably not.

Cats are not human and don't think like humans. Many cats live very happily in small rooms, and its even recommended when bringing a cat to a new home. My coworker's cat lived in his master bathroom for about a month before he felt like expanding his territory.

I'm having issues with mine as well, as they like to nuzzle in between my legs or right up against my chest or back, which renders me immobile, heh. 

I've kept them locked out without much fuss. If the kitty is meowing at the door, just purchase a SCATTT (think thats the spelling) motion sensor air spray. It merely startles them, but cats hate to be startled and to them its a magical keep-away force that isn't associated with you and they'll avoid the area and not attempt to bug you.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

I don't have issues with cats sleeping with me as long as they don't excessively groom or play. If they are sleeping/resting, all is fine. If they are too active and disturb my sleep ... OUT of the bedroom they go! They adjust.


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## antigone21 (Jul 7, 2010)

I set up my cat's bed on the other side of my bedroom door which is kept closed. She used to sleep with us but sometimes started to play under the bed and kept us awake. It took a couple of nights to adjust, she would scratch under the door. The trick is not to give in and open the door and they will soon understand that scratching leads to nothing. She now happily sleeps on her bed (which is an old pillow covered by a cute kitty blanket) right next to our door and has the freedom to go play if she wants to. When we open the door in the morning, she has the right to come in and cuddle in the bed for a couple minutes. Sometimes we even leave the door open but she doesn't come bother us anymore, she stays on her little bed!


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

My cats start out sleeping with me, but some mornings, like today, they get booted out in the wee hours if they get too restless.


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## Jess041 (Jul 6, 2009)

My cat starts out sleeping with me, but sometimes she leaves because _I'm_ moving around too much!

Sometimes she'll try to play in the middle of the night with her toys and bring them up on my bed.. but I just take them away from her and she'll stop. When she was a kitten and she would try to play when I was trying to sleep, I would put her in the bathroom (connected to my room). She figured it out after 2 or 3 nights.

Lexi has a bed that she sleeps in when she gets tired of my tossing and turning. It's also where she naps during the day because I set it by the window. Keep in mind that even if you buy a cat bed.. that doesn't mean your cats will sleep in it!


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## Chieftain (Jul 1, 2010)

My cat Marley HATED his bed. I rubbed catnip on it and everything and when I went to show it to him, his paws touched it and it was a reaction like "Ew this feels nasty."

He'd rather sleep on the coffee table or my desk chair. We've had him for about half a year now and he's always had access to our room. He might come up to snuggle but he'd rather be on the chairs, and when he gets restless we just lock him out of the room. Only had to do it once, he complained for a couple of minutes maybe. 

Considering they're young and there's plenty of them I think they'd be fine free-roaming the house if they bother you too much at night, might whine a bit but they'll keep themselves entertained after a bit.

Good luck!


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I actually wish my cats would sleep with me, but they choose not to, because I spoiled them early in life. When Muffin was a baby, she would sleep under my bed (she was fearful and used to hide a lot). To convince her to stay more out in the open, I put a small cat tree beside my bedroom window, and she’s slept in the tree since the day I bought it. When I adopted Abby, she wanted to sleep in Muffin’s tree, and poor Muffin ended up back under the bed (the tree only accomodates one cat). So, off to the store with me for another small cat tree, which now sits at the other side of my bedroom window. The girls rarely sleep anywhere else.


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## Sinatra-Butters (Aug 9, 2010)

The only time my kids get kicked out of my room is if they are wrestling or Sinatra is crawling on my face at 5am because he wants some treats. Nutmeg doesn't sleep with me because my bed is Sinatra's territory. I wish she would though, I would love to have both of them sleep with me! I love cuddling up with Sinatra at night, I would be sad if he stopped.


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## BarkingPup (May 16, 2009)

Both my cats sleep in my bed when they want to; not necessarily when I want them to. I can't lock them out of my room because I have no door so I'm kinda stuck. 

