Pickle

I've been with Vodafone for 9 years and never have any problem with my reception (unlike Mr Pickle who is with T Mobile).

Is that true Elderflower? I've got very young children so had no idea that was the case. I took a local 14 year old to hospital a week or so ago after she'd had an accident in her house - she lives quite a way from me but I was the first person she found at home when she knocked on doors down the street (bleeding and very distressed). Her Mum was at work and it took me 3 hours to contact her, and it bought home to me just how vulnerable a young teenager can be. I'm sure during school holidays it's very common for teenagers to be home alone, but honestly didn't think it was illegal.

I successfully mix fed my first child using the standard Avent bottles - so bear in mind that they might be fine before you spend too much money on expensive alternatives :)

I also saw some aran wool in TK Maxx a couple of weeks ago, and a couple of the 99p type shops in Peckham have small stocks. Amazing where you find it once you're looking out for it. I'm proudly wearing a top today that I finished for myself last night, a little lacy pattern tie front bolero cardigan. Amazing the feeling of achievement!

I agree with Clare, a small baby would struggle to sit comfortably in a Tripp Trapp chair without the baby seat. I kept the baby seat on until my daughter was about 18 months old.

I don't have experience with Easyjet, but our trusty MacLaren has been on 5 trips to New Zealand without being in a bag and has survived it fine (each return trip involves 6 different planes). The buggy is now 3.5 years old and still going strong.

5 months for us - although our 2nd baby was small.

I used to worry about the exact same thing before I had my son, so don't worry, you're normal! My son was born in winter (January), the night we came home from hospital it was snowing. For the first few weeks while he was tiny we had him in a babygrow with a vest underneath, and swaddled in cellular blankets - we also kept the heating on thermostat 24 hours a day so that the temperature didn't go below 18 degrees. When he got slightly bigger we moved him into 2.5 tog sleeping bags, once again with two layers underneath. There are guidelines that come with Grobags (and can probably be found on their website) with regards to room temperature and the corresponding layers you should have on your baby. We bought a baby monitor (BT one) with a room temperature gauge which we still use now, it helps to give you peace of mind. My second baby was born in the height of summer which came with a whole different set of challenges! P x

Crawling already, wow! Rhyme Time at Dulwich Library is still on over the holidays - we generally don't go but a couple of weeks ago when the sun was shining (remember that? Starting to feel like a distant memory!) they held it outside in the small park to the side of the library and we joined in. Inside at the 1 o'clock club is great for small babies, lots of fun stuff for them to explore in the baby corner which is for 18 months and under. P

I walk along it daily and live very close by, it's a nice road with lots of friendly people. As said above, you're close to shops/pubs/buses and also very close to Peckham Rye Park which is a brilliant facility to have on your doorstep.

As always I would be up for this. Name a time and place and I'll be there. P x

With my first baby I didn't start until he was 7 months old and weaned onto solids, at which point I used Bamboozles and Mother Ease nappies with wraps, which were great. Second time round my older child was still in nappies and I was used to washing them, so my daughter went into them pretty much from birth. I had a couple of fitted nappies but mainly used prefolds until she was nearly 6 months old. From 6 months onwards I have used a mixture of Itti Bitti and Blueberries which are not only great at containing everything but look pretty too :) However as of last Thursday she's given up the nappies, so it looks like my days of washing nappies are coming to an end after 3 years of continuous use. Good luck. P x

I too was completely anti-dummies until my son got to 9 weeks and seemed completely unable to settle/relax without being attached to me (like your little one, not suckling, just attached - which after a while gets annoying and sore). I agonised, and finally gave him a dummy and it changed our lives. He went from barely sleeping in the day to having regular and reliable naps and his nighttime sleep got much better. I only gave him a dummy during the day, for some reason at night he was fine. By 6 months he had given up the dummy and transferred his suckiness to a soft toy - his beloved Barney, who has a tail which has been sucked within an inch of it's life in the last 3.5 years. We never had to go through the process of taking the dummy away, he did it by himself. So don't worry too much. If the worst comes to the worst you'll need to go through a process of taking the dummy away, but I know lots of people who have managed it without too much drama. P

I'm so pleased to hear all is well, congratulations on the arrival of Ava - a lovely name. Enjoy the newborn snuggles!

