Lochie

Also I know u said se24 has been done but the new playground at brockwell park is also worth a special trip if u haven't been! Best playground round here I reckon

Princess di playground in Kensington gardens. You can drive up on a sunday and park for free. It's amazing http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington-gardens/diana-memorial-playground

Wow this is amazing thanks, I feel like a child myself! Anna_r we used to do car thing but resulted in flat bat and call to AA after indicator left on (seems to be problem with hyrids!) Just spent half an hour with upside down open umbrella in hall on floor trying to throw balls into it, that was quite fun ;-)

I was hoping I might be able to get some ideas on how people keep toddlers entertained in the home/garden for free/not much money? Since having a second baby 3 months ago I've preferred to stay at home each day (or at least no further than local park), as I've found it a bit of a mission to get both toddler and baby out. Toddler (2 year 9 month old boy) is starting to get so bored and we seem to be doing the same three things on loop (building towers with Duplo, cooking gingerbread men, watching Junglebook over and over). This has also coincided with potty training and the RUBBISH weather, which has made staying at home even more pertinent! Has anyone got any creative ideas to share (even if its just 20 mins of entertainment!). I am sure there must be loads of ideas unique to each parents which actually every child would love to do. Arts and crafts, in the kitchen, mucky garden stuff, educational....I don't mind what we do but would just love some inspiration (I'm sure I'm not the only one). I'd be eternally grateful ;-)

Ooooh yes defo babyjogger! I've had it nearly 4 months and still marvel at how good it is and cheap!! Much better than the bugaboo I got. And so easy to fold so long journeys really easy. U should be able to pick one up new for under ?200...

Thank you both

My son is nearing 3 and we'll be applying for schools next September. I was just wondering if someone can shed light on how sibling places work? We don't own a property round here so next summer will likely rent near to our preferred school in Lambeth (we know the school we want as my son has been going to the surestart centre there since he was 6 months old). We currently live a few hundred meters outside the catchment area where we are lodging with family, however the school we want is still only 0.4 miles away from where we are now (but not close enough). With sibling places, if we lived in the catchment area and then moved say a mile outside of the catchment a year after our son started school, is the sibling guaranteed a place, i.e. is there still a distance limit on sibling places? Any advice appreciated as I've looked in the Lambeth schools guide and can't find an answer! Thanks in advance

I stopped sterilising at 6 months with my son, this was under my HV's advice who said 'you can stop sterilising between 6-12 months'. He is now nearly 3 and hasn't suffered as a consequence! My daughter is 3 months old and I just wash her dummy I don't sterilise it as I figure my son is sticking his fingers in her mouth so much there is no point. I think the main emphasis with sterilising is on bottles of milk for under 6 months old

I've had to have alot of dental work in the last 12 months and after a difficult experience with my last (rubbish) dentist went to Half Moon Dental this week. They were really good, professional, made me feel at ease despite being a nervous patient, spent alot of time explaining the problem I had and how it would be fixed. I know they do Invisalign braces and I'd happily take my son there for his first trip to the dentist http://www.halfmoondental.com/home%20page.html

Thanks for all the lovely suggestions. Am so close to buying a vic Lee 'east' print as they are moving to the east end but as per ellie78 comment am a bit nervous about art as it's so subjective so will mull it over another day. @biddls - we got one of those as a wedding gift at our wedding we love it :-) Like the picnic rug for me ha thanks fapl!

One of my best friends just eloped and I want to get the couple a wedding gift before they return from Vegas next week. I am really stuck for ideas and was wondering if anyone had ever received a great gift or given one that went down especially well? If they had had a planned wedding they wouldn't have had a gift list as they are not into that kind of thing, so John Lewis vouchers probably out. They are both into travelling, doing things at weekend (restaurants, nice bars, daring stuff like hand gliding!). They are also buying their first home in east London at the moment. They don't have kids! Budget around ?100. Any inspiration much appreciated :-)

Great thanks all 2-4-1 defo more easy on the wallet, I'll look out for them at station

