Saffron

Doh. Nevermind, they're both really nice books, I'm sure you will enjoy reading them. (Which Karmel book did you get? I think I have three different books by her.) I also have Dr Alex Richardon's "They Are What You Feed Them". This is a refreshingly unbiased and non-patronising look at children's nutrition. I'm happy to lend it. Of course if you're a booklover like I am, you'll probably want to buy it!

Nope, i'm not at all concerned. I never thought she had a crossed eye at all! I have always said it's due to the angle of her eyelids and the width of her bridge, both of which will change as she grows. It was my mother-in-law (who only sees Little Saff a couple times a year anyway) who was worried. I'll be very pleased to tell her all is well!!

Try leaving lots of fox/cat pooh all over their porch to shown them that the device is worthless, even at full volume, and so they should disable it.

So, we were seen by the GP yesterday. She had my daughter follow her finger and a toy with both eyes, then a sort of peak-a-boo game with one eye covered, then other covered. This was in between fits of wild laughter from Little Saff who could not keep still to save her life. I don't know how anyone could even keep an eye on her, let alone keep an eye on her eyes. Nevertheless, the GP seemed quite confident that there is no occular misalignment. She did not even refer us for a photographic Hirschberg test. So now I can tell my MIL to stop worrying.

I've had a driver (a woman driver, even!) not let me on with a buggy at all. She said there was no room, but there clearly was. I contacted TFL about it. They said they take complaints very seriously. To make a formal complaint, make a note of the time, the bus route and location of the stop, and driver no. if possible.

No, sorry to say the 484 is not reliable. There's a thread going on it in the 'Issues' Section of the Forum, I think. I'm particularly peed off at the design of the new 484, which is complete RRRRRUBBISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If a baby's weight gain appears slow and spoon feeding helps ease parental anxiety, then I have no issue with that. (Parents should feel relaxed and happy about their weaning choices!) *BUT* it is a myth that BLW babies gain weight slowly. It is also a myth that low-weight, healthy babies should not do BLW. And finally it is a myth that premature babies must be spoon fed at weaning. Premature babies may simply need to be milk fed for longer in order to wait for their physical development to progress to the point of having the ability to self feed. If you do spoon feeding + offering finger foods, this is not truly baby-led weaning. There's isn't anything wrong with that as long as you and Baby are both happy. Although, if you do BLW and want to occasionally offer Baby something on a spoon, or if someone else offers Baby something on a spoon, it doesn't 'ruin' your BLW. Under year old, milk-feeds are the most important for babies. Everything else is about learning and having fun. xx PS: I have the BLW book, and also Annabel Karmel book if you want to borrow...

18 month old toddler had a temper tantrum, then so did 37 year old husband! (Admittedly this one is leftover from last night, and not a fresh irritant today, so either of them potentially have something else irritating yet to spring on me this evening...)

Try acupuncture. Ella Keepax or Giles Davies. xx

Fabu, well done!

A few years ago when the number of clinically obese people offically surpassed the number of starving people, I suggested that we simple feed the fat people to the starving people...

Hi- This sounds great. I looked at music classes for Little Saff. They were always too far away or on the wrong day. I'll be very interested to hear when/where you set up classes. xx

That sounds totally normal. It sounds like he was just gagging on the bread. It can look really scary, but it's fine. Little Saff is a BLW baby. She gagged like that a lot in the beginning. She would sometimes even gag herself with a carrot stick in one hand, while still trying to put more food in her mouth with her other hand. She's 18 months now. She eats like horse and has never choked. Turning red and appearing to struggle to bring food forward are signs of gagging. Coughing and wheezing are signs of a partial choke. A silent, purple face is true choking. It's best not to interfere with gagging, b/c gagging is the reflex that prevents choking. Mr Saff really struggled with this in the first few weeks of baby led weaning. He used to jump up from the dinner table in a panic. Gagging really is more upsetting for the observer than the baby. Remember how the esophagus and trachea (windpipe) work together. When swallowing is initiated, the esophagus moves, the entrance to the windpipe is closed, and food passes into the esophagus and down to the stomach. If Baby is trying to swallow a large piece of food, the windpipe is closed and food cannot pass into it. Neither can it pass down to the stomach if the piece is too large. The offending food is brought back up into the mouth, and the windpipe is again uncovered. During gagging, baby does not breathe, but this is not the same as choking. It may seem like a long time to go without breathing, but actually it is not more than a few seconds which is fine. Choking occurs when there is an unnatural sequence of swallowing resulting in food entering the windpipe where it cannot be brought back up by gagging. So, actually gagging is a good sign that Baby's reflexes are working. When you try eggy bread again, cut the strips of bread very narrow. We found that with a narrower strip of bread, Little Saff tore off a small bite. xx

We had a bib that wasn't machine washable. I put it in the wash anyway. The colour faded some and the plastic laminated surface came away from the coloured backing in places. Can't remember what I did with it afte that. I think we've kept it but don't use it often... Maybe instead of machine washing, you could dip the bib in sterilizer solution for a few seconds?