I'm a kiwi parent, have two kids (3.5 and 2) and would be more than happy to have you round for a playdate and coffee. PM me if you're interested. Pippa

Hi there, There used to be a large nanny contingent at the playgroup in Dulwich Village on Tuesday mornings (St Barnabus Church hall) and also at the Goose Green playgroup on Thursday mornings - although I haven't been to either for a while now so that might have changed. There are also lots of kiwi Mums in the area, as another option for her (me included). P

:)) Just spat my lunch all over the laptop, classic.

None that I can think of. But "I Can Cook"... seriously? "Big Cook Little Cook" is by far the superior kiddie cooking programme in that it has lots of brilliant adult only jokes (not sure if they're intentional). Unless of course you enjoy watching that irritating smiling/singing woman ;-)

I would go back to nappies for a couple of weeks and try again, no point continuing if it's stressful for both her and you. Day two for us today, and all good - M has asked to use the toilet twice, no accidents at all, so I'm convinced she's ready. Try again after a break and it might all fall into place for her. P x

Yes, I do use cloth nappies - did so for both kids, and I do think it contributes to them being more aware of feeling wet. My daughter has been really good at telling me she needs a fresh nappy for the last few weeks so I guess she's been leading up to it. My son was under 2.5 when he potty trained which these days is relatively young for a boy (although he still wears a pullup at night and is nowhere near being ready to go to bed without a nappy). We'll see what day 2 brings, I'm suspicious that day 1 has been just a bit too easy!

Damzel, that's not a particularly accommodating response you got from them - I would have thought a nursery would be able to provide a really good base of knowledge when it comes to potty training. My daughter (2 years 2 months) announced this morning "no nappy Mummy, I big girl now", completely randomly. So off we went to Primark to stock up on pants, and to buy a horrible pink Peppa Pig potty (the suggestion that she use her brother's blue Thomas one wasn't met with a great response). I was completely dreading it - we've just had our house remodelled complete with new carpets! However, we've survived the whole day with one very small accident, so I guess although it's early days, she's a good example of being ready to potty train. The early days with my son involved sitting him on the potty every 15 mins or so, whereas M today has been playing outside and come in to tell me she needs the toilet. Seems too easy so I'm worried that tomorrow will go completely pear shaped.

Something sadly not available in this country but which I buy in bulk every time I visit my family in NZ - toffee milks. Nothing flash, simply quite hard toffee, which goes chewy if you perservere, covered in milk chocolate. They're about 10cm long and 2 cm wide. Delicious. The toffee has an almost salty quality to it which makes them extremely moreish. More than one visit to the dentist in my lifetime can be attributed to them. My UK favourite is the humble Double Decker. And yes, I have eaten a whole pack of eclairs and hidden the evidence :-$

As controversial as it can be, I'm a firm believer that routine (of some sort, not necessarily a by the book approach) is key. This is basically backed up in any parenting programme you watch, and came across strongly in the sleep documentary last week - different approaches but both based around routine. Good idea to start your day at 7am - that's what we've always done and it seems to help with the spacing of naps during the day. I really do think that good daytime sleep = good nighttime sleep. Hope you get it sorted soon. P x

The advice tends to be 3 hourly... however with both of mine if they fed 3 hourly during the day I left them at night - they would generally wake by themselves at around 3am having had a feed at 10pm (my daughter did this pretty much from day 1). I wouldn't do this if they hadn't fed well during the day though.

When my first child was 3.5 months I watched a lot of TV, he took ages to feed and it kept me sane having a supply of the shows I like to watch saved up on Sky+. At that age he may look at it, but he won't really be taking any of it in, it will just be the movement that attracts his attention - and in my eyes that's no different to giving him a musical/bright toy to look at. I stopped having it on during the day when he was slightly older, but then introduced a little bit of child-appropriate TV into his daily routine at about 18 months (by which stage I had another baby, so it was useful if he was happy to sit and watch Night Garden for 20 minutes while I fed her). By default my daughter was exposed to TV a lot younger, however she's not really interested even now, at 2, and happily continues playing with her toys oblivious to the fact it's on. I don't think a little bit of TV hurts, as long as you monitor what it is they watch. My son has learnt a lot from shows like Numberjacks and Zingzillas.