Saffron

Robot vacuum: http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/laundry-and-cleaning/reviews-ns/samsung-navibot-robot-vacuum-cleaner/

Have you tried a Yoomi self-warming bottle? http://www.yoomi.com/ John Lewis sells them. I found that the teat on these was much softer and more realistic than any of the other bottles we tried. They are not cheap, but you might not need more than one or two if you're giving a bottle occasionally. I found the slow flow was faster than I expected, and certainly plenty for even a very young baby.

Then there's my house-proud friend whose home is immaculate. When said friend comes here with toddler, they have no problem trashing our place (hey, it's disorganised, but it's not a rubbish tip!). And they don't bother to tidy up when they leave!!!

My bother and sister-in-law's house has lots of clean surfaces. It also has the exact same knick knacks, in the exact same places that it has had for 15 years! Creepy. My niece (same brother's daughter), told me and my mother that her mum threw out some xmas ornaments that my mother specifically gave to my niece, b/c "they already had some similar ones"! My niece was only 5 years old then. Who throws out a 5 yo's knick knacks from granny?! The woman is obviously crazy (you'd probably have to be to get along with my brother... organises his sock drawer by size and colour). Needless to say, our house is nothing like that, and that's FINE by me. Surfaces accumulate junk daily and are diligently cleared by our fabu cleaner each week. There are a couple of "catch all" areas, mainly kitchen mantle piece. I can live with that. Cats walk on everything when your back is turned. Sofas have all been bounced on (by cats and toddler). Husband, bless 'im, can't make a cuppa without totally destroying half the kitchen. Hey, it's a house, not a museum! :)

Did you apply the topicals before going out, or after the rash appeared?

It's awful, but it's hardly surprsing. Most of the shop bought stuff is just over-processed food aimed at babies. It's no wonder that it's low in nutritional value. The shocker is the advertising. Also, the assumption (not saying anyone here is assuming this!) that babies can't eat whole unprocessed foods is quite unfortunate. I thought is was tough having a winter baby -- Jan birthday, didn't hardly leave the house for snow! But when it came to weaning, it was brilliant when all the summer fruits and veg were in season. xx

Steveo, did your mate offer his cleaner more money, or did he look for another cheap Polish cleaner? If there's a market for cheap labour, then people will keep coming. (I'm not meaning to take a stab at your mate personally. I'm just referring to the scenario in general.) I don't think the benefits system is perfect here, and I do think some individuals use it with questionable intent. Still I'd rather have an imperfect system than no system. I'd also be more inclined to debate the merits/faults of the system as a whole than to besmirch individuals for their choices, unless it is a case of fraud, which should obviously not be condoned. I would have thought it's quite tough to be a single parent in any event, even more so away from your native country. On the up side, I do hear that Warsaw is lovely. ...lovley enough to relocate and work as a cleaner? Well it sounds tough any way you slice it. Hmmm.

Yes, if you've resigned your job, you can claim a form a JSA (if, as mentioned by H, you are indeed looking for work). To the best of my knowledge, this form of JSA is a reduced amount of money from standard JSA, and it is not available immediately.

Could there be a secondary bacterial infection? Have you tried letting the fungal cream set for a few minutes, then apply a barrier cream over it? I think I'd go back and see the GP too. xx

I'm not sure anyone knows. I don't think there's a lot of analytical research available on it. Is it worse when she's been outside? Are you able to use topical antihistamines on her rash? Hope it gets better soon. xx

Agreed it is unclear. OP's statement does not say that she isn't looking for work, simply that she has resigned her current job. She could in fact be looking for a better job, in which case this is not JSA fraud, as I understand it.

RE botulism/biological contamination, I think that only applies to raw honey. But if the honey has been pasteurised, does that affect it's putative anti-allergy properties?

Let your baby lead. A baby that is showing no signs of interest in food probably doesn't have the parallel gut development to be able to process "solids" (ie, anything other than milk). There's no harm in delaying if your baby doesn't appear to be ready. Also starting earlier than 6 months doesn't have to mean offering a buffet. Your baby might initially be interested in just holding a spoon with some yogurt or squishing a bit of banana around in her fist. xx

Btw, if the dad has pushed off, where is he? What does he do? If he's British, is he claiming benefits instead of working hard to bring up his child?

