Pickle

I've got a boy and a girl (although boy was off doing his own thing so wasn't really near me very often). Girl is small, just about walking, was racing about slightly out of control pushing a little trolley (wearing a blue dress over jeans) so quite possible that she bashed your ankles or knocked over one of your children during our visit :-$

We must have been there at the same time Candj... I got there at 10 and left around 11.30ish. I was looking at everyone wondering whether they were EDF Mums, decided against wandering up to strangers. We need EDF badges!

I've always just relied on a combination of internet and my Mummy friends! I guess you'll be finding contradictory advice on most things simply because there's not really a right or wrong way to do these things - all you can do is read what's available to you, listen to what your friends do, then make a decision based on your little one. Weight gain/loss is always a difficult one - this has been a point of irritation for me with both of my kids as neither of them followed the line in the dreaded red book charts. My son dropped off the bottom of the charts in the first few weeks and only recently (now 2.5) started to catch up. My daughter scrapes along the 2nd centile line. My feeling is that you will know if your little one is healthy, so try not to stress too much about weight! I found coffee groups were great when my children were smaller - a good way to chat to other Mums and figure out what they were doing. Do you have a group of Mums you could meet with? I'm sure there would be lots of Mums on here (me included) who would be more than happy to sit down and chat about all these things, I'm not an expert but could give my experiences based on my 2 monsters. Please feel free to PM me if you want to and I'll give you my details :)

Beckenham do baby sessions - I haven't actually used them but friends have, and we took our kids swimming there earlier in the week and saw there were classes on before the "Family Splash" session. Lovely facilities and quite a short drive from ED.

I'll be heading to the 1 o'clock club with my two at around 10ish.

The dentist I use (Forest Hill Road) is an NHS dentist, and it was as simple as filling in a form with my son's details :)

10am departure from East Dulwich, or 10am departure on your flight? I've done the journey on weekdays after the rush hour by simply going through Clapham Old Town, over Chelsea Bridge, along the Embankment, up past Earls Court etc. However if you were needing to be at Heathrow by 10am this wouldn't be ideal!

My 2.5 year old son recently had his first "check up" at the dentist on Forest Hill Road (a few doors along from the Herne pub) - the lady dentist there was very patient, managed to get him to open his mouth, and he was chuffed with his sticker and balloon! She's also great with nervous adults :-$

Bizarrely I have exactly the opposite situation happening in my house at the moment. 17 months between my two... my 2.5 year old son asks to go to bed at around 12.30pm and would happily sleep all afternoon if I let him. 13.5 month old daughter thinks lunchtime sleep is for babies (obviously babies younger than a year) and at the moment we're lucky if she's quiet for 15 mins before screaming blue murder until I get her up. God only knows what she'll be like at 2, she already tantrums with the best of them!

Funny how things change - I remember playgrounds with concrete under the swings, high towers without railings etc... and I'm still here to tell the tale!

No experience as such, but just wanted to say I'd be a bit dubious about being told you need to get the brace quickly due to a growth spurt. My younger sister has worked as a chairside assistant for orthodontists for the last 9 years and they treat people of all ages - her partner got a brace fitted when he was 23, and one of her colleagues got treatment in her 40's. I guess ideally the treatment happens sooner rather than later, but there's nothing to say your son couldn't wait and have his teeth sorted when he's older and starting to appreciate the benefits. Good luck x

I've never (knowingly) heard anything by Goldie before, but was impressed with his composition, and his passion for music. Seems like an interesting guy, not the last we'll hear of him in a classical sense I'm sure.

Hi Skip, Here's a previous thread on TENS machines for you: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,300503,300883#msg-300883 I hired mine both times, the link to the company I used is on the thread above. I loved mine, was (in my mind anyway) a crucial tool for labour! Good luck P x

I (domestic goddess style) made apple and blackberry crumble using fruit from our garden earlier this week - first crop of blackberries were ripe and very sweet. Apple and pear trees are dripping with fruit this year, the kids will be living on it!

