happymummy

Hello, I held my girl's christening party at Dulwich Wood House. All guests said food was great (fusion buffet) I didn't quite manage to eat much myself, unfortunately. The staff were great - v attentive. The bar can get busy so we pre-bought drinks which were left out on a table for people to help themselves. We used the conservatory/decking area which is semi enclosed and has a retractable roof. The weather was absolutely awful so the roof stayed on and we eventually moved the whole thing inside. The garden is great for children to have a run around and the conservatory area has a lovely soft floor ideal for toddlers. It's worth a visit to check out and discuss your requirements.

Hello, This is a message to all local mums and dads. Daddy and I would really like to get out a bit more and need to find a regular local babysitter to look after our 8 month old baby girl the odd evening. I don't feel particularly comfortable using strangers from agencies etc and would feel much more at ease booking someone who comes with a good recommendation from local parents. The sitter would ideally be someone who works with young children during the day, though this isn't absolutely necessary. Please let me now if you can help. Many thanks.

I just travelled with my car seat and checked it in with my luggage with no special wrapping. It came back in good condition and was loaded separately and classed as a fragile item.

Check out a book called 'The No Cry Sleep Solution' it's full of lots of tips for tackling a range of different sleep issues. It's a lovely book that helps you realise that babies aren't all supposed to sleep for 12 hours without waking up and that there are other methods that should be considered before resorting to controlled crying. Good luck.

Not sure where you're planning to fly longhaul but Virgin Atlantic are pretty good at looking after people travelling with babies. I work for VAA and I do believe that our cabin crew would really go out of their way to help you. There's also a special assitance line you can call to talk through all your concerns re pushchairs, bassinets etc. As I understand Bassinets are always first come first served, so I would recommend that you arrive early at check in. Again, ask special assitance for advice. If you don't fly with VAA then I'm sure most other airlines have a similar service. I'm also about to fly to South Africa soon with my four month old just the two of us, so all the responses above have been pretty helpful for me too. Bx