simonethebeaver

I did both. I think the Dulwich one is a bit pot luck. For various reasons, we ended up attending the Dulwich ones over two courses, if you see what I mean? The first one only had eight couples and the second course a lot more. I think it would have been trickier to get to know people on the second course. The sessions I went to covered much of the same ground as the NCT ones regarding labour and birth, and the midwife teaching was very good (the same one that did the breastfeeding one for me, although I think they chop and change who does what). We were all sent a contact sheet for each other but I ended up not being able to make the last class and sort of missed the boat a bit on that one.

Probably for slightly older children is the Charlie Chaplin adventure playground in Camberwell. It's more than just a playground - arts and crafts, storytelling etc. The children are assessed for care needs and then can be left with a carer. I'm not sure how you get in as we were referred by our social worker, but Contact a Family will probably know.

Meat Liquor doesn't have highchairs though. We take our Me Too.

Hi John Many thanks for that. We have already looked at Tuke and it looks amazing, and I hope your daughter enjoys her time there immensely. Tuke would meet some of her needs, but I think socially and emotionally it's not a fit. We are taking her this week to meet the headteacher at St Giles, in Croydon. It tooks very promising on its website, has a glowing Ofsted, and the staff have been friendly and helpful on the phone. I don't suppose anyone has experience of it, either as a parent or staff? I just have my fingers crossed that they can take her, as we need to move her urgently.

Hi, thanks, and thanks for all the PMs. I will try to reply to them as soon as I can. I'm on my phone at the moment and hate using it for PMs! She is already at a mainstream secondary but her problems are now too severe. Her current school agrees and in fact tried to refuse to have her back. Her statement is out of date but Southwark are prepared to try to help. We are looking at as many schools as we can and obviously it's harder to get informal opinions on them than mainstream schools as so few children attend them.

Does anyone have any experience of relatively local SEN secondaries? We're looking across all South London boroughs really, for a school which has a mix of kids, not with profound learning disabilities. I'm talking to lots but it would be good to hear from parents/families, by PM if you'd prefer. Thanks.

We came home from holiday to find the cats infested and our bedroom overrun. Ugh. We're Advocating the cats and Indorexing the house. We've not needed to do either for years,although we've just moved house so maybe some were lurking. The vets said they were selling Indorex like crazy. Really don't bother with any flea spray from the supermarket etc. The fleas just laugh.

Have you thought about a babysitting circle with friends? So you sit for each other?

Aren't Marmora, Therapia, Mundania 20mph? (Not that the golf club types notice.) No humps or chicanes in sight.

I love it too. The food is delicious, the staff genuinely don't mind kids, there's loads of room and toys! My only grumble (and I think it'll be seasonal) is the open door. Not restful with a speedy toddler. The salted caramel millionaire's shortbread is utterly brilliant.

I'm sure this has been done to death on here already so apologies. I'm trying to do the maths for a possible second baby. At the moment, my beaver baby is at a nursery three days a week, which she loves. BUT I could not afford two sets of nursery fees - it would be almost ?2k per month. What would the likely costs of a nanny share for two children be? At the very youngest, existing beaver would be almost 3 by the time I had to go back to work.

I really don't think you'd find that bargain now, prm! I've been looking in that area for a couple of years and prices have gone up and up. You still get more for your money but not that much more.

Poor old muslims, Jo! It does all seem bonkersly confusing and it started to stress me out during pregnancy as I found it all so bewildering. I decided, on the advice of a friend who'd done it, to go for a birth to potty set, which had nappies in size 1 and size 2 and wraps and boosters. I have to say I know lots of people say not to do it, and it's perfectly possible not to, but I found it a big relief to have made a decision. Since then, I've acquired a variety of second hand nappies and wraps on top of our core stock, but that's been fun. It's not for everyone, but lots of people do do it.

Lovely, Fazer.

I think it's sad that only such high earners can buy here now.

I would love to buy a five bedroom house in Cheshire but both of us need to work in Central London. Our only option if moving away from ED is a cheaper part of London, and the kids are too settled in school to do that for a bit more room. So we stay.

I think JAGS is UV treated, and the swimming lessons there are excellent.

Have you checked whether you'd be eligible for a discount? There are some schemes. The NCT website will have details.

I did what Convex did and had that blissful hour/90 minutes in the mornings, which really helped me catch up on the night's sleep. Also, co-sleeping, which isn't for everyone, but it kept me sane. I'd also say though that although cluster feeding is exhausting, and a pain, it really does usually end not long after where she is, and it's the baby's way of building up supply.

I think I was lucky, Pickle! My daughter was two weeks overdue so, going on gestational age (and because I was so keen!), I decided to experiment when she was just over five months and handed her some broccoli. I expected her to play with it and not to really start eating much for a few weeks. The florets disappeared instantly into her mouth with gusto. Since then, she has somehow managed to eat whatever she's been given, with the exception of the things she has decided she dislikes. Methods have included eating like a dog from the table, before her pincer grip allowed her to pick up shepherd's pie etc., allowing a spoon for the rare thing like yoghurt that she realised she couldn't do quickly enough herself - grabbing the spoon mid-mouthful though, as well as straightforward holding. I would say, you're only a few days in. She's still learning very fast what to do. Some babies will find holding food easier than others. If it weren't for the RAGE, I'd say just to leave her to experiment and work it out for herself! Is the RAGE so bad that she gets upset? Is it worth letting her get cross but working it out herself? I don't think holding food out to her is a sin, but I suppose she will also need to work out for herself how that food gets into her mouth. Probably she'll start to work it out anyway.

I did the NCT and the NHS breastfeeding class and hypnobirthing antenatally, and Baby Sensory postnatally. I would say in my personal experience that the NCT class provided the best opportunity to make good friendships, and my group was close. We're all back at work now and struggling to meet up together but do nights out, and then see group members with their babies when we can according to when we're working. We also emailed a lot. My small group of hypnobirthers also bonded. I met a nice woman at the NHS BF class. Come Baby Sensory I ended up with a mixed group of NCT, hypnobirthing and BF class people all becoming friendly! I would say though that from my observation, NCT groups do often stick together round here - you see them on Peckham Rye in little herds - and often attend post-baby things together, and from the things I've done by myself, it can feel a bit daunting when there are ready-made groups going along. I wanted to meet up with people from this board before I gave birth, but in the early stages the meetings were either when I was working or too knackered to go out, and then I got crippling SPD so the only things I went out for were NCT classes and medical appointments. I do know though that loads of people on here have made great friendships through it.

My guess is that the new ELL in Forest Hill and Honor Oak is leading to rising prices at the southerly end of ED. I was watching prices for about a year before we could go on the market and another six months after that and the rise has been most dramatic there. Nunhead is also shooting up though. We sold in the spring for about 35k more than the flat was valued the previous spring, but are paying less for the ED house we're buying than it cost in 2007. More than 500k sadly but we have specific requirements that ruled cheaper houses out. And technically it's four bedrooms because the big front bedroom (Victorian layout) has been divided up. But not really a four bed house.

I have a friend who is a senior police officer and says you are never really off-duty. I can imagine that he would certainly stop for a child alone who looked upset to make sure they were OK. His daughters get embarrassed when he forgets he's not in uniform and he says it's very easy to do.

I would say if you're coming from Eltham at night, you're better off in Greenwich, which has a direct bus. Quite a cool place too, and good transport links to central London through DLR.

I'm so very sorry. He looks like a very lovely person and my condolences to all his family. I thought a great deal about him over the past weeks.