Saffron

Hi jennyh- Have you tried raising the head end of her cotbed 1 to 2 centimeters? This may help with sinus drainage. Have you also considered having her allergy tested? Even if the allergens aren't directly in her room at night, she can still show the effects of having been exposed earlier in the day. Would your GP give you a referral to an ear/nose/throat specialists? Oops, crossed posts with Yak-- raising the end of the bed seems to be a popular option. Hope it will work well for you. xx

Sorry I can't rem her name, but was wrongly told by a gp at fh road surgery that there are no drugs available for breastfeeding mothers w pnd! Was also hassled by other gps there, and given wrong advice/info re breastfeeding from the hvs. I have since changed surgeries. Sorry, that's not encouraging, it's just to say that if you don't think you're getting the right treatment, don't give up! Should you need it, I know an excellent private psychiatrist.

At least it wasn't, 'Do not sh1t on my dress!' (Let's not temp fate!!)

I'm sure we've all been there in one form or another. Husband left a used nappy in a bag I only use once a week. Thankfully it was only a wet nappy, and it was a disposable. But it made my bag smell like a public loo! For the muslin: Household chlorine bleach on a 90 C wash. Molds are very tenacious. (Otherwise, just throw out the muslin.) xx

You're not spoiling him. You're right, he's too young to spoil. You're giving him the love and attention he needs for his current development. Whatever it is that has him grumbling is only a phase. Do you have the Wonder Weeks book? It's very helpful regarding developmental leaps and the upsets they cause. I'm happy to loan you my copy. Constant grumbling could also be teething, even if you don't actually see any teeth coming. This sounds like pretty normal behaviour, but if it doesn't let up in a week, think about seeing your GP. It could be something you can't see causing Baby stress, for example an earache. Try using a sling, a rocking chair, or a bath together as a way to soothe your whingy little fellow. Hope you're both feeling better soon! xx

I just found several 1p and 2p coins the in freezer drawer. This seems to be a favourite place for Little Saff. I think I'll know where to look if my credit cards ever go missing.

Darling, your socks are in the freezer... and other things you thought you'd never say... Like, Get that bog brush out of your mouth. Or, Sudocrem is not for breakfast. Following on from having a whinge-free day, perhaps we can all share a few unusual anecdotes about parenthood? No matter how young/old your children are, or what parenting style you follow, we've all surely found ourselves doing/saying things we never could have imagined. While recently 'helping' me to put away laundry, Little Saff put a pair of her Daddy's socks in the freezer drawer. I was too busy at the time to get them out again. Later when my husband asked where his socks were, I had to confess that they were in the freezer!

Grrr that's awful! At least no one's child has been bitten yet. If you think the revamp was expensive, let's wait to see what the cost of a lawsuit is when someone's child finally does get bitten. Poor planning Southwark. Shame on you.

If someone has his/her ears pierced later in life, and the holes close, he/she didn't let the piercing heal long enough. A completely and properly healed piercing will never close. It is a scar in the tissue. However, if you leave the jewellery out for a long time, the hole will tighten. This would be true even if the ears were pierced in infancy, but you later removed the earrings in adulthood. I had my first set of ear piercing done when I was 5 year old. This was in the States, so maybe the training and requirements are different? The studs used in the piercing gun were not blunt. The actually had a special needled tip which was covered by the backing of the earring to protect it from scratching once in place. And, no, it really wasn't all that painful to have done, but I do remember it being sore for a while afterwards. I had a second set of ear piercing done when I was 19 years old. It was not b/c the first had closed. It was b/c I wanted a second set. This was done with a needle in a tattoo/piercing shop. It does take a little longer. It wasn't any more/less painful than the first. Kapaxiana, that's a little disturbing, what you say about people at Claire's not being trained. It's no wonder you don't want to have them done there! As for the cultural difference, I have come across this too. I was raised in the the States, and it's much more common for girls to have their ears pierced there in childhood, e.g. between maybe 4 and 12 years old. I was surprised to find that many of my British girl friends didn't have their ears pierced until they were in their late teens. In contrast, my father-in-law's carer from (west?) Africa thought my baby was a boy b/c her ears weren't pierced! We're not having Little Saff's ears pierced until she is old enough to ask for it herself, but at the same time, I'm not against other people doing it to their baby girls (or boys). Hope you find somewhere nice and have a good experience. Please let us know where you end up going and how it all works out! xx

Fellas, please look away now... Ladies, a natural home remedy for vaginal candidiasis ('thrush') is a fresh garlic clove vaginal supository overnight. Safe and very effective, also very soothing and starts to work almost immediately, but you will smell of garlic for a day afterwards!

Just thought of something else...Don't let the antibiotic wreck your digestion! Get your husband or a friend to pop in Holland & Barret or similar. Ask for acidophilus tablets with an enteric coating. These have a concetrated form of the good bacteria your degestive system needs. The tablet form is much more potent and effective than the little yogurty drink things. Hope you're feeling better soon.

No, definitely don't do it yourself unless you are trained to pierce and have experience with babies/children. A reputable piercing shop should be able to give you advice. They will not use an anaesthetic, but they might use a cold spray instead, which actually works better than an anaesthetic. Although for ear piercing, you really don't need it. And actually, I can imagine the cold spray really freaking out a baby! You CAN get needle piercing in the UK. Many types of piercing are done with a needle instead of a gun, for example the belly button. So anyone who is trained to needle should also be able to do the ears. When I was pregnant I needed to change my bellybar for a flexibar so that I could keep it in place as my pregnancy belly grew. I think Shiva in Greenwich was where I got the specialty jewellery from. I remember them being really nice. You should call and ask their advice about baby ear piercing. http://www.shivapiercings.co.uk/ But just out of curiosity, why do you not want to have it done somewhere like Claire's that uses a piercing gun? These are fast, effective and sanitary. The people that use them are trained for babies and children.

