urchin

Hurray hurray, c'mon, was indeed Ganapati. Very happy and full of delicious food - we didn't annoy other diners too much and Jonah asleep by the main course and got to talk to each other. Lovely to see everyone today and hopefully catch up again next tues. L x

Hoping to be there too, but currently son number one bit poorly so not sure if he'll make it to nursery today, in which case will not inflict ourselves on you all, but hope to catch you next week. Great day for a birthday - going to demand an exchange! Lindsay x

Heading down after our follow up with Claire at kings - will be there as close to two as poss. Linz x

Ties afternoons great for me too, as my toddler is at nursery. Don't know what time suits most but earlier afternoon,about 1.30/2.00 would be great if poss to allow nattering time before I have to pick up said toddler from nursery at 4pm. Lindsay x

Hello, Another member of the tongue tie club here! Jonah's three weeks old now and I had been hoping to get out and about to meet winter babies people this week but trying to sort out our breastfeeding and trying to get Jonah a happier little person (we've also got thrush as well and reflux - a winning combination!)seems to have taken over a bit. Hopefully is all being tackled, having seen Claire Kedves up at Kings, we've got one more appointment and then going to be referred to Mr Patel for sniping as well, so on road to easier feeding. I hopefully can make The Gardens at 1.30 on Monday(may or may not have my 3 year old toddler in tow) and it would be brilliant to swap experiences/get some tips from Caroline and Louise and meet everybody that can make it. Would also be up for meeting another time - I'm toddler free on Tuesday and Wednesday so can be more flexible then. Lindsay x

Hello everyone, Sorry not to have posted for a while. I was very occupied with marching the streets, mainlining pineapple, acupuncture, pleading etc etc to try and persuade number two son to come and join us. Very pleased to say that 12 days after he was expected, Jonah Freddie was born at 5.09am on 24th February - so technically just still a Winter babies club. Very happy to finally be able to join you with a newborn and I'm really looking forward to meeting everybody. Just about feeling ready to get it together enough to be able to leave the flat and stumble about and will keep my eye on all the meetings to hopefully come and see at least some of you very soon. My toddler's at nursery on Tuesday and Wednesdays which I think is when quite a few of the toddler activities seem to be but I'll definitely try and come along to something, either with or without son number one in tow. Congratulations to all who have had babies recently and see you soon I hope. Lindsay x

Hello everyone, Sorry to say I'm a complete newbie to this thread, having been a very intermittent ED forumite (must try harder!). This is despite the fact that our second baby is due February 12th, so I would love to meet up with you all and get to know those with babies/bumps around the same age locally. My 3 year old is at nursery on Tuesday and Wednesdays so they are my ideal times to be able to meet for a natter. Otherwise if Monday is the day of a regular meet I'll try to pop along with him, but it can be difficult in a cafe as he's got severe food allergies, so monitoring him to keep him safe in conjunction with the normal toddler lack of sitting still ability can make conversation difficult! I'll keep an eye on this thread, and hopefully meet some of you very soon. All the best, Lindsay

Hey Sarah, Sorry it's taken a while to reply to your message. I'm a week away from having baby number two and sorting/organising as if nothing of the sort will ever be possible again! I'm a mum to a just turned 3 year old boy with very severe (anaphylactic) allergies to wheat, dairy, eggs and nuts - although through skin prick tests we recently have some hope that the milk and possibly egg is reducing. We discovered this during the weaning process when he was about 7 months old and have been looked after by the allergy department at Kings Hospital since. He also had eczema from about 10 weeks old but similarly to you this had cleared unless something specific triggers it. Although we have now thrown asthma into the mix! I completely understand how difficult you're finding it and have had many moments of hair tearing over the last three years, alongside the determination to stay positive with it, as we've tried very hard to maintain a balance of safety yet not wrapping him up in a bubble, making a big effort to try and do the same things non-allergic children do, although this can be pretty isolating when you have to maintain a constant vigilance instead of taking your eye off the ball and supping coffee and cake with the other mums. I have found one wonderful friend through an allergy forum who has a very similar little boy. However she lives in North London and it's sometimes hard to see each other as often as we'd like, so would be very up for meeting up with anyone going through something similar locally. Please feel free to get in touch if you'd like to, either through the forum or by phone - 07889 170515. Forgive me if you don't hear back for a while - it will mean I've had or am having our baby! - otherwise I promise to get straight back! All the best, Lindsay

Hi, Have just seen this and would like to throw my hat in the ring as well to both toddler/baby sessions. Have got a toddler and currently pregnant so both useful! Many thanks.

