Any tips for teaching a 1.5 year old to be nice to our new kitten? He’s 9 weeks and she keeps picking him up by his throat and pushing him out of the way. I’m worried she’s going to hurt him…
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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. https://answers.mamasuncut.com/t/how-to-teach-a-toddler-to-be-nice-to-a-kitten/18878
Monkey see, monkey do.
Show them how to be nice.
How to handle it.
Keep kitten away unless supervised. Its an adjustment and littles get excited and don’t understand, same with animals. Be patient and soon enough the kitten will loose its appeal.
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When he scrachts her she will be nice
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I would tell her no thank you ouchie and show her the correct way to pick up the kitty. Every time you see it take kitty away and show her the right way and let her try. Def make it known that is ouchie and will hurt the kitty and we want to be nice to the kitty
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Keep the kitten away from him! Closely supervised visits only.
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Kiddos learn by watching what others do
So maybe try showing how to be nice careful and gentle with the kitten 
i had to show my babies how to be nice to cats when we had cats but the cats were not kittens they were older but she was gentle my son being 9-10months at the time was not but the cats respected that he was a baby n didnt smack him or anything which was amazing
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Our children quickly took to one of our key phrases. If you don’t want it done to you, don’t do it to someone else, whether it be a person or an animal. Be very consistent and never laugh it off. You don’t want them to think it’s a game.
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Correct her, repeatedly.
Keep them seperated as much as possible if you aren’t in the room.
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My 3 cousins (girls)…grandparents lived on a farm and all the girls would pick a kitten up by the neck or tail and carrybit…looked like it was being strangled lol. Once the kittens and cats had enough the girls learned. Now farm cats have more urge to defend themselves then an inside pet but it will happen
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Have you showed him the proper way to pick it up and/or hold it? If he can’t tell him that he can’t touch it until he can be nicer. Make him stay away. Never laugh at something he does to the kitten, cuz you never know when you’ll be caring for scratches??
Tell the baby to be gentle and show them how to move the kitten gently and carefully. Kids learn corrected behaviors easily, so you just have to stay vigilant and let them know that it hurts the kitten.
Get rid of the toddler!
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You shouldnt have gotten a kitten 
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I would be like no, easy, nice touches…repeat repeat repeat…she will get it. I would hold the kitty first and show her then you help her until she gets the hang of it.
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Stop the child. Those murder mittens are nothing to play with. Got my cornea scratched while playing with a kitten. A toddler can’t control themself. Neither can the kitten. Keep them separate unless you are able to referee diligently
First dont put the kitten in danger it could get injured, if it did would you be able take it to a vet at 300 plus dollars. Just let the baby see the cat while you are present and paying close attention, then model the behavior you want to see , if baby is mean to the kitten then put kitten in it’s safe place or put baby in play yard and say if you cant be soft and nice you cant play with the kitten .
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Only while supervised, with you sitting with your toddler, you hold the kitten and help your child touch it gently, while saying that to your child.
“Be gentle. Let’s pet her/him nicely, be gentle.”
Make sure to correct your toddler when kitten is miss treated. Tell your toddler no, and redirect to the desired behavior.
Try that for short lessons.
And ALWAYS keep your kitten in a safe area/out of reach where your child can’t get to it if you can’t supervise them together.
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I’d honestly just rehome that poor kitten…your toddler isn’t ready for an animal yet obviously
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Keep showing proper way to pick up kitten and hold them show how to hold and be nice
Never leave them alone and correct every time the kitten is grabbed. If the kitten fights back that’s a good thing. It’s not big enough to really do damage but it will hurt and that gets the babies attention.
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Teach her.
They literally don’t know anything unless we teach them.
I was very dramatic when I taught them how to handle a puppy. I told my little one that if he grabs him by the throat the puppy will start to suffocate and I showed him dramatically how one suffocates and told him that then it’s death, as in no more puppy cuz you held him by his throat. The throat is delicate. Put importance on that and show him his throat and tell him if someone squeezes him he’ll stop breathing too. Soooo, safe to say he even taught his baby brother once his brother had to learn the same lesson . It’s never too early to tell kids the real consequences of actions.