@dollydaydream: a doctors office is the same thing as a doctors surgery or a doctors clinic. Although, I also have never known any doctors in the UK to do ear piercing. Kapaxiana: wouldn't most piercing shops generally do needle piercing rather than gun? I'm not sure what the difference is though? I had one set with a gun when I was 5, and one set with a needle when I was 19. No difference to me. The people at the piercing shop in Greenwich are really nice. You could call to ask if they are ok with babyies. If not, maybe they can recommend you somewhere that is?

How long after you took the pills did you vomit? Did you have a large meal in your stomach when you took them, or was your stomach relatively empty? These two factors will greatly affect uptake from the stomach. If it were me, I would take another dose of antibiotics if the time lapsed were less than 1/2 hour (emptyish stomach) or less than 1 hour (fullish stomach). That's just me (not a doctor) of course, and even doctors will differ in their opinions, b/c no one can know exactly how much of the drug is in your system. Why not give the NHS Direct a call. I have found them helpful in the past. 0845 4647 http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/default.aspx Mastitis is better treated sooner rather than later, so no one will fault you if you go back to the A&E today. Trust your instincts. If you would feel better seeing a physician today, then that's the right decision for you. xx

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7234578.stm It's an old (2008) article, but still relevant and interesting. The British government thought the issues raised by children entering formal education too early were significant enough that they now allow people the option to delay formal education up to a year. But then again, would just like also to offer anectodal experience from the opposite point of view: My friend's steiner-educated daughter who started formal education later now has massive problems with reading.

Agreed, childminders would be more expensive than putting a child into formal staterun education system... unless you end up with problems later on b/c of their young age. As you say, new mother, it depends on how 'young' the child is. It may also depend on the quality of the education the child receives once in formal school, no? As for the jury being out... I haven't specifically looked for data on young children, but I do recall reading something about there being significant problems for *some* children when they hit the teen years and the rest of their classmates are more/less a year ahead of them. It was quite some time ago that I read this, so I'm very curious to know if there is new research in this field.

This one is a classic! Love it!! Hope things aren't that bad for you now?? I can offer Cheeky S some playtime with Little Saff, if you need to rest. xx

Although the saggy tummy is not strictly related to neutering, post-neutering weight-gain can exaggerate the look. In evolutionary terms, it is thought that cats have very loose skin to decrese the chance of injury when they are fighting or hunting. B/c the belly is outside the protection of the boney ribcage, the skin there is particularly loose. Any other cats or prey taking a bite at the soft belly, would only get a mouthful of skin. This gives the cat some extra protection there. Also, many cats store fat in the belly region. It's like kitty love-handles. Sometimes, but not always, neutering can cause cats to gain weight b/c the change in hormone profile changes their metabolism. As long as you're cat is not grossly obese, a little flab on the belly is just fine. Incidentally, our cats are the opposite. Our unspayed female has the tummy flab, and spayed female is fit as a fiddle.

So if they are young for their academic year, why start them early? Why not keep them with a childminder for another year before entering formal school? I don't know of any research to say that delaying entry is harmful, nor that early entry into formal schooling is beneficial. If anyone else knows of any research in this area, I'd be very curious to hear it. I think we will consider delaying entry to formal school for Little Saff, rather than putting her in as 'young for her year'.

This is generally quite normal and nothing to worry about, as you say there are no lumps etc and Kitty seems happy. All cats have relatively loose skin, for example compared to humans. On some cats this will be more pronounced than others. It's not gender related, and not related to spaying/neutering either. Some cats do have weight gain after spaying/neutering, although that doesn't sound like the case for your Kitty, and a little weight gain wouldn't be a big deal anyway. The floppy skin may become more pronounced with age, and that's normal too. (And in that respect, unfortunately, cats ARE like humans!) Kitty can go on being a happy member of your family with no cause for concern. If you notice anything unusual or Kitty seems unhappy, check with your vet or the nice people at Celia Hammond animal trust. xx

Ah,that must be why Little Saff has systematically broken all my sunglasses!

A Hip Hammock might be a bit more secure than a ring sling. If you twist your upper body suddenly in a ring sling, there is a chance that Baby can be dislodged.

Hi everyone we may have this sorted, so thanks for the interest!

I didn't read it as the blogger condeming pushchairs, more that she was pointing out that we can sometimes miss opportunities to communicate with our children even when they are right in front of us. I think we can look on slings and parent-facing buggies as a good thing, rather than vilifying forward-facing buggies. And we can make a point to keep talking to our children and patting their little heads and hands even when they're in forward-facing buggies. Uh-oh, here comes Little Saff now. :) Time to get off the computer and have some communication!! ;-)

We had to go back to cosleeping a couple months ago. It's so much better for me, but Husband has to sleep in the spare bed b/c Little Saff kicks him in her sleep. Now we're getting a little futon for her room. She just wasn't a cot-sleeping baby. We're slowing going to transition her out of our bed and into the futon in her room. Then if she hits another rough patch with sleep, I'll cosleep with her in her room.