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I don't think it's any different when I consult a GF book for tips on night waking than when I look at a Julia Child book to remind myself how to make a roux...... What I can say is I would like to BURN all of my Dr. Sears books, what a load of crap. If you don't co-sleep, exclusively breastfeed, and "wear" your baby for the first year you will have a fat dumb ABSO for an adult. Okay, but what if you have breatfeeding issues and a baby who will not co-sleep and hates being in a sling? His solution? Keep doing it, no matter how miserable it makes you and baby, keep doing it. Now there's some positive parenting advice. I'd like those first five months back please, Dr. Sears! I would take the realism of Gina Ford over that "in a perfect world at any price" nonsense any day.

We have the pesky issue of being bilingual...... in English! I am constantly having to correct myself when using Canadian vs British terms, and my poor kid has had to learn to talk at the same time that I'm learning my "second" language. We have two words for so many things, but I have to admit to feeling weird suddenly having new words for things I've always called something else. He's pretty good, he goes back and forth so hopefully he won't be the weird kid at school who sounds normal but says weird things! The kids at the snow hill the other day must have wondered what the hell a tobaggan is! And I don't care what my husband says, a toque is a toque, eh?

njc97 ......... seriously?

Just remember, one person will have baby/pram/baby bag, so the other person has everything else......... depends on how light you are traveling I guess, but I would rather eat a rotten sausage served in a dirty ashtray than put myself through that.::o If you can't get a lift, for the love of God, take a cab. Life's too short.

Or if you are feeling really adventurous........ try "Bag Balm". Just google bag balm uk (I suck at posting). It's veterinary grade balm for cow udders etc.. It's amazing. If you remember dry cracked nipples from breastfeeding one baby, imagine what happens to a poor cow's nipples! edited to add: I'm not suggesting you put it on your nipples! (Unless of course you feel like it, then fill your boots!). Just that if it can soothe those poor cows then think of what it can do for your sad old mommy hands.

No it hasn't, because other countries have the same issues and somehow cope. I'm sick of hearing about how the NHS has more to offer than other countries, based on the constant comparisons to ONE country that we all know has issues with healthcare. But there are plenty of countries with socialized medicine who are coping quite well, so don't you dare accuse those of us who are interested in preventative medicine and TRUST science as being the "worried well". I do not abuse the system at all; if anything I'm very under-served. And the very few times I ask for something of a system which is supposedly so wonderful I get treated as if I'm asking too much. Am I to understand that expecting anything at all of this system is too much? Canada has managed just fine and you know what? There is NO private option at all! The entire country relies on the same public system. All medicine there is public....... and yet they have somehow figured it out. AND they do a seasonal flu vaccination every year. How oh how do they manage?

I would ask your neighbors, all of them up and down the block, to have a look in their front gardens. When we were burgled the f%%ker threw all of our bits and pieces in some bushes down the road. The postman found it and did a bit of detective work before returning it to us (including wallets and passports thankfully). Try all the bins as well.

That's not right. It was decided in November by the government that under five's would be next in line because they were becoming the highest risk group. We waited and waited, and finally in mid- December it became an issue when the doctors were refusing to give them due to the extra demands on the surgeries. Many were refusing until compensation agreements were in place. It had nothing to do with health and safety. We received a letter the other day inviting my son for his and will be having him done...... I don't know why this has become such a problem in the UK. Other countries have done it and moved on months ago. The reason people are getting so paranoid here is that there is so much chatter and misinformation, and so many people are paying attention to dodgy websites, that the science is getting mixed up in the banter. This is exactly why the measles came back to London. And why the NHS and get away with putting it off this long.

dbboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Please at least spell it properly its Honor Oak, > NOT Honour Oak Have often wondered why........

We came from a place with fluoridated water as well, so baby toothpaste there doesn't have any fluoride. When we moved here I was so worried about training toothpaste with fluoride that I had my parents send me loads of Canadian toothpaste. Felt a bit foolish when someone told me that there is no fluoride in the water and I had essentially cut all sources of it completely out of his day! Needless to say he's back on the wagon....... The dummy on the other hand..........

