simonethebeaver

Nymom, your username suggests greater knowledge than my distantly remembered three years ago visit!

They are Kings midwives. I'm not sure whether they'd do antenatal for someone delivering at Tommy's. A friend of mine who is registered at FHR was booked at Tommy's and went to a surgery on the Albany Estate I think to see the midwives there.

I took a one year old to NYC. Do you use a sling at all? Can be a godsend as the subway is not particularly baby friendly. The Children's Museum is for older kids from what I remember.

Interesting replies, thanks. My daughter is a tall 22 month old. We're having another baby in two months. We have a Bee Plus which I love but my daughter seems to hate now. The straps are definitely too short. She is much happier in a Maclaren. I was thinking I'd use a sling plus the buggy and just use the Bee for the baby when I was without the toddler.

We're looking to buy a new lightweight toddler pushchair. We've narrowed it down to this two, having been given an extremely ancient Triumph that our daughter loves but is very much on its last legs. Apart from the Triumph's ability to recline, is there anything that justifies the higher price for the Triumph? Any experiences of either pram welcome.

I don't get that. Surely if you have 20k of possessions and 10k of insurance then you ARE under-insured? This thread has made us very careful. We are right in the middle of the area and our neighbour was burgled before Christmas in the early evening. I really hope increased patrols catch the bastards soon.

JAGS do toddler swimming lessons which are great. And no massive hassle to get signed up for either.

I thoroughly agree. I have bought lovely shoes from here all my daughter's life and got some good deals, plus I have almost filled in my loyalty card!

Yes, the orthodontist was sound. Said thumb sucking might be causing some minor movement but wasn't making a big difference. He was referred because his front teeth really are quite wonky, but the orthodontist was cross about it and said the dentist should have waited given that he still has plenty of baby teeth. So we're on a watching brief, but treatment will definitely be needed. I had my first brace (a removable retainer) at 10 though, because my teeth issues were so severe. I couldn't close my mouth over my teeth! The selling point was meant to be that I'd be done with braces before everyone else, but in the end, I went to university with traintracks!

I have a 22 month old enthusiastic feeder, and I am trying to work out how to stop for various medical reasons. I did hope a work trip I went on four months ago for three days was going to be an enforced end to it all, but when I got back she just jumped on me, so two days away might not be enough.

Well, he gets computer time as a reward for chores and good behaviour so that would be the obvious thing. The only problem is that it means one of us constantly watching him to see if he's not sucking his thumb! I'm not sure what replacement behaviour we can come up with as he is sucking his thumb when most people are just, well, not. We've not tried to cut it down at bedtime or when he's alone, just during the day. He has a first appointment with an orthodontist tomorrow morning which I imagine will focus on the thumb sucking. I have a lot of sympathy for him as his teeth need braces quite badly, but I don't think the thumb has anything to do with it. I had a huge overbite as a child, and ten years of braces, and it took them five years of that to work out that it was my jaw alignment and not my own thumb sucking habit.

It's tricky. We've asked him to think of what else he might do with his hands but he's so very unaware of when he's doing it that he struggles to work it out. He does also bite his nails but far less frequently. I'm not sure what we do really. His teachers constantly pick him up on it too but I suppose none of us are doing anything to suggest a positive behaviour. He does it basically whenever he's not eating or doing physical activity.

We are trying to stop a ten year old constantly sucking his thumb. We are desperate for him not to turn up at secondary school next year thumb in mouth. He is already the only child in year 5 who sucks his thumb throughout the day. It is so ingrained that he has no idea he's doing it. We tell him off every time we see it but it's often back in his mouth seconds after he's taken it out. We're trying Stop and Grow but I don't think it's having any effect. Any tips on this?

Doesn't that apply to everywhere? No one I think is looking for somewhere that their kids will run around wildly in with no supervision, just places with a bit of space for kids rather than lots of tables close together, disapproving owners and no facilities. I also think it's lovely to have at least one place where elderly people are mixing with kids. There aren't many other places used by both parts of the community. I certainly have always been very aware of the mix of ages in there, had many conversations with other customers and been aware of the need to make sure my toddler behaves.

No. But I thought a useful recommendation for the other 5 days of the week!

The Bread of Life cafe in Christ Church, opposite Dulwich Library, is great for kids too. It has toys and an area with sofas where kids can run around. The food is more traditional than ED cafe but properly cooked by a bunch of great women and it's all very friendly.

Hi I had a day op a few weeks ago. It was all very straightforward. I was on the afternoon list so turned up at the time given, accompanied by a pile of reading matter. I ended up as the last on the list, so had quite a wait, during which the anaesthetist turned up to go through everything with me, and I had consent forms to sign. You get a cubicle with chair and bed to wait in, just like a normal hospital ward. The op itself was very quick. They bring you into recovery briefly, and then back to the ward to come to properly. You then get a sandwich, which was objectively revolting, but fantastic after so long without food, and they release you into the wild once they know someone has come to get you. The staff were all really friendly and helpful.

Kids on Marmora Road used to get into Fairlawn but not any more. We are in a similar position off Underhill Road, and also hoping that new/expanding schools at the other side of ED free up some of the possibles.

Andrea the HV has sadly left FHGP and we are back with her colleague. Sigh. Oakwood has also had a big turnover of staff in the last two years. Since I had my last baby, at least half of them have moved on. But they still have the same principles and outlook, which is what matters. I'm sure the Lanes are the same.

Nope. My Health Visitor is a full, trained Health Visitor, and still not good.

Are we not allowed reservations? When a body that is broadly supportive of academies raises concerns about the way they operate, is it not permissible to discuss them on here? Some of them reflect issues already raised on this thread.

I've been told by drivers that this is the reason for terminating there.

Katrusja, I am not really sure what I think of the 63 proposals but I do think your post is really thoughtful and useful. Thank you. Penguin, the 63 often stops at the Rye when it snows because it can't turn in its usual place and there are no other obvious turning places between the Rye and there. It's not because of the hill.

I agree that there are no grounds for an official complaint, but Health Visitors vary so wildly that I can imagine losing a good one feels like a real blow. My HV gave me utterly wrong advice about some things, was offensive to the point that I complained to PALS about her, cocked up an urgent referral and failed to provide any support. Her replacement was a massive improvement. I've recently heard that the replacement is off and the original will be back in harness just in time for my second baby to appear. Not happy! Darling babies is pretty sickening talk though.

I haven't read the report yet, but am fairly surprised at that travel analysis. I can't really comment without reading it myself though, but my first reaction is how on earth it would only take 3 more minutes on public transport for someone using Lewisham to get to either Kings or Woolwich, or 2 mins in a car. (I know nothing about ambulance travel times at all.) This must be a calculated average of course, but I can't see how often it will actually be true.