May Kitten

[GrahamT]

Has anybody heard of the term"May Kitten".From a young age I was told that cats born in May would have a tendency to want to sleep on a baby's face and could suffocate it (this was back in the days when you could leave a pram with a baby unattendedinthe garde etc. with said baby sleeping) and this was one good reason for the net you put on the pram?

[Clare A]

Bit of a myth, this one. I have never ever heard of a cat suffocating a baby by sleeping on the baby's face. And why should a kitten born in May be especially disposed toward this behaviour? I think the fear arose because babies were thought to be attractive to cats by being warm and smelling of milk. It was a belief prevalent when I was a child in the '60s, but as I say, I've never heard of one single incident.

[GrahamT]

Thanks for that. I'd  almost forgotten about the term until my newly adopted stray cat started wrapping itself around my neck to sleep with it's face as close as it can get to mine - quite sweet but very noisy!

[elleroo]

When my grandad was growing up, his mother had a baby girl. one day she was left in the backyard sleeping in her pram and their family cat did suffocate her by laying or sitting over her face. :-(

[Robinia]

How awful for your great-grandmother elleroo.

Yes Graham I put my sons in the garden in their pram but always had a net - to keep out bees etc as well as cats.

Many years ago my husband had gone to take our babysitter home after a night out when I heard one of my sons calling.  As I went upstairs I heard him say 'Katie's here (neighbour's cat) and she's whispering in my ear!'  She must have sneaked in when we came home & luckily he was old enough to wake & find it funny.

[silly moo]

Two answers.
There is an old saying 'all may kittens should be drowned at birth'.
I think it's something to do with the fact that a kitten born in May will be mature enough to reproduce within that same summer, and so add to the feral cat population.
Used in a teasing manner to people born in May.

As to cats suffocating babies - I don't think that there is any documented cases of cats killing babies by sitting on their faces; HOWEVER a fully grown cat can and will curl up on a baby's chest ( warm & comfy ) and if the baby is tiny the weight of the cat has been known to stop the baby from breathing and so cause death.
Modern nets only stop insects, bees & wasps etc. An old fashioned cat net should be used as well if you can get hold of one.