# My kitten won't stop kneading my neck at 3 am!!



## ktcoop (Aug 24, 2007)

It's like clockwork. No matter what I do...I feed her late at night, before we go to bed. I play with her so she gets tired out...or so I think. But every single night at 3:30 in the morning, she starts kneading my neck and nuzzling my face and sniffing my mouth and just will not sit still and go to bed.  It's cute and all, but I can't get any sleep!

She's about 4 months old and still a kitten, so I'm sure she's just getting used to everything (esp b/c she used to sleep at a shelter)....but does anyone have any advice to get her to stop?


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## Janice (Jan 12, 2007)

Yep... get her another kitten friend !!!  :wink:


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

What worked for me is maybe not what you or most people would want to do, but when my cats bothered my sleep, I shoved them off the bed. Every time. Now, the reason I think this worked is because they want to be on the bed, and they learn that if they're going to stay there, they have to not disturb me. But these were adult cats; I don't know if this works for a kitten.


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## Woodsman (Jan 9, 2007)

My cat used to like to walk on my face in the middle of the night. Finally I just starting giving her a big 'ol hug when she did that. As soon as she started to struggle I let her go. 

I would try this if your cat is the biting/scratching type or scares easily, but it worked for me.

Also, my cat has absolutely no fear of me, so it really only annoyed her enough to back off my head. Occasionally she would even snuggle in, which is fine with me.


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## Nini (May 6, 2007)

How long have you had her? When I adopted Mew and Isis, at four months old, Mew would wake me up in the middle of the night purring up a storm and chewing on my fingers (an interesting display of affection that she hasn't totally given up on)... I would push her away saying NO, to no avail. She stopped on her own after a month of staying with us. My guess is she was probably overwhelmed by the new circumstances, and trying to get situated. Maybe that's what is going on with your kitty if she was recently adopted. I would definitely get her a friend if your budget will allow it though... my cats are a lot less needy than most single cats I have ever known. They play, snuggle, sleep together... it's wonderful to watch, and a lot easier on us :wink:


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## Bethany (Jul 19, 2006)

I'm in the throw them off the bed camp, myself. If that doesn't help, they get thrown out of the room. If they get thrown out of the room night after night, I stop letting them in at night until seeing Stormy staring at me through the closing door with her big orange eyes makes me too guilty and I start letting them in again.

I don't know if they're growing up or just learning, but it seems like every time they're re-allowed into the room after being shut out at night for a few weeks, their behavior gets better. I wonder if they're catching on that their presence in the room depends on not waking me up in the middle of the night. The last few times Stormy woke me up I was like, "Go away, Stormy, it's not time to get up yet... oh, wait, it IS time to get up..."


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