Pickle

Yes, Magic Moments, it's in Bew Court which is part of the Lordship Lane estate. It's not really an "odd morning or afternoon" setup though - it's open every morning except Wednesday from 10 - 12 and you send your child along the same mornings every week (although once they are attending it's usually no problem to do an additional morning here and there if need be). Both of my children have been, and my youngest is still there 3 mornings a week. It operates term time only and is a truly lovely place run by a group of ladies who are brilliant with children. A very "cuddly" environment which is a great stepping stone before they hit the real world of preschool. Contact numbers for Magic Moments are: 020 8693 1177 (probably won't be answered at the moment due to school holidays) 07837 335 620 (Lynda)

Yes, we've got two for our kids (4 and nearly 3) and I can see we'll use them for years yet. Easy to keep clean, look nice, and good for their posture too.

Too late now I know, but it is open on Sundays.

Rubbish. Well meaning Mr Pickle presented me with a huge box of Hotel Chocolat goodies for mother's day, which of course I've polished off over the week. Just had GBK for dinner. Oh dear.

Good luck to you all, completing the London Marathon is definitely one of my life achievements, such an amazing thing to be part of. Extra piece of advice - if it's a hot day avoid the water showers... I didn't go through any, but my running partner did and his shoes ended up very wet and uncomfortable giving him blisters which hadn't happened on any of our training runs (despite some of them being in wet conditions). Not for everyone, but I ran with a camelback on full of my own supply of Lucozade. I took water from the water stops but didn't have to fight my way through for the sports drink. Expect to walk down stairs sideways for a couple of days afterwards, or was that just me?

I play flute - if you can wait a while the next concert I am doing with the orchestra I play in (Harmony Sinfonia) is an ideal one for children. It's on Sat 2nd July at 3:30pm and the details are here: http://www.harmonysinfonia.co.uk/concerts.php The concert venue is just a 10 minute drive from East Dulwich. Might be a good way to give your little one exposure to lots of different orchestral instruments at once - my oldest boy has a really good idea of what he's interested in playing from simply coming and watching me perform with various groups. Alternatively over the summer a lot of London's "concert bands" play free bandstand gigs at the parks round London which are great for kids. I play for Lewisham Concert Band, our summer schedule isn't confirmed yet but I can let you know - it's wind and brass only. Pippa p.s... 7 is an ideal age to start on an instrument like recorder - it's a great starting point for learning to read music and a good basis for a lot of wind instruments.

We got Goodrich, our 1st choice. We do live very close so I guess I shouldn't have worried with hindsight. Good news for us, sorry to those who are disappointed with their outcomes :(

Good luck all. I didn't think I'd be nervous, but I really am. Could be a long day!

I remember feeling just like you do now, nearly 3 years ago. The logistics of feeding one while looking after another is one of those motherhood juggling acts! My baby used to feed at approximately the same times. For the 10am and 4ish ones I would make sure I was either at a park with a friend who could keep an eye on my son while I fed, or (my preferred solution) I would go to a playgroup where I found it far less stressful. Other Mums were always very helpful when they realised I had two small children, sometimes I would even get handed a much appreciated cup of tea which was lovely (that was at the Goose Green playgroup on Thurs mornings). Within a few months we'd adjusted the feeding schedule to 7/10/12ish... followed by nap, then I would get her up about 30 minutes before her brother was due to wake from his nap and feed before heading out for the afternoon. I then fed her while supervising toddler's tea time. And just as you get all that sorted it's time to wean and you're back to square one... ;-)

... as did I Pebbles - and the thought of now having a 3 hour rehearsal followed by concert is not exactly filling me with joy. I'll never learn. On the plus side, super healthy day so far, just water and fruit.

How did that not too much wine resolve go then Pebbles? ;-)

*shines halo* Just made it through lunch without my customary bar of chocolate. Even ate a banana. My body doesn't know what's hit it!

Remember a few months back we all got overly enthusiastic about shining our sinks? How about a thread to get us all enthusiastic about eating healthily now that the sun is starting to shine and hiding under big coats isn't so much of an option :) I'm not looking to lose weight, but am trying to get myself back into a healthy eating frame of mind after a few months of health problems and cold weather meaning I've resorted to the "sod it, I don't WANT an apple, I will eat chocolate" diet. Who's up for it? Let's try and motivate each other to get healthy and fabulous before the summer holidays are upon us! To start it off... small steps... today I've only had one cup of coffee and plan to drink only water and herbal tea for the rest of the day.

