Pickle

I guess we're a tri-lingual house within the realms of English then :)) NZ English from me (which the kids pick up on a lot), Scottish from hubby and they also seem to have a good "Sarf London" accent when it comes to certain words. It's only when I hear the kids pronounce something with a New Zealand accent that I realise just how strong my accent must still be!

Ha ha, this is very relevant in our house! When I was a kid we had all sorts of odd names for things that stemmed from my early attempts at speech, but they've stuck (and I'm fully aware of the real names, so it hasn't caused lasting damage!). My son has all sorts of funny words for things that we all use (bee bubbles for breakfast anyone?!), but I know he also knows the "real" names for the same things, so can't see why he shouldn't use them. I figure as long as you also use the proper names at times there's no harm done :)

One of the "benefits" of when they do start to move is that they can follow you around, and instead of worrying about what to do with them while you go to the toilet you get them joining you whether you like it or not. The washing becomes a breeze as they will put the washing machine on for you (just need to train my daughter to put washing in it first!), they answer the phone for you (and depending on who it is, will either put it in the toybox to be found hours later, or flush it down the toilet). Enjoy the little baby stage while you can! ;-)

Wonderful! Congratulations Iain and Anna on the safe arrival of little Elsabel. I'm so pleased for you :)

I freely admit to owning (and using) a couple of Gina Ford books - I like to think what I did was Gina Ford "lite"... exactly as has already been mentioned where I dipped in and out of the books taking from them what was relevant to me and my family situation. I followed it more for my 1st child, 2nd child just sort of slotted in to the rough daily structure we already had in place. By using it I don't feel like I'm a parent who's "not prepared to put their life on hold for a few years of their life for the sake of a 7pm clock off", instead I'm a parent who fills every day with activities for my children, knowing that they'll be awake and alert for the activities, gets time to unwind in the evenings with my husband, and wakes refreshed (in theory) to face the next day. Each to their own, but I really dislike the line of thinking (from people who are anti-Gina) that to have followed a GF-type routine I have somehow neglected my children.

Another cab vote here! We always use a black cab (John, who lives on Underhill Road). Wheel baby in strapped into the buggy, the buggy gets strapped into the space for wheelchairs. Easy!

Redjam, my son couldn't get from lying down to sitting up either - he first did it when he was 19 months (we still had his cot at the "newborn" highest level as there was no chance of him escaping)!! Benefit of hindsight makes me realise just how easy I had it (having just heard my super-mobile daughter shouting "look at meeeeeee" I went to investigate and found her standing on the kitchen table, aaaaaaargh). I agree that HV's have boxes to tick, and will be super cautious about anything they don't deem to be the norm. Hence I stopped going to see them ;-)

Ooooh, I remember the terror I felt that first day I had to wave goodbye to my husband and was left holding the baby! Like others I used to try to use the time he was asleep to get stuff done. Our washing machine has a delay function, so I used to put all the clothes in it at night and set it to finish in the morning (I still do this now!), then either hubbie would hang it before work or I'd do it in the morning. Showers were either while he slept or I'd put him on the bathroom floor on a changing mat or in his bouncy seat. Food preparation was often done with him in the sling. By about 6 weeks old he was starting to get into a little routine which made life a lot easier (routines don't suit everyone, but for us a routine was the key to sanity!). He would wake around 7am, so I used to get up at 6:30 and have a shower etc. meaning at least I felt I could face the outside world. Then a nap at 9am which allowed me time to eat breakfast, sort out washing etc. The thing that's hard to appreciate at the time is that a baby is perfectly fine if left awake by itself for a few minutes - I had a very different approach when I had my 2nd baby, she spent a lot of time lying on her baby gym while I got on with it (a necessity with a 17 month old to deal with at the same time!). Good luck!

Sam, I know it's hard, but try not to worry too much, especially if it's a HV that's shown concern. I can't offer any assistance with speeding up the appointment, but can relate - my son couldn't even move until he was 14 months, at which point he started shuffling round on his bottom. He didn't start pulling himself to standing until he was 19 months, at finally walked at 21 months. He rolled once when he was 7 months old, but then didn't do it again until he was 18 months! Thankfully we had a family history of late walking, so I knew not to stress about it too much, but everyone around me drove me mad telling me I should get him seen by someone. His feet and ankles were very weak so we did get a referral to Kings (with a long wait, like you), but they took one look at him and said not to worry, things would improve once he walked. He's now nearly 3 and you wouldn't know he was so far behind his peers as he keeps up no problem and is a typical little boy. His ankles are still a bit wonky, but improving every day without intervention. On the plus side, while all his friends were concentrating on walking, he was focussing on talking, and was a long way ahead of his peers in terms of speech and language. Try to relax, the appointment will come round before you know it (and chances are by then there will be nothing to worry about). P x

Congratulations Iain and Anna on your wedding! I'm assuming little Elsa hasn't actually arrived yet, so here's to a safe delivery. Good luck!!

