ryedalema

Oh please - make it something nice!!

Has anyone else noticed that the timing on the Kings Arms junction traffic lights has now changed? Either that or many more cars go through on red when crossing through the Rye into East Dulwich Road. I have to turn right (onto Peckham Rye)at those lights many times a day and it's getting more hairy negotiating a right turn before the traffic starts coming at you from both sides.

We just went to Gambado yesterday and I thought of you as we went down the slide. Our littl'un's old enough to go down the slide by herself. Unfortunately another girl decided to climb the same gulley/channel?? at the same time so the two collided. The mother was on the other side of the netting wall saying to her daughter ' I told you that would happen', leaving our daughter crying, holding her head and refusing to go on the slide again. Not a word of a 'sorry' to us - grrrrr! I'm so sorry about your little one - it'll mend quickly I'm sure, and soon enough all thoughts of breaks will be forgotten.

I'd suggest you keep away if you can. We've had the bug - our 2.6 year old and i were laid low with it last weekend. Our newborn and my OH escaped unscathed. I stopped bfing for the duration too - so as to avoid cross-contamination with our newborn (on DMC nurse's advice). We also used lots and lots of hand sanitiser and dettol wipes for the same reason. I guess it also depends on what outside activities you do with your littl'uns and whether she picks it up somewhere else - lots of kids seem to have it at the mo. Having had galloping food poisoning (bovine salmonella)on a plane as a child - it's a seriously horrid exp for all involved. All the best of luck with it!!

Wish it was going to be something else (realise this isn't practical/feasible), the Co-op next to us at the top of Peckham Rye is v v depressing!

The BBC ran a story saying 'the worse the morning sickness, the higher the IQ of the child', when I was going through my nauseous stage - cheered me up no end! The only thing that worked for me was the sea sickness bands - I'm so sorry they're not working for you!

Pain in the neck. Esp if it snows heavily tomorrow. Anyone any idea how long we're to enjoy these ones for?

I agree I think it's totally ok to have your own version of a traditional festival - I was thinking about it last night (I'm such a worrier when I think I've offended). Easter - I'm pretty sure didn't have much to do with chocolate originally (don't remember any stories about Jesus entering on a donkey while eating a Creme Egg!) Christmas - pretty sure Santa wasn't one of the three wise men (and wasn't this a pagan festival to start with?). Let's not get started on Hallow'een? My family's always celebrated Valentines (my Dad embarrasingly sent me a card for ages - we're not saying there's anything creepy or wrong with that are we?) Gosh I really hope not. I've ordered some heart shaped cupcake moulds and cookie cutters from the Lakeland catalogue. We're going to have lots of fun decorating them in mountains of icing and sprinkles - and watch my husband eat them all (and then call the dentist!) My husband - ironically for the flow of this thread - agrees that Valentine's is a big Hallmark conspiracy. So he's booked something for Saturday as a romantic statement, while still managing a passive protest against the consumerism. Bless! Me? I'm a total consumer junkie - bring on the balloons and bunting. :-)

Ah yes - I have read it wrongly - sorry HelenaHB. I agree that VD (ooh - bad abbreviation) is traditionally about true and romantic love and of course we could do this any day. I just thought, grab any and all opportunities to show love. In our house, at least, we get a lot carried away with the day-to-day and mundane and forget to tell each other how we feel. Thanks for the ceramics idea - I feel a trip to All Fired Up coming along. Sorry for snapping everyone - I should read things properly.

Sorry but i see nothing wrong with a family showing each other that they care and having some nice memories. I'm getting a bit tired of all the negativity around at the mo. My Ma always used to say 'if you can't say anything nice...'.

