How To Get Kitten To Sleep

[tigger99]

I recently adopted a kitten and he's the biggest sweetheart. It's just that when I go to sleep, he won't bother me for about an hour or two and then once it hits 2 or 3am, he decides to head butt me and playfully bite my chin and walk all over me and maybe sleep on my back. It was cute at first but most days I have to wake up super early and I need all the sleep I can get. I made a little bed for him in his carrier with a thick soft blanket and he likes being in there but if I try to put him back, he'll just come back on to my bed. I might be to blame since I've been leaving the door closed, so he can get adjusted to where his food and litter box is, so I'm thinking about leaving my door open tonight so he has access to most of the house and can find somewhere else comfy to sleep or to just explore and tire himself out. Not sure what to do. Any tips would be great.

 

[susanm9006]

I would first add an additional litterbox and feeding station somewhere else in your home. That way you can not only allow the kitten to explore but you can also shut him out of the bedroom when he starts to pester you at night. You start by telling him no and setting him on the floor. If he comes back and starts in again you repeat and if that doesn't work you shut him out of the room. He will likely howl, scratch and pitch a fit outside your room. But he will eventually figure out that unless he is quiet, he isn't allowed to stay in your room.

 

[danteshuman]

I agree with Susnm9006 ....... I would add blowing on his face with a big PUFF of air when he gets near your face when you are trying to sleep. That usually stops the face attacks withing 2-3 times Sadly you have to train your cat to let you sleep. When you feel your will power wavering, remember he will live 15-20 years. Do you want to be woken up every night for over a decade? No? Then consistently kick his cute fury but out when he wakes you. If he throws a mega tantrum outside your door every night, put him in a spare bedroom/bathroom. That way he can't rattle your door and hopefully you will sleep better.

 

[RosesNoThorns]

Three things: tire him out before bed and get him on a feeding schedule with his last meal right before you go to bed as well...and the last one is the hard one.

Ignore him. Honest to god.
Don't get up, don't engage, don't blow on his face, just literally play dead and roll over/go back to sleep.
Yes it will be hard. Yes he's going to persist (and maybe even get more annoying at first---extinction bursts are a thing!) but eventually he will give up and get into the routine. It may take two weeks, but you need to stick with it and remember that your reward will be 15-20 years of sleeping at night.
You need to let him know that short of the house being on fire you will not move/pay attention to him/feed him until it is time/the signal is given. If you have an alarm clock he can come to associate that with 'oh! the human is waking up so now I can eat/play/get attention' so it will be the signal.

It is true he needs to be taught to let you sleep, but you also need to set him up to succeed---if he's bored/has excess energy or doesn't know when his next meal is or has access to food constantly so he's not getting into that 'hunt/play, eat, groom, sleep' rhythm he's not going to be receptive to you attempting to teach him that no, harassing you at night isn't going to get him anything and it's time for him to sleep.

You need to have all elements together to be successful. Burn him out (laser pointers, feather wands...get him running and jumping), give him a good meal and then turn in for the night and don't get up/react until it's actually time for you to get up.

 

[danteshuman]

Some people write that they ignore their kitten/cat and get bloody scratches from it. If you have the will power ignoring them works. I would just push mine off the bed if they bugged me and if they kept it up I kicked them out. (Now I found out you can injure them from pushing them off ... but yes I did the slow sweep with my arm or leg until they were off the bed.) I meant blow on them when they use their claws/teeth on your face/head. Or say ow/no & clap your hands.

 

[sydney]

I hiss at them if they do something I don't like when I'm sleeping, like biting at my hair or jumping on my face, and I ignore them when I'm in bed, even if I'm watching tv, just so they learn the bed is not a time to play. It's definitely working, no more hair biting and they are sleeping through the night more.

 

[ailish]

I recently adopted a kitten and he's the biggest sweetheart. It's just that when I go to sleep, he won't bother me for about an hour or two and then once it hits 2 or 3am, he decides to head butt me and playfully bite my chin and walk all over me and maybe sleep on my back. It was cute at first but most days I have to wake up super early and I need all the sleep I can get. I made a little bed for him in his carrier with a thick soft blanket and he likes being in there but if I try to put him back, he'll just come back on to my bed. I might be to blame since I've been leaving the door closed, so he can get adjusted to where his food and litter box is, so I'm thinking about leaving my door open tonight so he has access to most of the house and can find somewhere else comfy to sleep or to just explore and tire himself out. Not sure what to do. Any tips would be great.

I found that ignoring worked pretty quickly for my girl. I would also go completely under the covers until she either left or settled at the end the the bed. The key is absolute consistency. If it actually was mealtime I would wait until she stopped bothering me and then immediately get up and feed her. You just can't ever respond in any way to behavior you don't want.

 

[catlover73]

How old is your kitten? I adopted my now 10 year old Starbuck when she was only six weeks old. She woke me up randomly every 2 hours in the wee hours of the morning cleaning my face. She grew out of this phase fairly quickly. I also noticed that eventually she would climb under the covers and go to sleep. I got in bed a little bit earlier and watched tv with her grooming me. When I was ready to go to sleep I picked her up and put her under the blankets which seemed to help her settle down faster and stay asleep longer.

I also agree with doing a play session and a meal before bed time because this was helpful in setting up a bed time routine.

She has never woken me up as an adult even though she sleeps in our room every night.