Pickle

Parking sensors are one of those things that you don't realise you need until you've got them. Having had them on our estate and now on our new car I would never go without. Great, especially for squeezing yourself into a small London space.

As a GF follower I kept the late afternoon nap for a lot longer than that with baby #1, who (bless him) was still having 3 naps a day at 18 months! 2nd baby dropped down to one nap a day very early (10 months or so), she has never needed as much sleep as her brother. My gap is slightly smaller than yours, but from day 1 my aim was to get them both sleeping after lunch, which worked and lasted for 2 blissful years. To keep me sane I had to get out of the house (at the time we didn't have nursery of any sort), so I generally got organised enough to get out of the house by about 9/9:30am - at which point the baby would have a short nap in the pram and we'd do a bit of admin (shopping) or just go for a quick walk in the park enroute to whatever activity we were doing that morning. I used to find playgroups that were suitable for letting my toddler play while I dealt with the baby. We generally left before the end to get home by about 11:30am, at which point I would feed the baby and put her down (pre solids) for a nap, while also giving the toddler his lunch. Same thing once she was on solids - I was always home for 12, to ensure she would eat before falling asleep. In the afternoon the baby generally used to wake before toddler, so I would get her fed/changed then wake toddler up, so that we were then ready and able to leave the house by about 2:30pm. My routine was the key to an easier life with what could have been a very difficult age gap (16.5 months). These days it's a distant memory! The key (IMO) to routine is to decide what you want to do, and stick with it. Use your toddlers routine as a starting point and work the baby into it to suit you. P x

We will be up for meet ups over the holiday period too. Kids are now 4.5 and 3 and love anything that involves being outside, so picnics etc. would be ideal.

They had some at Just Williams a couple of weeks ago, as my friend bought one for her little boy.

I have nothing to do with this thread, hope you don't mind me butting in! Kapaxiana, I'm so pleased to hear of your little girl's safe arrival having met you a couple of months ago when she was still a bump, hope she likes the little ugg boots!! Take care.

The 1 o'clock clubs generally stay open right through the holidays - Crystal Palace is a good one for the mornings. You could explore some of the other playgrounds in the area (we love the one near Prendergast School, Hilly Fields, which is only a 10 min drive away). You're welcome round here! Hoping for warm afternoons so we can get the paddling pool out. I thought I'd be dreading the holidays now that C is at school 5 days, but actually I'm quite looking forward to having time to just mess about with the two of them before my youngest heads off to school in September.

We've just sold our Jaguar X type estate, which was fab. Loads of space, extremely reliable. Ours was a 2006 model, we traded it so price we got isn't much help, but I think you'd pick up one just a little bit older for around ?8k. We decided we no longer needed an estate car, and have traded for a large saloon which, if anything, gives us more room than we had before!

Hi there, This thread will be useful for you: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,634204,696884#msg-696884

Agree with Jollybaby - I bought a couple of packs of basic Primark black pants, and they were much better than disposables.

Yep, discussed a few months ago here: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,606697,608384#msg-608384 And I assume with the new revelations that have come out in the past few days it will be the same person they're after.

This will be my first year giving presents too. Do you think if I baked a selection of home made biscuits etc. and just gave one big tin as a combined present that would work? I'm assuming they would just share them out in the staffroom or something? Otherwise I'm scared I'll miss someone out, as there are lots of different teachers/assistants in my son's nursery class. Also - in the age of allergies etc. should I be listing out ingredients?! Aaaaagh the stress!

There's also a local business - The Scarlet Peacock, who run sewing classes. I've been to their knitting & crochet classes and highly recommend them. http://www.thescarletpeacock.co.uk/ I think their classes are due to start again around September.

There are loads of reasons why a baby of that age is fussing over milk - could be teeth, overstimulation in the daytime while you're trying to feed etc. I wouldn't rush into weaning, the stage where babies just need milk flies by, and it's sooooo much easier than when they move to food! Enjoy it while you can.

