BB100

As someone who has had past experience of schools with vocally dissatisfied parents and working in HR management, all I can say without knowing anything about the school is that a school that allows things to get this out of control usually has poor management skills and lacks the people skills to turn it around. Having said that, a quick peek at Goodrich SATS makes me think the school is not that bad, pretty average really, and supportive parents can only make it better, whereas such a public airing of complaints can only bring it down. The question should be is your child happy there? - if not, its time to look for somewhere else.

If your child can recognise his numbers then an optician should be able to tell you if he is colour blind. They have specially designed books to test for it which requires the child to identify numbers in different colours. If they can't see the number then they are blind to that colour. Just book an appointment with the optician.

Longleat is Centa Parcs' flagship park. The site is the largest centra parc. I think it's better than Elveden because the cycling is more challenging and the facilities are spread out. Many of the paths are very steep but unavoidable if you want to go down to the Sports village and lake unless your acomm is down there (or you take the mini-train which runs most days). You cannot drive your car around the park after you have dropped off your luggage and your car has to stay in the main carpark during your stay unless you can prove disability. In contrast, Elveden is quite flat and the main facilities are all the same place. You can hire bikes with a waterproof trailer for your toddler but they do run out if they are busy so you have to get there early or pre-book - you can get into the carpark and use the facilites from the morning even though they say in the material you can't. You just can't go into your villa. Villas are spacious and as someone else said the cleanliness can depend on the cleaner although over the years we have only had one dubious cleaner. But things are quickly dealt with if you complain and most of the villas have been refurbished over the past couple of years. It is worth going this time of year just to swim at night outside in the hot swimming pool under the stars with the mist of steam rising up from the pool. If you go out early or walk in the quiet areas you will see deer; and ducks and squirrels will tap on the window for food in the morning. Just one word of warning is that it is very easy to get lost at Longleat. The signage and map are not the best and when you head for your acomm in the dark on bikes it is quite easy to spend a few hours wandering around. The first time we went we left the pool at 5p.m and didn't arrive at the villa until 10pm. Our 3 yr old rode very slowly on his bike, we underestimated how far away the villa was and the paths are not the same as those when you drive there in the car. However, our villa was the furthest away from the pool and so it does depend on where your villa is. Just take some torches with you. There is lots to do but almost everything costs. I thought food had got better as some brand name restaurants have been intorduced. Food and atmosphere is certainly better than Elveden. I hope you have a good break.

How awful for you and your son. I hope it gets sorted out for you.

My kids don't like carrots and peas but I found they will eat broccoli and greens. They won't eat most fruit but will eat melon and grapes. They won't eat lettuce but will eat celery and red pepper. Maybe trying some more variety might help to find out what they like. I also serve up vegetables as a starter if I don't think they are eating enough fresh veg.

I can't agree more with what fidgetsmum has said - you do need to do some prep first before you use the pump. Try a hot flannel on your breast before you do the massaging. Then light downward strokes from the armpits to the nipples and soft kneeding with the knuckles around the breast (fist closed). It should stimulate the milk ducts.

Everyone in my family had viral conjunctivitis over the xmas so it seems to be 'doing the rounds' with a particular cold virus so I agree with what nunheadmum said. We treated it like bacterial with the drops at first but it didn't make any difference - It just made it sting more. I had it for two weeks and my eyes really hurt, especially when they were bright red - I didn't speak for two days it hurt so much. My teenager had it for 4 weeks, his eyes were sealed shut every morning for 3 weeks and were running all day. In the end we found that putting warm, wet cotton pads over the eyes for 5 minutes softens the gue making it easier to clean. We also took Sudafed to clear the congestion but I doubt you can give that to your toddler.

Hoover any carpet you have 2-3 times a day.

The best books are the ones your child chooses him/herself. I did a Storysacks workshop with a children's author and former headteacher who was very passionate about children reading matter that they will readily engage in and enjoy - not just books but magazines and comics as well. There should be no 'age limit' for a book. As adults we read a vast variety of reading matter for different purposes and so it is good if children do too. If you just pop into the library and get whatever your child selects you are guaranteed to get a greater range of books than you will ever choose by yourself.