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If the kitten is treated this way often enough you will end up with a grown cat who’s behaviour you won’t like. Keep your child away from the kitten. It’s a baby. It doesn’t need to be abused . If you wouldn’t do it to your child then don’t let it be done to a kitten
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Just gotta keep repeating to child to be gentle and show child how to be.
I’m still teaching my 16 Mo to be gentle with our kitten and she’s slowly getting there. I don’t let her hold the kitchen but if she manages to get a hold of her I just grab the kitten off her and say no gentle and put the kitten away for a while.
Just make sure you supervise your child around the kitten as the kitten may also try to scratch or bite to escape the grasp. So always supervise while kitten is around child and never let child hold kitten for long if child is grabbing the wrong way.
There’s honestly nothing wrong with having a baby animal around a child this age. How else are they suppose to learn how to treat animals? I’ve always had animals around my kids since they were born and my eldest managed to be able to learn from a young age on how to treat animals especially when babies so if I can manage to do it then so can you.
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You should never try to give a pet to a child until they’re at least five they just don’t understand
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Keep the kitten away from the toddler until the kitten is bigger.
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Consistency is key. Always always keep tot supervised while around the kitten.
Correct you babe on how to gently pet. I taught my 1yo to pick kitten up with both arms scooping kitten around stomach leg area. Or made sure she asked for help.
I’m slightly appalled at some of these comments, it’s not like the parents are encouraging the child and cheering the child on to abuse the cat!! It’s a small child that is trying to learn how to carry its kitten. If you don’t have anything nice to say then be quiet!!
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Redirection, be a broken record, lead by example
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Practice proper way to handle the kitten with her favorite stuffed animal or doll. Be very dramatic when she handles it improperly and say OUCH!!! Then pretend to cry and tell her the baby is hurt. Then soothe the baby and gently cradle it correctly. Over time she will get it. Until then do not leave her unattended with the kitten.
If she mishandles the kitten then take the kitten away and when she asks for it, tell her kitty is hurting.
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My daughters the same age. I have 2 cats and everytime she’s mean to any animal I remove her from the situation, and show her how to nicely pet. Idk about your kid but just letting the cat scratch at the kid doesn’t always work. My kid is super stubborn and doesn’t seem to learn that way. She’s gotten a lot better by just putting her down everytime of moving her away from them.
I don’t usually advocate re-homing a pet, but the baby is too young to understand that the kitten can be easily injured. Please find a safe home for the kitten, and try again later when your child is old enough to understand your instructions on how to handle living things.
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I would keep them separate. Child could hurt cat and cat could scratch an eye. Let them play only when you can closely supervise and better if older
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Never leave the kitten alone with the baby. Be repetitive when you tell them to be gentle and help them when they’re petting it. Be consistent and keep kitten in its own safe place with everything it needs and plenty of play time with your full attention. They’ll be best friends before you know it but imo my older guys always take care of my little guy ! And I taught him to be super gentle around that age too so gl !
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Hold the kitten correctly …put the kitten in her hands and repeat …honey …be gentle…or kitty get an ouchie…speak so she can understand…hold her hand and and show her how to pet the kitten gently…practice…she’s learning…
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Teacher her… don’t let her harm him
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I have the same issue we show my son how to hold the kitten with nice hands
When the child does something inappropriate to the kitten, smack it (the child) very hard. Make very certain that it (the child) understands you don’t fuck with the cat.
I would show her how to play with the kitten gently. Even taking her hand and showing how. Also never leave her unsupervised with the kitten. And if she is till being rough I would then do a stern no that’s not how we do it and move her away from the kitten.
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For my son I grab his hand and guide him gently down my dogs and tell him gentle touches. If he gets rough I tell him remember gentle touches and show positive reinforcement when he does it correctly. Never leave baby alone w the kitty. Show baby proper way to handle cat over and over and over again until they pick it up.
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That’s how my niece killed the kitten I gave her and my sister. She promised to keep them separated, then her dumb ass husband let them play.