Thinking of heading to London Zoo in next few weeks but am shocked it's ?22 per adult....making a visit with our 2 year old (who gets in free) nearly ?50! Can anyone tell me if it's worth it? He loves animals but don't want to shell out that much if it's too old for him or if you can't really see the animals that well in their allocated areas... Thanks :-)

If you didn't see Homeland on C4 would defo recommend My husband also enjoying Boardwalk Empire box set at moment

@grotty - thanks for asking. Still a bit hit and miss to be honest. Main problem is reluctance to sit on potty for any length of time due to boredom factor. My son is very 'trying' at the best of times and so to make him do something he doesn't want to can be difficult. iPad does seem to be helping though to make him stay on the potty - had about 50% poos/wees in pants and 50% in potty today. Am going to perservere. We also ventured out and he lasted all through a pizza at Pizza Express but then did do a wee on the toy shop floor - probably over excitement bless! He also seems confused about why we congratulate him and give him stickers for doing a wee/poo in the potty - he did a poo in his pants today and started cheering - I think he thinks a wee or poo anywhere is a good thing and doesn't get the importance of the potty! Nursery tomorrow so that'll be interesting ;-) Am going bonkers with all this wee/poo chat it seems to be my life at the moment!

ok thanks both. I don't think i'm being premature in training him as his nursery have told me he is more than ready from the way he behaves when he's there. Am determined to see it through! Better stock up on washing powder

I am into third day of potty training my 2 yr 7 month old son, and have been using the Gina potty training book. I was just wondering of those who have read and used it, how realistic have you found it? My son is not hitting any of the milestones that she says will happen in the first 3 days i.e. 'by day three most of wees and poos should be in potty' - I feel like chucking it in the bin as find it far too prescriptive and clinical but am wondering if I am using it too casually (my son has been in garden for past 3 days pretty much 8 hours a day splashing around in water so his pants get wet easily). He is also developing a hatred of being told to sit on the potty/loo every 15 mins as she suggests and so the Gina routine seems to be building a negative effect on his relationship with the potty. FYI I have no opinion on Gina and haven't properly read her contented baby book so am neither a Gina fan nor non-fan, I just want to know if anyone had similar problems with her 'potty training in a week' book, or whether it really does work for all if you apply it 100% as she suggests. I am not particularly stressed about it and don't care if it takes months to train him but I don't want to confuse my son by being 'Gina' one day and more relaxed the next!

Hi Saila, I was also traumatised by first birth experience and so for second baby had a Brierley midwife - as per Sillywoman comment above, they maybe for you if you had a difficult first experience and became depressed as a result. My second experience was so so far removed from first experience. I think the main thing to remember is you will never have the same labour twice. I was induced with both babies so had very medicalised labours however my second experience was much improved because: - With Brierley you get a small team of midwives caring for you so you get contiuity of care. I cannot emphasise enough how pivotal continuity of care was in having a positive experience - they knew me and my previous birth issues and did EVERYTHING in their power to ensure the same problems weren't repeated. With my first baby (I was living in Sussex at the time so not connected to Kings) I don't think I ever really saw the same midwife twice during my pregnancy, labour, or postnatal care and so no one really ever had a vested interest in my care. - COMMUNICATE all the time about exactly WHAT you are anxious about so that it is written in your pregnancy notes. When it comes to labour someone will be reading the notes and pick up on anything they can do to prevent similar problems arising. - Be assertive about what you want and don't be frightened of saying so - even if what you want isn't the most natural of labours. I always maintained that I wanted an epidural and a second episiotomy if in hospital (despite fact this goes against Brierley ethos of natural birth). I did have to be really really assertive and go on and ON about wanting an epidural (they kept asking if I was sure grrr) - so maybe ask for one before you actually need one then if you change your mind at least you have asked early - I had a large episiotomy with first child and was very very traumatised by it, I remember being in pain from it for about 6 weeks postnatally, so I really was so frightened second time around. I bought an EPI NO (there is a thread on this on the forum) and used it for a month or two before due date. Second time around I had to have a small episiotomy but it was in no way the same as the first time, it healed within a week, and I'd had a 9lb4oz baby - I do think the EPI NO had some part to play in only requiring a small cut I am sure you will be fine this time as long as you express your concerns to your main point of contact (be it midwife or GP) early on. My experience at Kings was amazing, my midwife even managed to get me a private room as I'd been so sleep deprived after a long labour with my first child which led to me becoming depressed. So she really made an effort to give me a better experience this time - I honestly believe it is possible as long as you keep communicating. Good luck