Not that it's much help but you can 'look' at the 3 Reception teachers on the Fairlawn website. The only one I know is Ms Morris and all the children seem to love her. My son had her and thinks she was one of his best teachers ever. He also thinks the other two are nice as he sees them around the school but doesn't really know them that well. As regards accepting the place why don't you just tell them that there are some Qs you need to ask the school when it reopens in Jan before you can decide.

Ouch that's difficult. That's a lot of pressure to make a decision for Monday. Goodrich is likely to be closed now until Jan so you could ring Fairlawn on Monday and accept and then give yourself some more time to think about it. You could also ask your starting questions when you call on Monday. It is a bit unfair to hold onto two places but both schools haven't really got any time to re-offer as they are now closed for the hols and this gives you a few weeks to decide. But Fairlawn is outstanding. I know which I would choose. Just remember if you go for Fairlawn your son will be a bit confused for a day but it's not likely he will remember it after that as he hasn't even started.

As Elderflower says, there's no law until something goes wrong, then SS can deem you negligent. The police can also call in SS if you leave your children alone with someone you haven't police checked and something goes wrong - even if they are a family friend. I know this to be true from a very recent experience of a friend

kford Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The non-emergency number is 101 > http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/CrimeJusticeAndTheLaw/ > Reportingcrimeandantisocialbehaviour/DG_185338 > I rang that 'non-emergency number' a few months ago and it diverted me to the 999 call-centre and I got a bollocking from a police officer about it not being urgent enough! I tried to explain that I did not call 999 but the police officer treated me like I was committing the crime.

I've had similar experience where HV referred my child to Ped at Kings. One of my children was born 50th centile and dropped to 9th centile and is still there 13 years later. The Ped explained that as long as all the measurements are in proportion ie. length correlates with weight, etc then they don't worry about.

DJKillaQueen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I was talking with a poverty action group this > morning as well and there may be scope for a legal > challenge on the 10% levy, because the base rate > of benefit for a single unemployed person is set > by law as the MINIMUM amount needed for that > person to live on. I used to work calculating Income Support many years ago and I vaguely remember that there is an amount included in the base rate of the benefit for rent, so I'm not sure that will work but I could be wrong. Whilst I'm all for the capping of Housing Benefit - something that should have been done 20 years ago when single unemployed men began renting penthouses overlooking the Thames - the 10% levy will most certainly cripple people on benefit. I have seen many things introduced in my time as a civil servant but this has really shocked me. Macro policies need to consider their impact on children and it seems that those without a right to vote will suffer the most.

DJKillaQueen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Previously government creamed off a percentage > from Housing Revenue Accounts (into a central > Housing Subsidy Fund) and gave some of it back as > housing subsidy - which is the point I've made all > along that the running costs of social housing are > NOT subsidised by the tax payer, Maybe for those rents that are paid by the tenant, but what percentage of rents are paid for by the tax payer through Housing Benefit?

I took my 6 month old to Disney on a 5 night trip! (and yes it was to Florida and it was no problem). We got a couple of 'Disney bibles' from WHSmith which tell you which rides are suitable for what age so you can plan ahead. They also say which rides are slow or fast loading so you are not queuing too long. For example, the Dumbo ride is very slow loading and will take 3 hours with what looks like a short queue but a long queue at Small World can mean just a 5 minute wait. You can do all the parks with a baby as the staff can do 'baby switches' for you. You line up as a family and you stand to one side and hold the baby whilst the others ride and then you can ride immediately afterwards. Usually they will let any other children ride a second time with you without queuing again. At Epcot, the ride in the giant golf ball is so gentle my son fell asleep. At Magic Kingdom babies can ride on most rides but some are noisy and can upset a very sensitive child but was fine for mine so the books are worth getting to check beforehand so you know what is involved. At Animal Kingdom there are lots of shows and the animal safari. The only show that was a problem was 'It's A Bugs Life' as everyone screaming upset him and we couldn't get out in the dark. Also he has a fear of people dressed up in costumes and there are lots of those so we just avoided them but can be a delight for babies who like them. The books also tell you where all the baby changing places are in the parks and have recommended plans for families with babies. We also prebooked meals in the park months before we got there. The books will tell you how and will tell you lots of secrets. For example if you book at a particular restaurant at MGM Studios you get a special fastpass ticket to the Fantasia show with no queuing. There is also a restaurant that spins around slowly. The only problem was the time difference as my son thought it was time to get up at 4 in the morning. However we were always at the park gate when it opened and so beat the queues. We have been again since then and have done more or less every ride in every park as the parks were almost empty when we went so if you have any more questions I might be able to answer them for you. I hope you have a good time. Oh, and buy some Crocs for all the walking you will have to do. Your feet won't get sores or rubbing - they are standard footwear for visitors at Disney but make sure you get real branded Crocs for them to save your feet.