I don't know why they usually opt not to sleep with me. Maybe I move too much? I learned to sleep through their playing pretty quickly and it usually doesn't get me up anymore. I just ignored their crying and they got the hint pretty quickly. Um... yeah, I would definitely miss my morning alarm-clock via cat in the face if I locked them outta my room ,tho. ^^


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## KKdaniels (Aug 23, 2010)

Emma, my youngest of 10 or so weeks, sleeps with me every night, usually across my neck, on the side of my face, under my arm, etc., LOL!!! At first I was scared I would roll on her, but I guess I didn't, or maybe I was so nervous that I didn't move all night. That's more likely the case! She's easing away from the neck so much now as she's getting a little older and is feeling more comfy about things, but she still LOVES to snuggle close. I love it too! She's an angel. Now, when she's older and she starts her shananigans, I may just politely close my door. We'll see about that. But I agree that if that's the decision you make, they should do just fine after a little getting used to it.


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## go4me77 (Jul 16, 2010)

Thanks for all of the replies! We have a door on our bedroom and bathroom, but neither are plum enough to close fully. So locking them out is an issue (all of the doors are this way, Other than the 2 main doors). The cats have begun sleeping in different places now, not always in our bed. Some days, they will sleep on the back of the recliner for hours or under the bed. I can try these tips and see what works. Again thanks for the replies!


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## ragdoll (Aug 30, 2010)

Hi, im quite new to having cats and when we brought Shadow home he was so little i set up his bed in our room. The frist few nights he slept in the room but not on the bed then he started to take himself downstairs. His bed is now on the landing outside our room and sometimes when i was up with the baby in the night he wanted to come in the room and play, i just shut him out it didnt take long for him to understand and now he wakes up but stays in his bed and doesnt try to get in room.

He also understands that i dont mind him sleeping with me on the bed when my hubby is working nights, i have no issue with him wanting to come in when hubby is off nights. Once you set the rules they are quite good at following them, i have found anyways xx


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## candes (Sep 10, 2010)

Who wouldn't want a set of soft paws around their neck at night? :cat3 I say leave them in bed with ya if that's what they like.


> The site recommended that you get them their own bed.


What, is Dr Spock writing about kitties too now? :lol:


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## RachandNito (Nov 21, 2008)

When I sleep, I like to drape a floppy pillow across the top of my head at night, to cover my eyes. Of course, this is where Nito chooses to sleep every night. Eventually I roll and he settles onto the pillow next to me and around 5 or 6 AM he's awake, watching for signs that I'm gonna wake up. The moment I do he starts mrowling and being obnoxious, and usually gets kicked out of the room to go annoy my roommates. :twisted:

Cinder wants to be under the covers, and she's a very good at cuddling. I move around a lot at night but it's never ever been a problem.

I'd be sad if my cats didn't sleep with me at night! I don't even mind the random games they play some nights, when they get the crazies. It's a rare occurrence, and it's pretty funny.


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## Jack&Harley (Nov 2, 2008)

All three are bed sleepers here, Jack rarely sleeps with us at night though, he prefers to not have people in his way. Pepper sleeps in bed every night without fail and won't budge from her spot, unless you move her. Harley sleeps right up next to you, but if you start to move he leaves.

I can't imagine them not sleeping in bed with us. They have beds of their own and use them during the day when they want to sleep alone, but at night they like sleeping with mom and dad.

Shutting them out of the room isn't an option. Jack will cry and scratch at the doors. He feels it very important to be able to smack me in the face as soon as my alarm sounds.

Leslie


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## Ducman69 (Aug 28, 2010)

What about cat beds UNDER the bed? 

They can feel safe and secure there, they can still hear you and know you're right there, and no concerns about getting in each other's way or kicking/squishin' em during the night. 

With my kitties I just got little soft blankies for on top of their bed and rubbed it all over them and all over me so it would have our mutual stank on it, and I flopped em on it when they were already sleepin and from then on they liked it. Perhaps try that as a good compromise. :smile:


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## katlover13 (Apr 15, 2008)

All of my cats can choose to sleep with me or not. We have several cat beds around the room that they sometimes prefer. Ray always sleeps right between my husband and I. He even has his own little pillow.  (Not spoiled much)


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## Leanne2112 (Aug 13, 2010)

Catherine sleeps on the bed with us and is usually no trouble but seems to LOVE my foot space so I usually end up contorted really uncomfortably to avoid disturbing her. 