There's always Wagamama, good for kids due to speedy service and fun food (can't go wrong with noodles!). From memory it's down towards Vinopolous.

I had a couple while being induced at 37 wks with child #1 - hurt like buggery and didn't seem to make one iota of difference. Then again while being induced at 37 wks with #2, remember being shocked as I didn't feel a thing. Whether it worked or not I'm not sure, but things did progress pretty quickly (induction with #1 took around 3 days to work, #2 was very fast). So I think it's pot luck a) whether it hurts and b) whether it works. Good luck!

Any androids in particular you'd recommend Loz? Need to do my research before I renew, so any personal recommendations much appreciated.

I still have a BB, but am so sick of it. My contract is up for renewal in a couple of months, years after everyone else I will finally get myself an iphone!

I waited until both of my kids were nearly 3, so the transition was really easy.

Agree with Mellors - I too am a bit of a control freak when it comes to household related things. I arrange paying the bills, all the shopping, cooking, admin etc., but don't begrudge that at all as I'm at home to do it while hubby is at work. His one "job" every week is to iron our bed linen, which I insist on having done but loathe doing myself. He's happy to do it as long as there's sport on TV for him to watch at the same time. I do appreciate just how flexible he is able to be with regards to getting home early (allows me to go to my rehearsals in the evenings), and going in late as the need arises, like this morning when I had a hospital appointment. He doesn't bat an eyelid, he sees it as his job as a father, and that is brilliant. A couple of years ago he had 2 months off between jobs, and I think it really opened his eyes to how difficult being at home all day with children can be, so I benefit from that now!

I am very lucky, Mr Pickle is a very involved Dad. He juggles his work so that 9 times out of 10 he's home by 6:30pm to do bath/bedtime. Weekends he takes the lead, preparing meals, doing the childcare (although whereever possible we do things as a family in the weekends), and on days where I have rehearsals/concerts he has them by himself. When they were tiny he did as many nappies as he could, baby #1 would happily take a bottle of EBM so he always did the dreamfeed, and in the weekends he used to get up with the kids so that I could relax. These days they're older, so weekend mornings are pretty easy, as the kids as a "treat" get to watch some TV downstairs by themselves, and we are able to stay in bed till around 8:30am, which is LOVELY!

We use the Clipper for our son (I too can't wait for the new salon they're opening, will be brilliant!), and Village Way for our daughter. Both excellent, and the free lollipops are a great bribery tool!

Agree with Molly, check out that website. There's no way I'd put a baby so young forward facing, it's not worth the risk.

The Suzuki method of teaching is based on the kids copying what the adults do (where I used to teach, the parents had to get involved too, so beware!). I have a lot of friends who learnt using the suzuki method from a very young age, but it didn't really help them to get ahead as they then learn to read music later (so were no more advanced than those who started later). Not sure why they'd push it so hard... maybe there's special funding? Or a glut of teachers with nothing to do?! Recorder really is the ideal (in my opinion, admittedly a bit biased as a wind player). It's an easy instrument to play, therefore leaving scope for the kids to be able to absorb other musical information - reading music, dynamics, musical terms) which will stand them in good stead for later on.

Violin can be painful, but it is a good one for littlies to start on. I would be wary of any teacher that suggests flute or clarinet so young (I'm an ex-pro flautist), for a good basis to wind playing the recorder is a much better option when they're small, then they can move to a "proper" instrument in a few years time. I played recorder until I was 10, then moved to flute, and it didn't harm my progress at all. P x

At 5 she is old enough to understand. I might be from the "mean Mummy" school of thinking, but I would, after explaining that she's not to come out of her bedroom until you go to her in the morning, take favourite things away. Then when she does as she's been told to do, give them back. This works brilliantly for my friend with her 4.5 year old, who is obsessed by her party dresses... the threat of having one taken away is all it takes! My son (4.5) know he's not to come out of his bedroom in the morning until he hears the shower, and my 3 year old daughter (if she wakes early, which isn't that often), will sit and read books until we go to her.