AliM

When the weather's good we put our old baby bath outside, partly filled with water, couple of drops of food colouring and a bit of washing up liquid and they splash around for hours. We have also had success with a mini "assault course" in the garden; couple of chairs covered with a sheet to climb underneath, hop or jump over some sticks or bits of paper, run 3 times round the tree, pick up a ball and throw it in to the waste paper basket.

Don't give up, I think it is worth ringing round a few more places especially if you only require a part time place. This time last year we were offered 2 days a week at Mother Goose Greendale immediately (we weren't on the waiting list there). It does help if you can be flexible on which days though, as we were.

We went this year and won't be going back! Our experience with 2 kids who had just turned 3 was that it was far too busy and not geared up for the smaller kids. There were a lot of activities that they'd really have loved to do, like trampolining and face painting, but I think it's unreasonable to expect pre-schoolers to wait in line for upwards of 30 mins. Things that were specifically for the younger ones, like Peppa Pig, were unbelievably busy and that meant they couldn't see properly or were pushed out of the way in the general scrum. At one point I thought they were about to be squashed against the barriers and I had to move them away. And don't get me started on the price of the food, drink and other stuff once we got in! A small bottle of water was ?4, a balloon was ?5, and imagine having to wait 25 mins for a cup of tea for ?3.50.

If you put your postcode in here it will tell you who your councillors are and will give contact details: http://moderngov.southwarksites.com/mgFindCouncillor.aspx They may be able to help if it is a council-run nursery. If you are in the P. Rye area it might be Renata Hamvas who posts on here so you could pm her. You could also look into Camberwell Grove early years centre (unless of course that's where your daughter is currently!). I really do feel for you, it is truly awful to have to worry about childcare.

Nikki, how awful. Shocking that you have not had more notice when the increase is so significant. I wonder whether you might get your local councillor involved? Re the Villa, my guess is that the waiting list will be around 2 years (that's if you get on the waiting list at all, it is usually closed as demand is so high). They only take children at 2+. Bellenden Day Nursery would also be close to you I think; but have no idea if they're any good. Childminder would be another option perhaps? Most would now have a good idea if they will have a vacancy in Sept and when we were looking a few months ago there were plenty around the Rye Lane area. Good luck.

Hello - we are having exactly the same issue with our baby (now 7 1/2 months) and also had it with our twins when they were about the same age. We found that the problem was that they wanted to feed themselves. For some reason this was always worse at breakfast time, whereas for lunch and dinner they would accept spoon feeding much more easily. Like you, we ran through all the breakfast cereals and fruit but nothing seemed to work. So, at breakfast Baby M now gets fingers of toast with butter and fruit puree spread on top. If she has a piece of toast in her hand to distract her I find it's much easier to slip in the odd spoonful of something else now and again. And I also think it helps that we all sit down for breakfast together - she can see everyone else eating and seems to enjoy joining in. The mess is indescribable though! Good luck with it all.

I have a German au pair arriving in September - maybe we should put them in touch with each other! From looking at old posts on the forum, I believe there is/was a facebook group for au pairs in Dulwich - but I don't know if that is still going. There was also an English college recommended on here called ELT, based in Clapham. The prices look pretty reasonable compared to more central ones, and it's easy enough to get there from here by bike or train. I'm not sure that our au pair will need English lessons though as her English is pretty good - but I am sure she would be interested in a social group if there is one, so do let me know if anyone else gets back to you with any info!

Our twins have been going to Camberwell Grove for 6 months now and they love it there. On the plus side, the staff are lovely, particularly their key worker who they absolutely adore. Recently all the staff have been really great with potty training and have really taken the initiative, which has been a godsend for us. The children do great activities and there's an amazing big outdoor space for them to romp around in, with a proper playground, bikes etc. They always eat very well there and the staff have even managed to get them to nap during the day, which I thought would be impossible. And it's great value for money compared to other nurseries I think. Most importantly we feel the twins are happy there; they always look forward to going, never want to leave at the end of the day, and talk about it when they're not there. It isn't perfect though. The major downsides for us are: (1) the admin is a shambles and seems to be stuck in the dark ages, e.g. you can't pay the nursery fees by direct debit so you have to remember to turn up with a cheque or cash every month; (2) the buildings are looking a bit tired and could definitely do with some sprucing up (although when you're only 2 years old I doubt you care); and (3) they don't offer breakfast for the kids if you drop them off at 8am, which we found invaluable in our previous nursery when we were trying to get to work on time. The twins started when they were 2 1/2 so we don't have any experience of the baby room in the nursery (for under-1's). That might be quite different of course, as there will be different staff and it will be run on a different timetable. Anyway, happy to help and feel free to PM me if you would like to know more about our experience of the nursery.

Thanks ever so much everyone for your help. I was beginning to get quite stressed about it given what TFL were saying! I have looked at where I need to go and it's on the main Tommys site so the 12 will suit us just fine. Thanks again.

Anyone got any suggestions? i need to go tomorrow morning with bubs in tow, which rules out Peckham Rye / Denmark Hill train because of the stairs, and we'd need to go in rush hour too. Had been thinking bus would be the best option but TFL doesnt come up with any sensible options (best was 3 different buses and a 15 minute walk!!). We can v easily get to any of Peckham Rye, Camberwell Green, Denmark Hill, or ED station on foot. Anyone know of a bus route that would work? V grateful for all ideas!

Hi there I would love to join in if you'll have me! I am 37 and mum of twins aged 2.5 and new baby who's coming up to 1 month now - have only recently moved here (close to Denmark Hill) and have left all my NCT friends behind in North London so it would be lovely to meet some local mums and get some dates in the diary. Let me know if you will be meeting up any time soon. Ali