Hi newcomer - there have been some posts on similar topics before but I don't believe there's one for as soon a trip as you are planning. We took our 2.5 year old to France by ferry when she was three weeks old - so the passport side is possible (as soon as your baby is registered get yourself to Victoria and get the passport done), Oh and registering at Southwark is way quicker than registering with Lambeth (and you can do both from a Kings birth if you are having your babe there). The barrier that I'd see is whether the airline would let you on before your six week check. Of course, how would they necessarily know - unless they look at the age of the child and put 2 and 2 together. But of course it could be adopted etc. I don't think you need to book a separate seat until your child is 2 years old - we did numerous trips to Aus before she was 2 and paid a sum on top (for the bassinet) but never a full seat price. I can't help re jabs - our newest daughter is 6 weeks old now and has had no jabs ('cept vit K) yet - so I wouldn't know whether airlines view that negatively either. Bfing is fine on the plane - if a little intimidating (I sat next to an Aussie college basketball team on one trip - terrific!) The only other fly in the ointment would be if you don't have a natural birth (sorry to mention this), as, if you end up with a C-section you may very well not be physically able to accomplish what you want to here. All the very best with this - I'm guessing it's not by choice that you've to do a trip this soon - so my thoughts are with you. On the plus side I've found that the younger they are - the easier the flight. When they start being able to run around, then the real problems start.

Good luck with that - our eldest had it when she was about 2 I think. It's not a bad age to get it - old enough that they don't get it again (so they say) and young enough that they don't know to scratch too much. Tips from me would be - shake the Calamine bottle (if you use it) as I didn't know (derr) that it all separated - and I was left with a load of sludge at the bottom that I couldn't get to. Better is something called Dermol that the Doc prescribed. It's better than Calamine as you can use it as a soap substitute too - so they can wash with it. Also - I asked the Doctor to write it in 'the Red Book'. They don't necessarily do it but I wanted it recorded. My Mum died when I was 20ish and I don't remember what I've had and not had (my Dad's not great at that sort of thing)so it's good to have something noted that will stay with them into adulthood. All the very best - it's a trying first few days then it all seems to get better. And all the best with the cabin fever - I was climbing the walls to leave the house afterwards - as you can't really go anywhere ('cept the park and outdoor places) when they are contagious.

Used to be I agree - but after the last few months that we've had we'd like to make/give him something that shows how much we care.

Has anyone got any good ideas for gifts from a toddler and a newborn girl to their daddy on Valentine's day? We've done printed t-shirts and mugs, framed pictures and photos. I'm just about to order heart shaped cup cake moulds (hope they arrive in time). Has anyone got any better ideas? All thoughts welcome - we're a pretty sentimental family, so don't worry about anything seeming too cutesy ;-)

Hi snowboarder - did your milk come back? My toddler and I now have 'the bug' (bleurggh) and the nurse at DMC recommended switching to bottle feeding our newborn so that she doesn't get the lurgy. And what with throwing up etc I've not been expressing. Am a bit worried now that I won't be able to bf after it's gone. What do you think?

My Mum always used to give me Heinz Tomato soup with grated cheese on top and lucozade (flatish) if I was unwell. Oh and a crusty roll from the bakery with butter - ah for those days again. Agree with the flat Coke, also flat lemonade - it's something to do with the sugar, but also the additives which seem to destroy tummy bacteria (I think - happy to be told otherwise though). I've managed to tear my calf muscle - doing nothing more impressive than putting Cassie onto our bed. So I'm laid up too - but for other reasons. Are you having fun watching daytime TV?

Just one to be aware of next time (and sorry to anyone if this is too icky), but i found the uterine contractions at the start when you 'let down' a bit sore/painful. Apparently you only tend to get these with #2 onwards. You can take paracetamol (and codeine if it's really bad and the doc prescribes it). They fade as your body gets back to normal - I think mine lasted 2-3 weeks.