Hi, we have a two and a half year old son with severe multiple food allergies, asthma and mild eczema and would be happy to have a chat with you. Will send a pm with my details.

Are there any childminders or nannies out there, already looking after a child with food allergies, who may have room for one more? We are looking for a childminder or nanny-share (East Dulwich based) to look after our 2 year old son, for one or two days a week from January. He has a severe allergy (anaphylaxis) to wheat, dairy and egg, which means he has to carry an Epipen, so we'd be really keen to hear from anyone who has either looked after allergic children before, or is 100% committed to learning what is required (as we?ve just been let down by a nanny with whom he was very happy, because she was unwilling to do this). Our son is a very happy, loving boy, and to date the only time he has required an Epipen has been whilst in hospital where he was being tested to see if he could tolerate wheat. However, we are looking for a very special person who is confident they could give an Epipen if necessary and who has the ability to be calm, sensible and vigilant. If you are this person, or you know someone who is, we?d love you to get in touch.

Hi, I'd also vote for something in the afternoons - maybe 3ish, as there's very little to do after a naptime. In the morning, my son often sleeps around 9.30 for 45 mins so for us, an 11 0'clock class is better.

Gubodge, Thanku so much for your message. I so hope he can have soya so he can have some of the things you mentioned. It's reassuring to see there are treat foods out there because that was one of my worries, not being able to have the fun foods in life. You've saved me so much time with where to get them all, thank you again and I'll have a search for that recipe book you mentioned xx

Hi Fudge, thanks so much. Brilliant that your baby grew out of it. We've also found allergy team really good so far at Kings. They want us to try and introduce a formula called Neocate, I don't know if you're familiar with that? We haven't had a great deal of luck with is so far, which after we tasted it, didn't surprise us much as it smells and tastes vile. He took a bit when massively hidden with my expressed breast milk but they said it might be tricky to get him to take it after 6 months of age because he has had other nicer tastes and is used to my milk. They favour the hard school of forcing the issue with him, saying that if he's hungry he'll take it and to show him who's boss but we're very reluctant to do that at this point. There is so much that he can't have it feels a bit much to take away breastmilk he does like and force him to have something he doesn't like. I guess it's a very early stage in the journey though and if the blood test results show him tolerant to soya we'll have other options. Aiming for chin firmly up! x

Thanks Ko. I was hoping he might be able to have goats milk but they said he couldn't because in almost all cases of cow's milk allergy goats is also a problem. They did say he might grow out of the milk allergy though by the time he reaches school age but slightly less likely on other ones such as wheat. But we hope he proves that wrong! And I think you're right, there is much more awareness now so I'm sure we'll find supportive places for him.

Hi Fuscia, they didn't specify, just said was a milk allergy - but hopefully he'll grow out of it too, thanks for message.

Hi. Just got back from Kings after a wheat challenge(!) to which my seven and a half month old baby unfortunately had a positive reaction to. He went to casualty a couple of weeks ago with anaphylactic shock to a fromage frais yoghurt and has since had skin prick tests which showed him allergic to milk, eggs and possibly wheat (which was confirmed today). When a newborn he had to be fed formula through an Ig tube because he wouldn't feed and became hypoglacaemic but after a tough ten days managed to get him entirely on breastfeeding, which he has been exclusively fed on since, with the addition of baby rice/porridge, veg and fruit after 6 months. We are waiting for results of a blood test taken today which will show if he can have soya, fish and nuts (fingers crossed) and further down the track will be tested for other foods. Have to admit to feeling very forlorn - I'm devastated for him and hoping to find someone in a similar position and/or any encouraging stories.