My son didn't sleep through the night until he was six so I can truly empathise. I tried many things which didn't work or worked only for a short time, and if I had had the opportunity to go to sleep and dream I would have dreamed for a night nursery far away from home. I tried leaving him to cry but he would head bang on the cot because he learnt it got him instant attention. I tried not talking, keeping the light off, the warm bath & story, etc, etc but instead he just learnt to jump out the cot head first which led us to take the bars off, which meant he would just run into our room 50-100 times a night (yes I did keep count a few times). He woke up nearly every 20 minutes until he was three. Then when he was potty training he used it as an excuse to keep getting up to go to the toilet throughout the night. Unfortunately sleep-starved hubby told him to go in his nappy but this prolonged things as this led to him later wetting the bed. Looking back I can see he was suffering from separation anxiety and he was forcing himself to wake up after minimal sleep. I disliked him sleeping with me as it was just too uncomfortable, however I wish now I had tried making up a bed on the floor for him next to my bed. It wouldn't have been ideal but at least I would have got more sleep. All the suggestions above are worth a try when you're desparate but accepting that it may only better when she goes to school may help with the sanity. I'm sorry I can't give you any good news except that it does get better.

I'm not a fan of Montessori but I won't start on that one - however audio stories have their place especially if they have a variety of sound-effects. You obviously value the personal contact and variation that a 'live' storyteller offers so it would not be unreasonable for you to ask how often the teacher uses audiotapes.

Lots of children do complain of a stomach ache when they want to poo so it's worth suggesting the loo each time. However, it may also be helpful to ask her to point to where it hurts and ask if its inside or outside. There is always a chance she has a rumbling appendix - unlikely but still a possibility. It maybe worth keeping a diary to see if you can spot a trend.

Shame, I've even got a gas-powered tumble dryer but I'm at work. sorry

GinaG3 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Feel I have exhausted all ideas. I have tried > necklaces, something in the other hand, saying no > and taking her off etc. I offer tiny snacks If you try too many things you are making it too interesting for her and she will continue, looking to see what you will offer her next time. Just stick to one thing, which I suggest should be getting up and walking away from her everytime she does it.

Kumon starts way below the child's ability level (assessed by a short informal test with the parent present - questions such as 2+3 so nothing too onnerous to begin with) so it doesn't undermine confidence and most groups have teenagers that attend as the course goes right upto A'Level. They get about 10minutes homework a day and they get lots of incentives and prizes, like ?5 for completing homeworks, etc. They also do maths games when they attend the centre twice a week. There is no failure, only 'corrections' to do. I would recommend it - I've never been great at maths and keep wondering if I should go myself!

dulwichmum gives good advice- you could also ask the school if Kumon may help

If DD is 22 months then DD should be able to understand if you explain why you don't like the picking. Everytime DD tries to pick, stand up and look DD straight in the eye and in a calm but firm voice say 'no picking' and say it is hurting you and you don't like it. You must stand up and take her off your lap everytime she tries to pick to interrupt her habit and so she gets the message. Also offer DD an orange to pick as an alternative and keep your other breast protected in a well-padded bra. You maybe right and DD is frustrated that he/she is not being satisfied by your milk and so is now constantly hungry. Try offering food before the breast everytime and try to invlove your child in the food preparation - maybe even pretending that it is your milk that is going into the cereal bowl. Also cut her nails! Please let us know how you get on.