Letting kitten sleep with you or not?

I've been wondering and asking myself a question.

If you let the kitten always sleep with you (which I don't mind), is it going to be a problem when they can't? Say, if you require privacy in the bedroom with the door shut, or just want to have a good night sleep before a final and not being waked up every 2 hours.

I don't want to spoil them to the point they'll scream their lungs out when the door's shut !

If they sleep in the bedroom with you, they shouldn't be waking you every two hours. This is a privilege they earn by proper behavior.

The way I've always worked it is if they misbehave in the bedroom, they go out and the door is closed. Yes, we have to ignore any protests, but that's the only way it works. If we give in, they learn, "Oh, I cry for x amount of time to get what I want." Be strong. Losing a little sleep now is better than a lot of sleep later.

You need to leave the bedroom door open if possible, since kittens can't go for hours without a litter box, some food, or water. If they try to wake you up or play with things they shouldn't, they get escorted out (gently! because banishment is their punishment, and more than enough) and then the door is closed.

You can also teach them what bedtime means by having a play session. They are tired when they lie down to play. Now a snack and take them to bed for a calming cuddle session. Some very gentle petting, finding a spot for them, and keeping the lights off will help them get the idea.

Find a routine which works, and keep to it. At private times, give the kitten a treat and a toy in some other room before you shut the door on them. Then it becomes a distraction, and not a punishment.

i leave the door open just a little let them come and go, They have learned that if they wake me up, that i will lock them out of the room which drives them nuts.

Kittens sleep at night??
I know they like to poke human faces, race around, and generally be adorable little monsters.

Seamus has had free reign of the bedroom since I got him two years ago, and I've never had any major behavior problems. If he wants to play, he knows toys are out around the house. I never played with him in the bedroom. If he gets a little rambunctious, I yell at him and he leaves and sits at the door. I call him back in a few and he comes and lays down. For a long time he wouldn't sleep in the room with me at night, but now it's a nightly thing that he takes up a good half of the bed! He gets a treat in bed and lays right down next to me. He's so good he's even let me sleep in a little with this week off!

When we first got Sonic, he would wake us at 6am wanting to play - dropping toys on our faces and trying to poke our nostrils with his paw to wake us up! We modified his behaviour by completely ignoring him until we wanted to get up - even if that meant lying with the covers over our heads completely awake - and within 2 weeks at the most he had completely learned that whatever he did, nothing was going to come of it, and nowadays I usually wake him up when I get up in the morning.

Another tip is not to feed straight away when you get up - or they associate the 2 things and will wake you to try to bring breakfast forward. Potter about for 20 or 30 minutes getting yourself ready, and then play with and feed the cats - works like a charm if you're consistent.

My 2 are free to come and go from the bedroom as they please, while kittens can be a pain when they're young, they can be trained out of it and my boys are usually no bother.

Both cats sleep with me. My kitten knows that waking me up results in being kicked out. He doesn't like it. The way he cries you would think someone was killing him, but he knows in order to stay in bed with me, he has to be calm.

A friend sent me this video yesterday, and this thread seems an appropriate place for it. Anyone have a cat like this?

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/223...php?cl=4582999

that video about sums it up for my kitty