Those babies have no business playing together right now. Keep them apart unless under strict supervision.
You’re just gonna have to get rid of the kid
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Shaz Anne Castles read this crap
Keep the child away from the poor kitten
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I have 5 cats. Two of which are seniors now and we had a litter of kittens last July. My kids were 1.5 3 & 4 at the time.
We used gentle hands. They had to hold kitty gentle on their laps and weren’t allowed to carry them. Had to sit on the couch and lightly pet them.
Honestly I wouldn’t let her pick up the cat by herself this could lead to more choking. Instead sit her on the couch or chair and hold the cat for her showing her gentle pets. At 9weeks old you have to remember their nails are like little razors so she may be pushing the cat away because of that. You also don’t want the cat to have a freak out and scratch up her tummy, face or arms.
We got our son a cat when he was 1. He took the cat everywhere. Kid you not even in the bath. Cat was so gentle with him (I would not recommend taking it in the bath. But wherever that cat went he went/vice versa. Heck the cat even tried to come with when we had to go get his vaccines when he was itty bitty. (He’s my oldest now) but a cat will let you know when they’re uncomfortable. Watch for the signs. Don’t leave her unattended with it, and allow the kitten to have its own safe space so it can escape from your little one.
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All of you saying to re-home the kitten, no, you don’t just get rid of something like that. If they had a new baby and the child was being rough with it, would you just send the baby away to a new home? NO! You would teach the child how to touch and interact with the new baby. Same as you would with an animal. A young child can be taught how to properly handle a small animal. Repetitive behavior shown to the child by the parent, redirecting the child, and explaining on their level, and they will get it. I doubt that this Mom is letting her child harm the kitten. She wouldn’t be asking for advice if she didn’t care. Y’all crack me up. You don’t just get rid of something, you work on the problem until it’s fixed.
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Too young for the moment for the kid to be around the cat right now. Unless you’re holding it and letting them pet it, keep them separated until they’re both bigger and the cat and help teach him her boundaries. Animals have boundaries too. When the cat is a little older and can let when he doesn’t want to be touched or what’s to be, he’ll approach and whatnot. Especially when the cats maybe a year or two they’ll definitely understand the kid is rough but I still wouldn’t leave them alone together until your kids a little older and you can see he understands what hurts them because that’s all it is. He just doesn’t know yet and he can’t quite learn like we do yet, so it will be a different way of teaching, and a lot more work but I think just keep introducing them and trying to use his hand to pet the cat in a “nice way” is a good start.
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the child is never to young to have a puppy or kitten in the home- the child will learn on there own what they can and can not do to the kitten
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A few scratches and a little training for both kitten and child might help.
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Gotta be very careful being they’re both so young. The kitten is fragile and the baby just won’t understand yet. I’d only let her around the kitten with supervision. Kids eventually learn especially when they get scratched. Babies know NO … so just keep working with her they’ll survive lol
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Be patient, and keep extra close eye.
Don’t let the kitten near kiddo till they can learn… I had to deter my son from the cats till he was around 2yrs old.
She IS going to hurt your kitty. Which is what she’s doing now by picking it up by its throat. Do not leave her alone with your fur baby.
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I know a baby that killed a pit bull puppy holding it by the neck, not his fault momma should have been watching him
Try getting a little plush cat around the same size and use that to try and teach bub how to hold it, how to pat it etc. Small kids like that just don’t understand how fragile other beings can be. Giving them a decoy for a few days might be safer for the kitten until bub learns you have to be gentle
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It takes time, my daughter was the same way pretty much until we actually had pets of our own then she learned they have feelings just like her.
Can you hurt a cat ??? Lollol
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Teach the child… being soft. Kids learn what they see. Maybe get a stuffy cat and she can practice with that and you can hold kitty. They’ll get it, but it take a while.
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For God’s sake, you need to teach her. This is the reason I inherited a neurologically damaged kitten who will never be normal. The poor kitty was choked out by a toddler doing the same thing.
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Tell them firmly no when they are rough, and show them how they should treat the cat saying gentle hand or something to that extent.