On the other hand though, Timmy sleeps in a room on his own. I know that sounds harsh but that's how he's always been. He came from a foster home (he was fostered by an amazing woman from the shelter when he was tiny because of his health problems and he was very very nervous) and that was his routine there so we tried not to disturb it when he came to us. We have let him stay up a few times but for one thing he's a foot pouncer so you could be half asleep and then be attached! Another thing though is that he doesn't seem to know what to do when he's not in bed and we are, he usually ends up going into his room himself and sleeping there. It might be a bit of a wrench putting your cat straight from sleeping in your bed to sleeping in a room by herself but it could be best for you both.


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## mimitabby (Apr 20, 2010)

I would suggest you fix one of your doors. SOmetimes for the cat's safety it's good to have a place to enclose them.


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## Auntie Crazy (Dec 10, 2006)

All six of my cats sleep on the bed (although not usually all at once). Most of the time I like it, but Spencer and Ralph take turns sleeping on my pillow and that can sometime be a problem.

For one, Spencer never ever simply gets up and moves away. No, indeed. He LEAPS UP like SATAN HIMSELF just stabbed him in the butt with a red-hot poker and STREAKS off the bed and out the door. 

You can imagine what that does to my heart rate. :?

Ralph, on the other hand, slowly creeps forward until he's literally nose to nose with me, wraps his soft, warm paws around my neck..., and then proceeds to lick the top layer or two of skin off my nose. 8O

I can't bring myself to lock them out of the bedroom, but I'll be the first to admit I'd probably sleep better if they weren't keeping me company. :lol:

AC


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## manekineko42 (Aug 30, 2010)

My cat's hip surgery makes it impossible for him to jump up onto the bed with us, but when we lift him up to join us he's totally disinterested. His favorite place to sleep, believe it or not, is his cat carrier, which we leave next to the bed. When he goes in there, he sleeps very soundly until someone stirs too much in the bed.

I'm glad he's really happy with the cat carrier because it's really easy to get him in there for vet visits but sometimes I wish he wanted to sleep on the bed! Oh well.


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## Kelly0900 (Sep 13, 2010)

Ducman69 said:


> Does a goldfish mind its fishbowl? Probably not.
> 
> Cats are not human and don't think like humans. Many cats live very happily in small rooms, and its even recommended when bringing a cat to a new home. My coworker's cat lived in his master bathroom for about a month before he felt like expanding his territory.
> 
> ...


I do the same, I lock mine out and they cope just fine, normally without clawing the door and such however it has happened, and normally lasts quite a while. This only happens with one of our cats, but this is normally when she's in a hyperactive mood. :kittyturn


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## MEOWx4 (Apr 22, 2009)

I love having my kitties sleep with us, I actually have a hard time falling asleep if at least one of them isn't in he's with us. Every night Scruff sleeps above my pillow, i actually scoot further down in my bed to give him room.


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

I wake up every morning bent like an S or something from trying to lie around her in my sleep. Its amazing how every night I start off in the middle of the bed with her on the side and wake up with her lying smack bang in the middle of the bed and me pressed against the wall.


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## Ducman69 (Aug 28, 2010)

faithless said:


> I wake up every morning bent like an S or something from trying to lie around her in my sleep. Its amazing how every night I start off in the middle of the bed with her on the side and wake up with her lying smack bang in the middle of the bed and me pressed against the wall.


Better than me.

Even though they are learning to sleep in their own bed, occasionally I wake up to a "yelp" now and then from a squished kitty in the middle of the night. Luckily my memory foam mattress has a crazy soft topper.

Me 200lbs.
You 6lbs.

I win, you move.


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## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

Miu doesn't sleep with me at all. She prefers to go play in other parts of the house or sleep on top of the dresser where I laid out a blanket bed for her. 

There's only a couple of times where she'll opt to sit around with me for a while on the bed, but she's never slept there. Lately, she's taken to hunting my feet through the blankets and she's 'caught' my foot a time or two. That resulted me locking her out of the room for the morning because she bit down hard enough to hurt quite a bit.


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