Pickle

Have to admit that in our house the opposite is true - our youngest is 3 and sometimes wakes in the night for the toilet/drink/monster elimination and I never hear her :-$ So it's me waking up in the morning thinking we had a brilliant quiet night, and Mr Pickle with bags under his eyes. Oops.

That's exactly what happened to me in the months following the birth of both children - I started off feeling not too bad about myself, then the weight started piling on. For me the solution was going along to Liz Stuart's powerpramming classes (great fun, you go at your own pace, and a chance to meet lots of other Mums who are also motivated to get healthy), and WeightWatchers. I'll hold my hand up to having been a WW leader (years ago), but have no connection to them now, but it did work for me both times and I was back to my pre-baby size within a few months of joining. This time of year is ideal for trying to kick start weight loss - sunny days makes exercise seem more appealing, and it's salad weather (almost!). Good luck, I think the first step is acknowledging that you need to do something about it, so you're on the right track already. P x

Messed up Sky, woke the kids and scared the (already quite scared) cat. Impressive though, I love thunder storms!

Oh, sad circumstances for them to be away, sorry to hear that :( Try to make the most of the time you have with your big girl, she will love having Mummy to herself for a week, and they'll be back before you know it. "sook"... love it, a very common word in NZ but I don't think I've ever heard anyone use it here! P x

When I felt like that I used to go to bed and get Mr Pickle to bring the baby to me in bed... you end up both dreamfeeding that way (if you've mastered feeding lying down?). There were some nights where I didn't remember feeding him!

I dreamfed my son (not daughter, her sleep pattern was very different right from the start). It didn't stop me having a glass of wine in the evening, it's perfectly safe to have a drink and still breastfeed. To be honest I didn't really go out that much in the early months - but after a few weeks of dreamfeeding I started to get confident that he wouldn't wake between bedtime and that feed so we were able to go out for dinner a few times etc. I enjoyed it, he never really woke up, I found it nice and relaxing sitting in the rocking chair in his room in the dark, a nice way to wind down before bed. P x

I used a light coloured Hugabub wrap sling when my daughter was born (she's a June baby), it was excellent and I didn't find it too hot despite there being a mini heatwave the year she was born.

That was the one issue I had with my 2nd Kings experience - inconsiderate fellow patients and visitors. The bed next to me had around 12/15 people visiting, including lots of kids, who were being encouraged by their parents to keep pulling my curtain open while I was attempting to get breastfeeding established with my daughter. The lady across from me was on her mobile phone at 4:30am talking at the top of her voice. Thankfully I had my baby at 2:30am and was able to check myself out early morning as I couldn't have put up with it for much longer. First time round the other people around me were lovely, so it's just the luck of the draw.

I've been at home with children for nearly 4.5 years now and can't imagine life any other way. I do a little bit of accountancy work from home (that was my job in my "previous" life, I'm a CA), as well as being part of a number of musical groups and my little knitting business - but the majority of my time is taken up with looking after my two children and running the household. Both Mr Pickle and I had Mum's at home when we were growing up, and we both felt strongly when we first met that we would want the same for our children. I'm lucky in that he is very successful in his job and financially we can afford for me to be at home. As a child I loved that my Mum (and Dad so some extent as he was a shift worker) could come and help out on school trips etc, and am looking forward to being able to do the same for my kids. I know it's probably quite an old fashioned approach, but for us it works well.

Yes, definitely, and I think it's fairly normal. While you're breastfeeding your ligaments etc. stay very soft/flexible, which can lead to joint pain - for me it was my back that caused me the most bother. It will get better with time, but if you're worried or in real pain you should see your GP.

My Mum does that too Jollybaby... she makes the most delicious home baked biscuits/cakes, but they are strictly rationed. In the bottom of her pantry there are around 30 biscuit tins, she hides the goodies in one that's generally right at the back, in the middle, and involves emptying the cupboard to get to. And no matter how hard we try, she ALWAYS knows if we've been in there, no matter how hard we try to put things back the right way. Guess it's our own fault for reverting to the behaviour of 4 year olds when we stay (we are 36, 32 and 27).