My son was a breeze to wean, daughter a nightmare. She was about 8.5 months old before she started eating "properly" (in that she'd actually accept a little bowl of fruit/cereal for breakfast), but for 2 months before it was a stressful nightmare trying to get her to take anything. In the end I pretty much gave up with "baby" foods and just gave her bits of whatever myself or her brother were eating - if she was hungry she would give it a try, if not at least it meant I hadn't wasted time preparing something especially for her. Looking back I wish I hadn't worried about it so much. She obviously wasn't ready, was getting plenty of milk which is the main thing at that age, and now at nearly 3 is a brilliant little eater. I would keep offering little bits, but don't worry if she's not interested, she'll get there eventually. P x

Yes, I did exactly that too, it's fine. Also worth bearing in mind (if you didn't already know) is that you don't need to wash/sterilise your pump after every use - just seal it up and pop it in the fridge.

Great photos, we visited Joss Bay last summer, lovely spot. My daughter was transfixed by the cycling lizard on the South Bank a few weekends ago.

I've been to a Bookstart session where "there was an old lady who swallowed a fly... perhaps she'll cry". I think it's complete madness! I don't have any lasting childhood scars from the versions of fairytales and nursery rhymes where they didn't live happily ever after. My son was quite disappointed by a book he got from school today involving a pig and a wolf ("Suddenly") as he thought the wolf looked hungry and would have liked to eat the pig at the end :)

My son's nursery class (Goodrich) must be doing the original, because he's been telling me all afternoon that he's going to grind my bones to make his bread. Charming little chap.

Sounds like it could be colic? No experience myself, but a couple of my friends had babies who did a screaming session every day in the early evening - both of the babies grew out of it by about 12 weeks if that's any consolation? I'm sure someone who's been through it will be able to offer advice.

Congrats Belle, I didn't realise you were expecting :) I would wait and see - chances are you'll be fine with a sling, especially for the first 6 weeks or so. I had a double MacLaren for a while (it was our "boot of the car" buggy) and it was a nightmare, very hard to push with two kids of different weights in it. I wouldn't spend money on one unless you feel it's absolutely essential. A lot will change with your little boy in 6 months, I'm sure by the time baby arrives he will be fine holding on to a buggy to cross roads etc. P x

Tricky question, but I have been to weddings in the past where there have been Mums with really tiny babies. I think if you're geared up to go you will manage it - really small babies don't do much other than feed and sleep - you will be tired but it may provide a nice bit of relief from life as a new Mum to get dressed up and have a glass of bubbly. Will you be taking the baby with you?

I also wanted to add (at risk of being shot down), that routine was a lifesaver for me. Toddler had a pretty set eat/sleep/playgroup routine when baby came along. By default baby ended up in the same routine (quite quickly, with no forcing, it just happened), and that meant that I got a 2 hour break every lunchtime in which they both slept. And would you believe, I STILL get a 1-2 hour break while they sleep after lunch! I hate to think how my sleep loving 4 year old is going to cope with full days at school come September!!

I managed with a 16.5 month gap, and am still (kind of) sane. For me the key was to be organised. I became a master of breastfeeding baby while feeding toddler, made life easier to do both at the same time whenever possible and then (all going well) meant both went down for naps at the same time. Bathtime - baby lying on towel on bathroom floor, toddler in bath for quick wash, baby dunked in same bath briefly, out and dried. More kicking time for baby while I got toddler out, dried and dressed (sometimes had to do an impromptu breastfeed sitting on the side of the bath with one arm ready to catch toddler if necessary). I often managed a story with toddler and feeding baby at the same time - then would put toddler to bed and take baby through to her room for a final feed before bed. Wine. Definitely wine. The crying in the night was never a problem, my son always slept through it. I'm through the other side of it now and reaping the benefits of a small age gap. One 4 and one nearly 3, they love each other to bits and are each other's best friends. You will be fine!

I used disposables for the first 10 months with my son then switched to cloth nappies. My daughter was in cloth from birth. Good cloth nappies don't leak, they are really reliable. Not hard work at all - throw the dirty nappy in a bucket, every other day put the whole lot in the washing machine at 60 degrees (I also used to put towels etc. in to make up a load if needed). The huge benefit is that your child will become aware of when he/she is wet quite a lot younger than those in disposables, so you'll be out of nappies quicker!

Don't be fooled into buying too much expensive "official" weaning kit, it's really not necessary. A pack of the plastic soft spoons is a must. Instead of using branded tubs etc. I used some large ice cube trays (each cube was about a tbsp full), froze my purees in those and then transferred them into standard zip lock bags. Much easier and takes up a lot less room in your freezer. At the beginning I did batches of different plain veges, then could grab a variety of 3 different cubes (or so) for a meal - better to do that rather than large batches of mixtures only to find baby doesn't like them! I bought an expensive Chicco highchair for #1, within his first year I'd got rid of it (far too many cracks and crevices for puree splatters to get into) and now we are a family of Tripp Trapp chairs - still going strong now and my children and 4 and nearly 3. Good luck!