"Once they're old enough to reason"...... when exactly is THAT? :))

If you have stairs anywhere in your house I would really recommend a gate on their door. I always imagined my son sneaking through the house without my knowing it while I slept........ it's not easy being paranoid! But I wouldn't depend on it to keep your kid in bed. Mine would stand there, rattling the gate and screaming his fool head off until I thought I may very well lose my mind. Once when I decided to ignore his protests, I went to assess the situation when it suddenly got very quiet (generally not a good sound at our house) and found the poor little guy out cold on the floor next to the gate with his little arms still reaching through the rails. Break a mother's heart! I ended up doing the old routine of going up, putting him back in bed without saying anything, then walking away. Like on "Nanny 911" or whatever it's called. It only takes my son about three thousand repetitions for it to "take". At least he's consistent.

oh how terrible Sue! I'm sorry it turned out that way, but I can't help but think the production company must have SOME liability here. Probably good lawyers as well. I should also apologize for opening up what is obviously quite a painful can of worms. You looked so composed on the program, never would have guessed that it was such a mess behind the scenes. Goes to show you how unreal these shows are I guess. I think someone should start an online campaign: "Save Sues House!"

Yes, sorry, that's what is was. Mixed it up with another similar show. Lovely to put a face to a name! And your house looks fantastic! Too bad about the bathroom, hope you at least flush your toilet now! :) edited to say: It's a shame that it left you in such a bad state. They certainly don't add that part to the program. Makes you wonder how all the others end......

Shows I watched as teenager in the eighties coming back....... with the original cast now in the roles of parents and teachers.

Forgot to mention, my son was two when we switched, but had to because he was dive bombing out of the cot and we lived in fear of him breaking his neck in the middle of the night. If your child is not trying to kill themselves in the escape, then leave well enough alone I think. Life is hard, why change the little bits that make it bearable?

Honestly, keep them in that cot as long as humanly possible. In a giant gro-bag no less. Switching from cot to bed turned my good sleeper into a nightmare. And I had to work really hard to make a bad sleeper into a good sleeper, so even more insulting! And a year later, we have JUST finally got him back to bed at the time we want. I know there are plenty of children out there who easily make transitions with minimal stress to the parent, but with a newborn keeping you up half the night, do you really want to spend the other half chasing a two year old back to bed? We went straight to a normal sized day bed with a baby rail on the side. My son is a busy sleeper and rolls out of bed. We did have a toddler bed but he wanted nothing to do with it. But the big problem for us was that he could physically get himself out of bed........ over and over and over until mommy literally started to lose my will to live. I suppose there is no harm in trying, you can always go back, but small cots are so inexpensive that I would just get a new one for baby and let the two year old keep theirs as long as possible. Many people will say the opposite though, so depends on you and your kid. :)

Is that "Sue" on "Love it or Leave it?" right now on the telly? South London, works in folk music promotions, etc etc. It's 1:30 on some high channel, "Homes +1" or something. Right?

It depends on the airport, but I find Heathrow to be usually reasonable. Generally if it is in a sealed container, like a milk carton, they are fine. I have on occasion had to "sample" a jar of baby food, but otherwise they tend to be a bit more flexible with baby things. If you bring pre-mixed bottles of formula they will likely make you drink it. I would bring dry formula powder and sealed bottled water. They have plenty more water if you need it, and they won't take away powdered formula so at least you have something regardless. I also find the flight attendants to be quite nice about rinsing bottles under boiling water for you. To be honest it all depends on where you are and the person at security. I've had a different experience every single time. I have a feeling they will be a lot tougher at the Boston end though.

Have done it many times (not to Australia though) and can say that under one / not yet walking is easiest by far. Even if on solids, I didn't find that to be a problem we just brought a few jars and such and fed on the plane. Once walking, however, it becomes much more difficult not just on the flight but also in the airports....... they just want to go go go! We did learn early on to buy our son a seat even though he was under two. After holding a 20 lb. kid on your lap for 10 hours on an overnight packed airplane, we decided his tickets would be part of the price of our trip, simple as that. Even a baby is nice to put down if you can, and we rarely end up with extra seats around us so you can't really roll the dice on that one. And I could be wrong, but there is only one bassinet (or is it two?). Then again, in a million years I could not have made that trip with my son under several months.