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Just keep saying gentle and tell them off when they are rough. My daughter is the same age and she loves animals she knows what gentle is. My dog is big but sometimes my daughter try’s to play rough and I tell her no. And she either sits down or starts to be gentle again.
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I’ve taught my daughter that our cats have feelings too and it’ll make them sad if you’re too rough with them. Showing gentle strokes, telling her that she wouldn’t like it if someone did it to her. She’s almost 2, she’s now at that point where she’ll tell the cat sorry 
Just supervise in the meantime and keep teaching she’ll pick it up.
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It’s a Monkey see Monkey do kinda thing.
We have 4 cats but my 3 year old has had them in his life from beginning. They were my pregnancy project. We didn’t leave them alone and we did a lot of hand over hand interactions. We had several scratches. But now 3/4 will love on him. 1 has claimed him as his person. We still get a few scratches but it’s part of it. Our 8 month old is all over 1 of them. He continues to go back. And the cats get treats for any no claw reaction. So they both get rewarded. Our puppy is the same way. Treats for no growl. For the most part Our animals let them get away with murder. But we still remind the 3 year old gentle. They fight over sleeping with him and the baby. Both get excited to wake with a kitty. 1 cat let’s them put a diaper on him. We had to explain why we don’t do that. But also had to laugh because the cat laid there. No hissing no angry to it.
We’ve got a 5 year old male and our nearly 2 y old loves to pat him, but she’s not gentle, he’s gone for the swipe a few times. She’s started saying ‘nice nice’ now after a few weeks of us telling her to be nice x
You will get there she fully understands what your saying to her kids are sponges 
. X
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Only thing you can do is stop her everytime, and say and try to explain “you can’t hurt kitty, be nice, pet him/her” and take her hand and do a letting motion on the kitty with it… even then she’s not going to understand BC she’s so young, but that’s really all you can do. Make sure you watch her good around the kitty and stop her everytime BC if not she could potentially kill that kitty. My nieces mom didn’t watch my niece with their kitten they had years ago when she was little, and she literally strangled and killed it. So please if you can’t keep her off of it, do the kitty the favor and get rid of it and don’t have one until she’s able to not hurt it or be watched better with it so she doesn’t hurt it… Please.
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Jesus there are a lot of offended Karen’s in these comments lmao
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Never leave them alone. If you choose to get a kitten w a toddler then you must protect the cat from the kid.
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Don’t let her in the same room with the new kitten for awhile. She’s too young to get it. She will hurt him and probably make him mean trying to defend himself. She’s certainly hurting his feelings. I would probably re-home the kitten and try again with another one when she’s older. Maybe 3 or so.
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It was very important to me that I taught my toodler how to correctly pick up without hurting the animal as they are young they are going to want to pick them up even under supervision so I made sure my girl knew how to do it correctly and safely and have never had a single incident 
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First time that cat swipes her face with them sharp little kitten claws, kid finna learn then. In the meantime keep them separate and only let the cat be around when you’re there to supervise. Don’t get a pet if you can’t be mindful of it 24/7.
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Separate and supervise. And any time the child is around the kitten say it over and over be nice be careful be gentle. Anytime your child does these things immediately stop them saying something to the extent of no that hurts kitty etc. Kids are too young at that age to really understand why but eventually they will learn
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Say nice kitty and show them gently how to pet. Eventually they will get it. Tell them be careful and gentle its a baby just like u. We be nice to them. At that age u just gotta keep reminding them until they get it.
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Protect the kitten until it’s big enough to protect itself 
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You have to be mindful that at that age they don’t understand that the kitten is not a toy and that they have to be gentle, my friends little girl around the same age had kittens in the house and it was all fun and games until she decided to put them in the bath with herself and the kitten drowned
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She is too young to have a kitten
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I just got a kitten too. I have a 5yr old. Finally got it through to her that she’s could hurt him by picking him up from his neck. 
she “traps” him in her room I’m so worried for when I get him fixed. 