Huguenot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > As a Polish national she would need to have worked > full time for 12 months and be actively looking > for work to claim income support. > > If she has resigned in order to claim income > support then legally she's a benefit fraudster. > I don't think that's strictly true. If you resign, you can still legally claim a reduced form of job seekers allowance after an enforeced time delay. This is not considered fraudulent. (Whether or not it's a good use of funds is entirely another kettle of fish.) Also, resigning a job does not necessarily effect one's eligibity for other forms of benefit payments, as I understand it. Admittedly I haven't checked the webpages today, so this all might have changed. It seems to change at the drop of a hat these days.

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2975-Workplace-Issues-Signs-your-job-is-taking-over-your-life/?SiteId=cbmsnhp42975&sc_extcmp=JS_2975_home1

Horniman, for ages 3+ http://www.horniman.ac.uk/visit/events/event/family-art-fun-easter-holidays

I think she really needs to have interim blood work done to check hormone levels, if there is a real likelihood that she might be refused on grounds of low oestrogen. Is the surgery to correct uterine prolapse (increased oestrogen thought to help this) or similar? Would a pessary hormone ring provide better local uptake of oestrogen w/o excessive systemic exposure, thereby limiting the likelihood of interfering with b/fing?

Yes, it could very much be related to hormones (you're not expressing the dropped feeds I presume?). It could also be coincidental -- could you have a cold coming? Hopefully not. xx

That's fascinating! Where did you find the info? Was it online?

It's ok for your baby to gag. Gagging and choking are not the same thing. Gagging is a normal reflex in early self-feeding, and it helps your baby to learn about chewing and swallowing. xx PS: Have a look at these threads: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,740474,740881#msg-740881 http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,711517,712195#msg-712195

But seriously, I have had a stalker. It was many years ago before camera phones were available. If it ever happened to me again, I wouldn't hesitate to get photographic evidence. There is no law about photographing individuals in public in this country. If you've seen someone acting suspiciously towards you on more than one occasion, then it's worth doing something about it. What you chose to do is of course entirely up to you. Doing nothing b/c you're afraid of upsetting an innocent person, or b/c you're afraid of how people will perceive you as being paranoid, ill-mannered, etc is ignoring an opportunity to protect yourself. xx

jelly Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @Saffron > > Steady on there, 007. The risks outweight the > positives, and if you "think" that snapping > ordinary members of the public, however 'shifty' > they might look, should be done from a distance, > then you should've said so in the beginning seeing > as you're the one who suggested such a bizarre > measure against people who still remain innocent > of anything except rousing your own suspicions. > What you're encouraging is a more intrusive > measure than CCTV, without official sanction. It > would be against the law and could potentially > leave you vulnerable to litigation served by an > aggrieved party who objects to being photographed > in public by an anxious and/or paranoid > pedestrian. How would you react if you saw someone > secretly or "serreptitiously" taking pictures of > another member of the public who you didn't feel > threatened by? One can only assume that you'd > think the worst. Sorry, but the risks do outweigh > the positives. By quite a lot, in fact. Come here, jelly, let me take your picture. Muhahahahahahahaha.

awilliams123 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ah! Thanks everyone for the suggestions....mini > quiches sound like a very good idea. Also curious > where you get frozen mini arancini Beany? > > Little one not into beans...or peas....such a > disappointment!! > Don't give up! :) After showing initial interest in tuna when weaning, Little Saff then went through a phase of refusing it completely. I thought maybe it was just something she genuinely didn't like. Then after months of not offering any, we had salad nicoise, and she ate loads of tuna. Don't offer beans/peas for a while, then reintroduce them along side some favourites. Tastes can change. As far as ready meals go, Little Saff always eats with us. Mr Saff and I gen cook from scratch, but we do enjoy the occasional take-away. I think anything is fine, as long as you don't have it too often. That being said, Little Saff is partial to chips. I use the frozen, oven-bake type, keep salt and oil to a minimum. Instead of ketchup, I always used to mix plain yogurt with tomato puree. Then Mr Saff introduced her to real ketchup and the game was up! Oh well.

Also: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/387162