The work happens before the baby comes home
Cats cope with change they have had time to file as ordinary. Set up the cot, pram, and changing furniture early and let your cat inspect, sniff, and rub against them until they bore her, rather than unveiling a transformed nursery in the same week a baby starts crying in it. If there are rooms or surfaces the baby will use that you want her off, teach that boundary now, kindly and with an attractive alternative perch nearby, so the rule is never learned as a rejection delivered alongside the baby.
Play recordings of baby crying, gurgling, and squeaking toys at low volume while she eats or plays, raising the volume gradually over days. Paired with food and calm attention, those sounds stop predicting anything alarming, so the real soundtrack of the first night home is one she has already shrugged at.
Smell first, and keep her world intact
Before mother and baby come home, if someone can bring back an item of clothing the baby has worn for her to sniff in her own territory, she meets the new scent as information rather than as an ambush. On the day itself, greet her yourself first when you return, then let her approach the baby in her own time, from across the room if that is what she chooses. Never carry her to the baby, place her beside the cot for a photograph, or hold her down for an inspection; a cat free to leave is a cat who usually stays, sniffs the air, and wanders off unimpressed, which is the ideal first meeting.
Guard the parts of her life that matter most to her: her feeding times and place, her favourite sleeping spots, her hiding places, and some daily time with you that is recognisably hers. Most cat-and-baby problems are really cat-and-displacement problems.
Safety arrangements that stay relaxed
Keep the cat out of the room where the baby sleeps unsupervised; a closed door or a properly fitted screen door on the nursery achieves that without banishing her from the household's life. Keep her litter tray somewhere the crawling baby of later months cannot reach, and her food somewhere she can eat in peace. Wash hands after handling the tray and before handling the baby, and keep her worming and flea prevention routine current by talking with your veterinarian at her regular visits, mentioning the baby at home.
Supervise every close interaction in the early weeks, not because most cats mean harm, but because a startled cat caught by a sudden grab or cry can scratch before she thinks. A cat who hisses and leaves when the baby cries is communicating well; never punish it, since a cat punished for warning is a cat who may skip the warning next time.
When to ask for help
Most cats settle into ignoring the baby, then into supervising the baby, within weeks. Contact your veterinarian if she stops eating, hides continuously, toilets outside her tray persistently, over-grooms, or shows aggression that is new for her, since stress and illness can look alike and both deserve a proper look. A sudden behaviour change in a new-baby household is easy to blame on jealousy and miss a medical cause.
Share the routine with every helper
Grandparents, partners on night duty, and visiting helpers all need the same few facts: where she is fed, which room is her retreat, and that the nursery door stays shut. KinsLe's Family Sharing keeps your cat's routine and safe zones in front of every adult involved, so in the happy chaos of a new baby her care stays steady and she is never accidentally shut out of her own home life.