From the "Big Book of Bad Mommy Advice"....... We have been trying to get our son to kick the habit forever. We now have it confined to the bed only, which at least eliminates the daytime habit. How? Well...... we now pay him to leave it in his bed. Just a coin, any coin (he doesn't know the difference). We make a huge deal about the coin and putting it in his little bank, and then every few days when at the shops we let him "buy" himself a little treat with his earnings. We have tried absolutely everything else but this is working so although I'm sure many people will think it a horrible solution, it's well beyond that so we're just thrilled to have any progress. Not sure how to get rid of the night time dummy but baby steps I say. It is also working for potty training. ;-)

EDKiwi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Not to mention in countries where snowfalls are > common people prepare and know how to drive in the > conditions, sitting there spinning your wheels and > revving the life out of your engine in first gear > on non-winter tires isn't something you see in > those countries. It's not all on the councils. > > Just watching the news now and everyone is moaning > 'why isn't my footpath clear', sure in priority > areas they should be, but in some countries it's > actually your responsibility to clear the footpath > outside your house, I don't think any place has > magically cleared roads and footpaths 24/7 in > winter. Do people seriously expect the council to > clear every single footpath overnight? Yep, in many cities you are responsible for your front path and pavement in front of your property. If it is not made safe within a reasonable time, you are fined. Not to mention the fact that if someone slips and gets hurt you are held legally responsible. There is often a version of "snow angels" as well. These are people in the neighborhood who help with the pavements of those who physically can't do it themselves. Most main roads are salted or sanded and plowed to keep things moving, but residential roads generally are not, and sometimes people wake up to a foot of snow or more. Does the city come and plow? Nope, the residents of the street start digging! There is a huge amount of public participation in the process because it is NOT possible to cope otherwise. That is what I don't see happening here. Good point about the street cleaners, of course snowier countries have vehicles that can be modified to perform different types of tasks. Even snowy cities can't afford to buy a bunch of highly specialized machines for what usually ends up being a handful of extreme days. Would it maybe be too much to ask for the government to at least ask around? See what the options are? Dealing with the weather can be expensive, yes, but I can't imagine the cost of England shutting down for a week every time it snows a bit!

Saskatchewan

SeanMacGabhann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > There is this idea that other countries are, like, > wizards at dealing with snow and stuff and that > Broken Britain is an embarrasment in comparison > > it's worth pointing out that large swathes of > North America for example were out of action > yesterday due to snowy weather - airports shut > etc. And they are more used to dealing with snow > than we are > > people localise it to silly degrees - on here > it's > > "the local council" or "Southwark council" > > on BBC London it's whoever's council > > On national radio it's Berkshire council > > When in reality it was a short sharp blast of > extreme weather that was not forecast at that time > - and people are too quick to point a finger. > > If the weather does get more extreme over the > coming years I would expect to see major > improvement in council responses but to suggest > this is indicative of the 2012 olympics is just > self-flagellation True, but when we are talking about being caught off guard there, it is not three inches of snow over four days. My parents recently had 17 inches overnight (not unusual) and the temperature dropped from -8 to -47 (-56 with the wind chill factor, which is important to add). There are plenty of days where you have chinook winds that warm everything up to 10 degrees and melt the snow, only to drop below -30 overnight and freeze the whole mess up. And yes, that can make for an interesting commute to work the next day. It doesn't happen often, but it WILL happen at some point to people are somewhat prepared for it. Soooooooo, when the BBC bangs on about "extreme weather condtions" and the country falls apart, one has to wonder why Britain has not learned to adapt to it's own particular climate? I've been here long enough to have seen it a few times, and at first it was charming but now it's just starting to be annoying. No, there is not much snow here. But there is plenty of sleet and winter means temperatures below zero, so why no expertise in dealing with freezing rain? Why do the trains shut down every time there is what I see as fairly typical British weather? This country should be world leaders in understanding weather and track interactions, and yet........ somebody please enlighten me, tell me I'm wrong, maybe I've missed something.....

I've never taken my three year old for a cut, don't have the nerve. I have always cut his hair myself while he's in the bath. He doesn't really even notice; a snip here and there once in a while to keep the back and sides looking presentable. Then I hose him off at the end of the bath. I have no idea what I'm doing, but on my list of things I need to do to feel like a proper mother putting us through the hell of a haircut is somewhere around the bottom. Plus I'm scared he'd lose an ear!