Really lovely to have seen some of you ladies at the 1 o'clock club this morning. Molly & Fuschia, nice to have seen you again, and great to put a face to a name Curlykaren! Given I've already seen you again today I think we'll find we've been doing the same "circuit" for months :) We're signed up for a Little Bubbles summer class on Friday morning so won't make it to the Horniman, but the show sounds interesting so will probably head up there for the afternoon instead. Have fun! P x

I think we'll be going along at some point during the day - we've also signed up for a few summer classes as my son loves his Little Bubbles class and keeps asking when we're going to see Claire!

FANTASTIC :))

Not at all - enjoy the peace and quiet! C has always loved TV, would sit and watch it all day if I gave him the opportunity. He watches it at around 5pm every evening while I get dinner ready and it always surprises me how much he learns from it (thanks to Mr Maker he's quite good at identifying shapes :) ) I do limit it to about 30 mins a day for now, but his love of TV has it's uses on long car or plane journeys when he can sit and happily watch DVDs. Lots of people I know with small people who have dropped their lunchtime nap let them have a bit of quiet time in front of TV, no harm done. P x

My son (now 2.5) loves "construction" toys like little tool kits, and basically anything with wheels! His favourite toy from his 2nd birthday was a cheap blue plastic tractor. Certainly in his case from 2 onwards he's become more interested in small toy cars (Matchbox style) rather than larger ones - you can get some great little sets (and his parents will probably thank you if you provide some kind of storage box for them!).

Here's the link to the previous thread: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,271281,272317#msg-272317

We've gone from the seat you have to a Maxi Cosi Priori XP for both of our children, they're good. Although to be honest I would say 7 months is too young to be moving to forward facing... if you do a search on carseats a previous thread on this subject will come up which contains links you should read before making your decision. My daughter has just moved into a forward facing seat at 13 months, with both of my children I've kept them rear facing as long as possible for safety reasons. P x

I wonder whether she might be getting her molars? Can be a really slow and painful process, and I guess it could be having an impact on what she'll eat? Pugwash's ideas are great - especially having things on your plate that you haven't given the kids. Both of my kids can be easily fooled into eating if I put some of their food (which is the same as ours anyway) on my fork and pretend it's off my plate! Not sure if she's quite old enough for this, but a top trick with my 2.5 year old is to simply rename things that he's not so fussed on eating. Porridge with raisins is "robot porridge" and comes complete with a robot dance (here's hoping the neighbours can't see in my kitchen early in the morning!), chopped pear is "moon rocks", and he'll generally try a few things if convinced they're things that truck drivers eat!

No magic answer for that one sorry! Might be that he's teething, in which case BFing will be soothing the pain, and I guess the motion of the pram probably takes his mind of it! Perservere with the cot for naptimes if that's what you want him to do (makes getting things done so much easier if you can get them to sleep at home during the day) and hopefully he'll gradually sort himself out.

My daughter is quite a "spirited" little character (13 months), and right from birth has had an amazing escape ability. Anyone else have the following challenges?? Sleepsuits were abandoned at around 3 months when she started managing to get her legs stuck up armholes, out the neckhole etc. resulting in huge screaming fits at 2am. They were snug fitting, I still don't understand how she did it. Final straw came one night when she had one arm stuck out the neckhole, and both legs out the armhole. Now she's in pyjamas and it's very rare to find both bottom and top still on in the morning. Today when I went to get her after a nap she was standing in her cot, with her Grobag (the zipped variety) in her hand, and a very cheeky smile on her face. It is completely beyond me how she managed to get herself out of it... it was still zipped up, and the hole for her head is significantly smaller than her bottom! Time to sign her up to Zippo's Circus?

I agree with Molly. My daughter went through a very similar phase of waking and crying on her front, which didn't last long - and now she turns herself onto her front as soon as I put her in her sleeping bag and sleeps really soundly in that position. For now, go and turn him over when he wakes and is upset, but don't worry if he's on his tummy sound asleep. P x