Pickle

... The medicine contains Dimenhydrinate, which may help to find a uk alternative.

On a recent trip to NZ our oldest boy suffered from travel sickness - not so great in the first 5 hours of 25ish hours of flying that we had ahead of us! In Singapore airport I went to a pharmacy and they sold me "novomin", not sure if it's available here but if not I'm going to stock up next time we pass through the airport in December as it is brilliant stuff. Suitable from age 2, not only does it help with sickness but it is handy for making them sleepy ;) We had some very bumpy flights over the rest of our trip and he was fine.

Sorry, phone typing! I'm sure you could leave it blank if you are uncomfortable with it. The only time that info has been requested by my kids school was on the council produced lunch form, not in the general info form, so I don't think it's essential.

When I filled out the form relating to school dinners it only required the NI number if you were applying for free school meals ( beyond the years that they are free for regardless in Southwark). I guess so they can check that You are actually eligible

My 5.5 year old boy is terrified of Snow White - my 4 year old daughter and I have to watch it when he's not at home!

When the Little Clipper first opened I was a huge fan, but I feel the quality of the cuts very quickly slipped. It's ok for really little kids, and maybe boys, but my 4 year old girl has her hair in a very short bob and twice we walked out with a really bad cut - very uneven, and as mentioned before literally a 5 minute job. When they get to school age it starts to matter a bit more! I get my hair cut at Kuki (Bellenden Rd) and took both children there for a cut before we went on holiday. They were great with them, both had a full 15 min slot, and it cost slightly less than it would have at Little Clipper.

No, they've always been helped by a first aider or TA if in the classroom. Although there have been times when my son claimed he did it himself, only for me to have the TA mention it the next day as she had assisted ("oh yeah, I forgot" said my son!). My 4 year old girl is fiercely independent so tends to refuse offers of help :) Have a word with your little ones teacher after school P x

I've only been contacted by the school when my kids have either bumped their heads (badly enough to need an ice pack) or there's been lots of blood (nose bleeds). I wouldn't expect (or, to be honest, want) to be phoned if they grazed their knees, it's a daily occurrence. My children are year 1 and reception.

Why are they wearing sunglasses? (is this a sign I'm getting old?)

My elder 2 children are under 17 months apart in age, and I was always on the lookout for classes or activities that we could go to that wouldn't cost loads - I didn't qualify for maternity pay of any sort! When my oldest was 2 we went to Little Bubbles, which was excellent, but that was the only sign up type class we did (we then continued to do that class right up until my 2nd child was 3). They loved the cheap and cheerful type playgroups - the ones that cost about a pound, Mum gets a cup of tea, lots of toys setups. I'm about to start going to those sorts of groups again with #3 so need to figure out which of my old haunts are still operating!

I would love to see a book published with all your memories in it Computedshorty!

Years ago when I lived in Jennings Road I got the fright of my life when the police knocked on our back door! We were about halfway along the terrace, they we're looking for someone who was apparently in the gardens somewhere and knocked out of courtesy as they hopped over fences. It made me very conscious to be careful about keeping the back door locked when I wasn't in the back of the house (this was mid morning). Very pleased to hear they didn't actually get in, must have been scary to see someone outside your door though :(

Grotty, that is FANTASTIC! What a brilliant achievement :) All good here, a trip to NZ under my belt and I'm managing to maintain my weight without too much of a struggle. My running has fallen by the wayside at the moment, but I've been doing an exercise DVD at home most lunchtimes (the 30 Day Shred one which is good, and I'm generally not an exercise DVD type of person).

They use the phonics system to gently introduce letters/sounds in school nursery, so from age 3/4ish. The cr?che my kids went to when they were smaller (from 2) also used phonics. No harm in starting young if they seem interested in my opinion, but at the same time it's not worth forcing it on them.

Jolly Phonics on YouTube are a good starting point, little rhymes which help with letter recognition and sounding them out. The one you start with is the series with "a, a, ants on my arm". Be warned you'll get them stuck in your head...

We have a long surname so our girls names were short for #3. We ended up with Kate (which everyone assumes is short for Katherine, she is going to grow up thinking her name is "no, just Kate"). Midwife said she was the only Kate she had delivered in recent memory so with luck she will be the only one in her year. Also love Annie (have used Anne as a middle name). Love the "old lady" names making a comeback, Dot, Betty, Matilda etc.

I take my kids to the dentist on Forest Hill Road, near the Herne. Everyone I've seen there has been great with children, particularly the younger female dentist (who's name I don't know, usefully!). I started taking them 6 monthly from around 20 months, so it's not too young in my opinion.

Our kids only started doing this once they started sharing a bedroom last year, aged 5 and 3.5. They will play happily for ages, however as I type I can hear crashing and banging through the wall with shouts of "aaarh me hearties", so it can't really be described as quiet ;)

Do you know anyone with an au pair? They are often keen to earn a bit of extra money, and if you know the people they live with it's a good option. We have been lucky and used a babysitter off the forum for the first time around 5 years ago, and have used her ever since, I trust her completely. Ask around your friends to find out whether they use someone regularly? Personal recommendations from friends are the best way to approach it.

Magic Moments cr?che is ideal - runs daily (not open Wed) in the Lordship Lane estate near the Harvester pub. You sign up to do specific days every week, and both of my older children went from around the age of 2. It is run by a lovely group of ladies who are brilliant with the children. Sessions are just over 2 hours long, and it was ?10 a session when we went, although it's over a year ago now so may have changed.

The cemetery on Forest Hill Road (entrance just up from the Rose pub) is usually good for blackberries, they grow around the perimeter on the Wood Vale and Langton Rise sides.

I remember another one popping up a while ago, Dulwich Mums and Dads or something along those lines, which I think had quite a similar aim (although I don't think it really caught on). Might be worth a Google?

It's been like this for probably near on a year (longer in some parts of the borough that were in the pilot scheme). We are a family of 5 and it works well for us, food/garden waste is taken weekly and the other bins fortnightly (a different one each week).

Hi there Don't worry too much if he has to start the term without the tops, chances are it will be warm and he will just need polo shirts anyway (fingers crossed!). Alternatively you could just buy one of the cheap generic royal blue sweatshirts from Sainsburys. Trousers are the standard dark grey that you will see in supermarkets - when my son was in nursery I had a couple of pairs of pleat front trousers and also a pair of grey trackie bottoms which were fine. How much you need depends on your child. My son was fine with two of everything as steered clear of messy play. Daughter came home pretty much every day wearing spare clothes from nursery due to paint/sand/mud.

We emailed away for a kit to fix the wobbly wheel problem on our Bee, kit arrived within a couple of days, 5 minute job, and it's been absolutely fine since.