Repeat, repeat, repeat, show her how to be gentle over and over, and don’t leave them alone together. Every time you hold the cat show her how you are being gentle.
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Watch every second she’s around it. She’s too young for a kitten. In my opinion, you should have waited til she’s a little older to get one.
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Repetition. Keep showing her the right way to handle the kitten
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Keep them separate, and start having your child practice petting flowers, helped my kids learn their strength. Pets are not toys, please keep an eye on them both.
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She’s too young to understand. My 3 year old still needs to be watched with our animals. Not constantly but he gets rough. My daughter who is 5 understands. You have a few years before I would say, she will understand.
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Keep telling her and showing her with her hands how to be gentle. She will pick up on it.
My youngest love his kitty (she was older) so much she would eventually get sick of him. She swat at him a couple times. They will fight back if they’ve had enough.
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Don’t let kittens near baby. That’s how they do.
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Constantly sit with her and show her to be gentle and calm. My son has had kittens since he was a baby I’ve been telling him forever to be gentle and quiet around the cats. He’s really great with animals now and he’s 3. I’d just constantly give an example of how you should treat a cat and remind her.
She is too little and will hurt it accidentally. You can show a child over and over but just like when something is hot they don’t understand until they get burned themselves. Unfortunately they don’t comprehend unless they scratch them. I would definitely keep an eye on her bc she will kill it and not mean to!
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My two year old has been gentle with all animals since she was about 1. Shes two now and with all animals shes very gentle. Sit with her while you hold the kitten and you pet the kitten and just constantly show her how you do it . Mine just learned from watching us handle animals. Everyone blames the animal for attacking a kid but they never stopped the kid from jumping on dogs or being mean and pulling things attached to the animal. If you dont teach her shes never going to learn
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You keep saying gentle. When he does this you take the cat immediately and then demonstrate. But you need to come to the cats rescue every single time. When he holds the cat right or is sweet you say good job and rub his back so he understands he’s doing it right. 
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The cat is going to teach her a lesson. Pray it’s not too bad and don’t punish the animal. No, im not an animal lives over everything weirdo, swear… but animals are hard. Kids are hard. Put em together and it’s harder. The cat will eventually smack her. Claws or not. How vicious or not, you’ll find out.
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Try to keep them separate. Introduce them in small doses. You hold kitten and let baby gently pet. Repeat constantly to be gentle. Then after a few minutes put kitty away. Do this a few times a day. Baby will learn but it takes time. My sons almost 2 and he uses 1 finger to pet animals very gently.
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That kitten is gonna scratch her eyes out if you don’t separate them .your child is too young and thinks it’s a toy .
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Constant supervision if they are in the same room so you can correct her behavior with it “look how mommy pets gently”
See how I softly pet the kitty" you got this!
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Keep that cat away from the kid until she learns to be gentle. Not good for the poor kitty!
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She will hurt him. Shes too little to teach anything of that sort. Keep cat away from her. The end
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My son loves animals, but it took him a long time to understand boundaries. He has two big dogs that don’t care, but our little one gets pissed and fights back when he annoys her because she my dog. He always wanted to hold the kitten when we had her, and he didn’t understand why she didn’t want to be held all the time. She ended up running out the door one day and never coming back.
My daughter was the same way at that age. Adult supervision is advised.
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Don’t let her by him if she doesn’t understand or stop.
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Supervision at all times. I got a kitten last summer when my youngest was under 1, and middle was 2. They were kept separate until the kitten was about 3 months old (we got him at 8 weeks), then slowly introduced the kids to him, under supervision at all times, AND within arms reach of the kitten. Taught ‘gentle’ and ‘don’t pick up’, and showed them the correct way to pet him. Then when he was around 6 months old, my little one got a bit too rough and he scratched her. She learned her lesson and hasn’t done it since, but I think it’s so important to slowly introduce and show them how to treat animals, without giving room for any harm to the animal until they’re old enough to protect itself. A toddler could kill a kitten, easily. Especially a young one. Be very careful.
supervision and redirecting and also showing them the proper way to do it. (battling this with my 1.5 year old and our dog)
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