This is nice to see - all to often people are quick to post about negative experiences but not so forthcoming with positives. I also have nothing but praise for the midwives at Kings during the birth of my two children. Congratulations on your new arrival P x

Yep, my son gets it bad. I also get it bad, and he seems to be affected by exactly the same things as me (basically everything that blooms in the English spring/summertime). Piriton helps to some extent x

I used cloth nappies during the day, but at night used Tesco "baby dry" (I think they were called that) and they were brilliant - for a fraction of the cost of the big brand ones!

We started off bathing ours in the bathroom sink, then moved to the big bath. I have always struggled with a sore back (which was a lot worse after having babies) and would recommend having a changing mat up higher than bed/floor. We got drawers with a changing mat on top, and once we'd finished with the changing mat they had a wooden top that fitted over top so they look just like a normal chest of drawers now. Well worth the money IMO. In the early weeks I also had a "changing station" set up on the dining room table (changing mat, wipes, nappies etc.) so that I didn't constantly have to go upstairs - probably more important with #2 when there's another child to watch out for, but useful first time round too. P x

I can't think of anything worse! Horrible stuff. On the few occasions I tasted it to check the temperature, like you, it made me gag. Perhaps the secret to success... the thought of eating it makes you feel so sick that you end up eating nothing?

Thanks Helen. I have a page on Facebook which shows the sort of things I make, and I am happy to knit to order if you have something in particular you would like made (my prices don't even come near to ?65, that's crazy money!): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.163878200343839.42593.139685552763104 Pippa x

My kids tend to have a selection of shreddies, rice krispies, cornflakes, cheerios & weetabix. Porridge always goes down well, I put raisins in it for them. They never have just one of those options, always two, and they tend to both choose different combinations which is sometimes a bit much for my brain to cope with early in the morning! But I figure if it means they'll eat a decent amount of breakfast I'll do it. As a "special weekend treat" last weekend I gave them cocoa pops and neither one liked them, they both asked for "normal" rice krispies. Oh well, looks like Mummy will have to finish the box then... :)

Had them in Upland Road a couple of weeks ago, two of them, seemed to be pretty thorough going from door to door. I think they are genuine.

I think it's perfectly normal to still be having a 3am feed at 15 weeks old, my two didn't fully drop a feed around that time until they were well established on solids (7/8 months). Obviously completely up to you, but in my mind it's better to stick with it as is, if you know baby will resettle easily rather than cause middle of the night stress for you both :)

OK, so hopefully when he starts reception it will change. I don't mind, per se, it's just something that's been nagging at the back of my mind when he chats away about his teachers like they're his best buddies rather than an adult to be shown respect. I agree Pebbles, I think I would find it hard not to giggle if someone introduced me as Mrs Pickle, despite being well and truly old enough :)) When I'm home in NZ I still call my parent's friends, and my friend's parents, Mr and Mrs! It just wouldn't seem right to use their first names, even though I'm officially a "grown up".

My son loves going to school (nursery, starts reception in Sept), and we're really pleased with how he's doing so far. The one thing I've noticed - and perhaps I'm showing my age - is that the kids all get to call the teachers/classroom assistants by their first names. I have a few teacher friends at different schools who also encourage their first names to be used as well. Thinking back to my time at primary school, I didn't KNOW the first names of any of my teachers - we always referred to them as Mrs Page, Mr Smith etc. Come to think of it, we were never allowed to use first names for any of our friend's parents either. I can't help but feel that the kids don't show the same amount of respect to their teachers (and elders in general I guess) when allowed to show such familiarity? Or am I just old and overthinking it?! :)

There is already a page with all the useful info: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/services_index.php

Agree with you entirely Trentk69. I use this junction daily, and the primary problem is lack of visibility as you look towards the church end of Barry Road. Unfortunately the works done haven't helped this at all.

Sorry Fuschia! I just assumed given the state it was in that they wouldn't be open.