Little One likes a baby-sitter

So far it seems as though my Little One, aka new mommy, will only eat or leave the box if my daughters or I are there to "babysit"! This is so sweet, but I am worried if she is getting enough food for the babies. (Temporary names for babies are "Butty" short for butthole because "he" keeps trying to climb back in, Junior because he is identical to one of my other cats, Fidget and Widget because one moves a lot and Widget rhymes) Anyway, do other mommies do this? She lets us pet and sometimes hold them, but she is a bit on edge when we do. We are only really allowed to do this if she is on a coffee break. Curious how the other new mommies are acting.

I introduced 2 of my older cats, at least I let them in the room. The reaction was about what I expected. One hisses like mad, the other growls. Mostly they act like they are scared of Little One and the babies, but they have made no threatening moves. I feel bad for them though because they are used to sleeping in our room at night but now they can't.

no one can say if their cat does this too?

She must really trust you guys If the other cats are normally in that room she may still smell them and not feel comfortable leaving the babies unattended. She may know that you will protect them, that is great. I would make sure that the other cats are not allowed in the room for a few weeks and she will be comfortable enough to venture out on her own. Maybe in the mean time you can move her food right outside her box so she doesn't have to go far.

Is her food close by? Then she wouldn't have to leave the bubs, you could put it in the pen with her.

The food and water is about 2 feet from the box. She just really likes us to watch them while she eats. Now, I wouldn't do this without close close supervision, but yesterday I let the "Daddy" (who is still unfixed) in to see the babies. He is the only one who didn't hiss or react in any way. In fact, he looked at the babies, looked at Little One and then went over to eat the kitten food (guess it is better tasting than adult cat food). Don't worry, he is not allowed near her without me there to make sure nothing happens. (should be getting fixed in the next 2 weeks hopefully!)

I've heard that dad cats can tell, by the smell or something, if the kittens are theirs. Maybe that's why he didn't freak out about them.

I guess you could say I babysat the litter that I ended up bottlefeeding (not mama cat's fault; she was HBC), while mama cat squirted out the later kittens.

My Chilsa liked kitten food too, when I had it for Squirrel and Panther. I think it's made to taste extra good so that kittens who aren't so sure about this "chewing" thing yet will try it. He'd come back from three weeks away and looked like he hadn't had good hunting--I mean, he was scary skinny--so being fed up fast like a kitten didn't hurt him any. I transitioned them all to indoor cat food after a few months though, once the kittens were close to their full size; I just couldn't afford it, and Chilsa was getting too chubby.