Great tactic. I've also found that it's always worth asking if the station has step free access. Many stations do, but it's not always well sign-posted. Waterloo station here in London is the worst offender. There is a large and easily accessible step free area at the top of the station by the taxi rank. It's just not well sign-posted at the bottom of the station where I'm always running to catch mums with their buggies before they try to haul them up that awful double flight of steps at the bottom of the station!

Put some double sided tape on the bottom of the sock? x

Try Omar Abidi 07739418261, and say my husband (Iain 'Easy') recommended you to him. We used his service to get my parents to/from the airport, and it was brilliant.

Thank goodness I'm not the only one, Ruth! People keep giving me really odd looks when I have Little Saff barefoot in the park. :)

You might try a really heavy barrier cream like Lansinoh to keep scabs pliable and discourage scratching and picking. Other than that, there's not much you can really do to keep little fingers away from scabs. Keeping your LO busy is really good. And just try not to be disheartened by the appearance of the scabs. Most of them will fade in time. If you were doing oatmeal baths or something similar during the blister stage, keep these up until the scabs have all come away naturally.

Ditto what Pickled said about a flexible soled shoe for outdoors, otherwise barefoot everywhere it is safe. I even let Little Saff go barefoot in our local children's playground in Hilly Fields b/c the ground is in pretty good condition and well looked after. I noticed that Little Saff is much less prone to slipping on the climbing frames when she is barefooted. The sole of the foot is naturally grippy, and the foot can flex more without a shoe.

Hahaha. Sad, really, isn't it? ;-) (I mean in regards to other things I could be doing while Little Saff is sleeping...)

2Loulou, that's a very common mistake regarding the healing of wounds/scars. It's a holdover from Victorian medicine. In Victorian times, bandages were difficult to sterilise and were often reused among multiple patients. The risk of infection associated with unclean bandages led the Victorians to believe that wounds needed to be open to the air to "breathe" in order to heal. In fact, the skin does not breathe in any sense of the word, and leaving wounds open exposes them to bacteria which can lead to infection and further scarring. Leaving wounds unmoisturised to form hard scabs also inhibits the healing process b/c it causes the skin to crack and peel under and around the scab. So, moisturize everywhere you can. If your LO has a few particularly bad scabs, try cleaning them gently with plain soap and water. Dry them thoroughly and apply a Compeed brand blister plaster. These provide excellent protection. They are waterproof and promote healing by helping the body to retain its own moisture over the wound. Look for the smaller ones that are meant for toes. (Scholl blister plasters are not made of the same material and will not work as well for this use.) xx

The new 484 buses are also worse for baby buggies. You can no longer get a wide-base pram down the front aisle, so must always board from the back doors, causing no end of hassle. Husband said he witnessed a heated argument between two ladies with buggies. One had boarded on the back but not yet swiped. The other had swiped her bus card, then gone to load her buggy only to discover that the other lady's buggy had taken her space! I'm not sure what the outcome was. Also, you used to be able to get 3 buggies easily on old-style 484s. You can only really get 2 buggies on the new one. This means for people with an infant or toddler in a buggy, you have less chance of getting on the bus and must wait even loooooonger. This seems incredibly stupid to me b/c if the single seat to the immediate right of the back doors were only made into a folding seat or removed altogether, the problem would solved. An additional buggy could easily fit this space. Too bad no one considered that. I thought new buses for London were going to be designed in consultation with the NCT. Seems not. I'd like to see the mayor or any of the TFL flunkies try to get around a whole day in London with a buggy... I'll even lend them my buggy and Little Saff for the day!

Scars can be 'softened' in appearance with IPL or laser therapies. These are not suitble for children really. IPL is a bit nippy, and laser treatment positively hurts. You might consider this kind of treatment for a very self-conscious teen, if scars are on face etc.

Sorry, we haven't found your shoe. What size is your little girl? We have several pairs of Clark's shoes our daughter has outgrown. I think they are sized something like 3-G, 4 1/2-F, and 5 or 5 1/2-F. You're welcome to come have a look. xx