Re: bottles - the HV (at Townley Road!) told me if I went to see the SLT the first thing they would do is tell me off for still letting him have a bottle (he still has 3 a day too!). I think she said it was something to do with the pallet and it affecting speech if there is a delay, or if they attempt to speak with bottle in mouth it can impair speech dev. However the SLT said as long as they can drink from an open cup then having bottles isn't a problem with speech so no need to worry - sorry to alarm anyone who still has big toddlers on bottles like me!

Also one other tip the SLT said was to do with when you look at books together. e.g. if you are looking at a picture of a ball and want your child to say ball don't say 'what's that' say instead 'this is a??....(pause)' and hopefully the child will make an attempt to answer. I think this style helps to take the pressure off the child as I really was constantly saying to my son 'what's that, what's that' at every book we read in order to try and get him to speak and I think it just stressed me and him out!

We had similar concerns at that age with our son he seemed way behind others and I in particular was very worried. There is (or was about 10 months ago) a speech and language therapy drop in session at the Crawford's Childrens' Centre which is just behind Kings. The therapist we saw was really helpful and also allayed the guilt I felt about the fact I hadn't weaned him off the baby bottle (and still haven't at 2.5 years old agggh!). She was really positive and said although his speech was slow he showed other signs he was developing ok. Also they can't really do a formal assessment at such a young age I think you have to wait til 3?? If you are concerned I would definitely push to see a SLT and not just make do with a Health Visitor assessment as the HV said alot of different (and wrong) things from the SLT (who obviously know their stuff - though perhaps I was just unlucky enough to see a rogue HV!). Just to reassure you my son is now 2.5 years old and can talk my ear off - there really was a speech 'explosion' about 3 months after he turned 2 (this coincided also with him attending nursery which I think really helped) Good luck

Use olive oil instead of baby oil on babies dry skin, it's cheaper (if u already have it in house) and much kinder. If only branded nappies worked on first child don't assume it's the same for second child. I've just discovered sainsburys nappies work really well on 7 week old girl and they didn't hold anything for first born son. So daughter much cheaper on the nappy front!

I had this problem when my son was born (and he didn't wake every hour like yours!) - alot of it was psychological. I knew that when he was asleep that was my chance to get a few hours kip and I felt so much pressure to sleep that I couldn't and it got worse and worse :-( I had my second child last month and was really worried about sleep deprivation caused by my own anxiety/insomnia/mind racing. Two things helped: - When I got the chance to sleep I wouldn't go to bed to 'sleep' but went to 'rest' instead. That took the pressure off actually sleeping and because I felt less pressurised I naturally started to doze and then sleep. Even if I hadn't slept I told myself it was ok because I'd at least had a rest. - In the first few weeks after my daughter was born I found an ipad app with several white noise programmes (think its called white noise ambience lite and has some nice ones like heavy rain and gentle ocean waves). I used it to help her get to sleep but actually it helped me more as I focused on that noise and not external noises like her sucking/breathing etc....again that helped me naturally drift off to sleep I also had CBT at the Maudsley after my son was born for PND/anxiety, alot of which was tied up with sleep deprivation - I would highly recommend it and as the others have said if you ask your GP you should get a referral in a few weeks. Obviously your situation is made more difficult by reflux and so you probably feel intense pressure to sleep when your baby sleeps which is only compounding the problem - I really feel for you! Good luck

My dad just sent me this... It's lovely and even though I'm knee high in stinking nappies today with a hideous stye (courtesy of son's nursery AGAIN no doubt!) it reminded me how quickly the stages pass and to try and enjoy them all

Jenny same thing seems to be happening to us. Terrible screaming all evening and morning unless held! Dream baby has turned into diva baby!