I really struggle with sore hands too - they get so bad that it stings when I have to put my hands in water. I do my best to put cream on at every opportunity, although I have to hide the handcream otherwise the kids get hold of it (never a good thing when all is quiet in the next room and when questioned a 3 year old says "I'm just putting some handcream on my sister Mummy"), and when it's out of sight I then forget to use it. Gone are the days of my weekly manicure when I worked in the city!

I leave for NZ on the 17th, so wouldn't be able to make that date, but if it suits most people please go ahead without me :)

Thanks Babble and Squeak for a fun way to fill in a cold icy morning, and nice to meet you and your little girl Sanne Panne :)

Thanks for posting SB, that's good information. The fluoride thing is interesting - the water where I grew up (NZ) had fluoride added and I never had any problems with my teeth. In the 9 years since I moved to the UK I've had all sorts of problems with the enamel wearing etc., so I'm sure it makes a big difference. I've been using the milk teeth toothpaste for my kids, but wasn't aware the fluoride content was lower (I just assumed it was a taste difference), so will try to get them onto adult stuff.

My 3 year old goes to Little Kickers and loves it - we go to the West Dulwich class, but they also run them in ED at a variety of times during the week and weekend.

I might head along, as our usual Friday morning activity has been cancelled for tomorrow. Will be with a 3 year old boy and 18 month old girl.

I've had two positive births at Kings, and two pregnancies in which I was very ill from 30 weeks onwards requiring a lot of monitoring and consultant care (all of which was excellent), and while I appreciate that there are some pretty bad stories on here I think the fact remains that people are more likely to post about their horror stories than the good ones.

Like Goodliz I didn't have help (my oldest was just under 17 months when no. 2 was born), but for me the most useful time to have someone around, even now, is dinner/bath/bedtime. It sounds like that would be ideal in your situation - someone who could do your nursery run and then give you a hand until the kids are in bed. I don't have any recommendations but I'm sure you'll get lots of responses through the forum. P x

I've been on the phone to Mr Pickle trying to convince him to leave now (he's not having any of it!). I will have no sympathy when he finally gets home tonight having had to walk!

It's been snowing steadily for a few hours in ED TarahC, but small flakes and it's not really settling.

Excellent, Copleston it is then! Mellors, we go to Ruby Rhymes (top of Red Post Hill) on a Monday morning, 10.30am, great fun for the little ones :)

I'm pleased we spent the money on a cot bed initially, as they do last for ages. We've got the Mamas & Papas "Ocean" range for both our kids and they're lovely - very sturdy and look nice as a bed. We won't need to buy a single bed for our son for a good couple of years yet as he's got plenty of room to grow. We aren't using a bed guard, just a duvet tucked in quite tightly - so far so good, he hasn't fallen out and is managing to stay under the covers all night. The only thing I've found is that bed sets for "junior" beds are really expensive! I got a cheap duvet cover in the Mothercare sale, but found little boy's sets (not branded ones, just generic car patterns etc.) are expensive. But I guess if I get a couple of years use out of them it's not so bad.

Thanks Sparkle - I think I'd be pushing it to walk there in time, do you know what the parking is like around there (not terribly familiar with that area, but I know some roads are permit only)?

I'm usually the one dishing out playgroup advice, but now I'm asking for help! We've had a nice little weekly routine of groups going for the last 18 months, but from today my eldest child has started at a creche on Tuesday mornings (he previously just went on Thursdays), meaning that I walked the streets like a lost soul with my little girl this morning - thank goodness for the Bread of Life cafe, where I took sanctuary from the cold and made conversation with random people simply because my chatterbox of a son wasn't with me! We used to go to Leapers, but I now won't be able to get there early enough to get in. I need something suitable for an extremely active 18 month old, that starts at 10/10.30am, ideally free/cheap. Does anyone know whether the St Barnabus playgroup still happens on a Tuesday morning? The creche is up near the Harvester pub, so ideally I need something I can walk to from there! Thanks :)

I posted about this a few months ago as my son was still in his cot at 2.5 and I felt like the only person around to be still using a cot for his age group. I decided, on advice from lots of people, to stick with the cot as long as possible (it's a cot bed, so the same size as a junior bed). A week ago we finally took the plunge and converted his cot into a bed, he's 2 weeks away from turning 3. Having heard horror stories from others who made the switch a lot younger I can say it's a great idea to keep them in a cot as long as you can. He is so excited about his "big boy's bed", hasn't got out of it once, and in the mornings is now reluctant to get up. Result! My daugher is 18 months and I wouldn't even consider converting her cot into a bed at this stage - there's no WAY she would stay put!