You sound much more enlightened than my OH - he'd shudder at talking about this :-) Just sticking in another experience for this melting pot. Our little one - Cassie (nearly 6 weeks) had prolonged jaundice up until about a week ago. She also had a tongue tie which the Bf counsellors and midwives thought was the reason for the jaundice - ie not able to feed enough therefore not flushing through the billarubin (excuse me I've no idea how to spell that). We were eventually referred to the special care unit at Kings to have her tested - her billarubin levels were 365 (normal levels in babes is about 50). The doctor told us to immediately start on formula as we could then 'see' how much fluid she was getting. So she started getting both boobs and then formula top ups. Her jaundice immediately started improving and the billarubin flushing through. She's fine now, and still getting formula top ups - so must be one greedy munchkin. Apparently there's such a thing as 'breastmilk jaundice' which is an enzyme in all breastmilk that some babes react to - Cassie being one of them. So by mixed feeding we got rid of it, but wouldn't have done quickly otherwise. I shed a few tears when we started on the formula - cos I felt like I couldn't look after her properly. But the main thing is we have a beautiful little daughter who no looks like she's been tangoed!

I also just wanted to say that it's absolutely not the end of the world if you choose to bottle feed. I feel there's so much pressure out there to 'breast is best'. My brother and I were bottle fed and it did us no harm (gibber, gibber). Seriously though - we've never had any serious illnesses, are hardly ever sick with colds/flu etc and have perfect teeth (no fillings or removals). The main thing for a happy, healthy baby is happy, healthy parents. If you guys get stressed out with bfing - shrug your shoulders, shed a few tears and reach for the Aptimil :) All the very very best x

There's a brilliant lady called Clare Kedves at Kings - she's the Infant Feeding Coordinator and Breastfeeding Councillor. She's been doing it about 50 years and is somewhat of an evangelist. Ask for her through Kings switchboard.. She really helped us with Cassie, who had a tongue tie (don't ask!). I believe people get referred to her from the whole of the South East - so we're very lucky that she's on our doorstep. There's also breastfeeding cafes that you can try (sound like your worst nightmare but are in reality a bunch of ladies sitting around supporting each other so quite nice - and very private). There's one at the Church at the end of Barry Road, one on the 4th floor of Peckham Library and one in Deptford - your midwife or health visitor should have a list of them. Good luck with it - it can be heartbreaking if it's difficult (sort of attacks your worth/purpose as a woman) but I'm told that encouragement and perseverance can get anyone through it (Clare's words!).

Hi James - I can help you reduce the spend (and perceived spend) on your magazines as I do it elsewhere (I'm not a supplier btw). While I think Southwark Life is highly aesthetic - I can see where the money goes, but also know your Audit Commission obligations to produce said item. I'll PM you if you'd find it useful.

You're absolutely right. At the time I was picking up said toddler, who had lost her footing in the exchange (she was holding onto the door jamb) and had newbie in car seat in the other hand so I was concentrating on 'over-protecting' them. I should have asked him what the xxxx he was up to - but up until he stepped over our threshold I thought he was putting the leaflets somewhere outside (we have a little shelf where the milk goes that some leafletters use). Oh the benefit of hindsight - I'd make a very bad security guard!

Sorry administrator - I crossed postings with you. I'll cease here.

Wow- I go offline for a morning and come back to this. That's quite a few assumptions about me NickW. One I'd like to respond to is that I'm a 'neurotic, patronizing, over protective mother who is let me guess?.. never wrong.' On the contrary I am most definitely wrong - and a lot. Could you help me by pinpointing exactly how my posts are offensive so that I can remedy this for future? I try very hard not to be - and hate it when I do. Was it my posting about my husband being beaten up? The one about thanking all the health professionals for seeing my daughter safely into the world? Or another? I work for a housing association (and have worked for the Council) so work with people who have had tough breaks all the time. I still fail to see how that gives anyone licence to be rude, or as someone else has pointed out, to trespass. At the start of this posting I said that I knew this wasn't as serious as many of the other threads on the forum at present, but just wanted to vent. This has taken a nasty turn now so I hope my apology to all forumites for any offence caused will stop this from getting any worse.

Wonderful Indiana - that's what I suspected. I will certainly be negotiating for my KIT days to be 'filed' later on in my leave.