Saffron

You could try making her cotbed more of a nest. We did this for Little Saff by putting a couple of small rolled-up fleecy blankets down each side of the cotbed. Then we gave her a very flat pillow which had been in our bed several nights so it smell of mummy and daddy. She is still not a great sleeper, but this has helped some. x

Try Giles Davies 15a Barry Road for acupuncture: http://www.gilesdavies.com/contact.htm Also, I second the sunbed idea. UV is good for many different kinds of skin conditions.

new mother Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Try baby sensory classes? www.babysensory.co.uk I second Baby Sensory! Little Saff and I have been going together since 3.5 mo old. Seeing the other babies is very stimulating, and it's nice talking to the other mums too. We started Water Babies about the same time. DD loves that as well. Classes at the Lewisham Hospital pool are especially nice b/c the pool is heated.

> > Is this a genuine scheme by Southwark Council? I don't think it's to do with the council... but there is a genuine project for providing this kind of work for recently released prisoners.

I can recommend Jackie Silberg's 'Games to Play with Babies' for lots of easy and fun games to play with babies under 12mo. Chapters are grouped by age, and the book is very readable. You are welcome to borrow my copy. x

Karvol baby vapouriser works wonders for coughs, but eats batteries like a demon! xx

Hi all. This is confirmed with Fiona for Wednesday 15th December at 2pm. I will get back to everyone on the PMs with all the details shortly, and if anyone else is interested, let me know. There is still space for one or two more. xxx

I was up from 2-5am last night with Little Saff. I'm so deeply traumatised by 11 months of broken nights that I didn't even have the energy to turn on the computer. Mr Saff is convinced we should just put her in the nursery in the dark by herself and let her cry it out. (I disagree b/c I don't think she is the kind of baby that would benefit from such approach.) For 3 hrs last night it was baby grumbling and feeding to one side of me, husband moaning and grumbling to the otherside. How's a person supposed to maintain any sanity??? 'Cry It Out': Lazy man's sleep solution, or last refuge of the deeply sleep deprived? For now I'm carrying on with lots of nighttime cuddles and hoping this phase passes quickly. Wishing everyone lovely afternoon naps. xx

Go back and reread. I think you'll find that's not what was said at all. Re bottle feeding: In the Sears&Sears book on AP, they acknowledge that some babies are bottle fed for any of a number of valid reasons, and they offer helpful advice on how to incorporate their take on AP into a formula fed routine. Re terminology/nomenclature: If you say that calling it 'attachment' parenting implies that other styles of parenting are 'non-attached', then you can still make the same argument for calling it 'natural' parenting... other styles of parenting are not 'natural'? They had to call it something, so *from my understanding* they called it attachment parenting b/c it does draw heavily on attachment theory. I have read the Gina Ford books, and I didn't find any attachment theory in them at all. Does that make them wrong? I wouldn't say so. Does that mean that if you follow the Ford/Ferber style your children will turn out non-attached or ambivalent? C'mon let's not be preposterous. 'Baby training' works very well for some parent-baby sets. Everyone is different afterall. As for smugness, I've seem just as many smug Ford/Ferberites as I have AP parents. So, it looks like that's a personal problem, and not limited to a particular style of parenting! If you went to an AP group and they were horrible to you, then it's a rubbish group, not a rubbish concept. Really sorry to hear of anyone having a bad experience at any support group! As far as people looking down on you for bottle-feeding, I now have people looking down on me for breast-feeding my nearly 1 yo daughter. People with small minds and big chips on their shoulders can find a reason to look down on anyone. Personally if I were part of an AP group, I'd want everyone to feel welcome there.

How's Wednesday the 15th daytime (little 'uns welcome)...? Give me a PM and we can narrow down some hours that work well for everyone! xxx

Get in touch with Ella Keepax or Giles Davies for acupuncture? Might help? Good luck! xxx

charlottep, helena, et al, there is no value judgement, real or implied. Attachment parenting (different from attachment theory, as you correctly point out) is a flexible style of parent-child interaction that does allow for the incorporation of other parenting styles (eg, bottle feeding, non-cosleeping). It doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing approach. In fact, some of the AP books give good tips on how to incorporate others practices into AP. I would still personally consider AP to be the opposite end of the spectrum from 'baby training' (eg Ford or Ferber) *as a parenting style* b/c abuse and neglect are not parenting styles, IMHO. Smiler, I think everyone would be welcome to an AP group, no? But sometimes it's nice to be supported by other people with similar ideas... and if their approaches are (possibly) different, maybe we learn something new from each other? Anyone been to the group in W London to see what it's like?

Ann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I'm with womanofdulwich on this one. I thought > attachment was a psychological process in normal > child development not a style of parenting, will > have to google it myself. > > I'm not against books on parenting at all but > surely instincts are the best guide? Sorry I'm > probably sounding a bit old fashioned, but > attachment parenting group almost implies that > other parents are non-attached? Attachment is a psychological process with three generally recognised outcomes: attached, non-attached, ambivalent. Following on from Jean Liedloff's theory of the continuum concept, attachment parenting as a style seeks the best ways to build a trusting and lasting bond between each parent and child as individuals. In general, AP encourages breastfeeding, babywearing, co-sleeping, and learning to read your baby's cues (belief in baby's cries). For many modern parents, my impression is that insticts get diverted among our hectic lives. AP is an approach to raising children which seeks to help parents tune into this; it is not about 'baby training'. It is not a strict set of rules. Many parents do practice elements of the AP style w/o even knowing it. (Also, Jean Leidloff's book is not a book on parenting. It is a dissertation of her personal observations in sociology.)

Attachment parenting is the opposite end of the spectrum from Gina-Ford type parenting. Jean Liedloff's book 'The Continuum Concept' is the basis for what is now known as attachment parenting. You are welcome to borrow it from me. I don't know of any groups specifically for attachement parenting, but I would also be interested. xx

Waiting for Sainsburys this evening, but it's probably for nothing. Website says adverse weather is affecting some deliveries. This happened last Dec too.

berryberry Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > this is surely all too much information for a > public forum? Gel, cervix, pain? I mean fair > enough we've all been through it but by that stage > it is surely for the domain of partner or actual > birthing site. Has anyone had a baby literally on > the forum before? Hahahahaha-- Tip of the iceberg for this forum. Snow angels and snowmen are waiting to welcome your LO to the wintery world, Fuschia... come on babbbyyyy!!

reren Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I've got to take my 6 week old for bcg tomorrow - > he seems so tiny to put a live vaccine into but i > guess its a necessary evil given high rates of tb > locally? Should i expect him to be a bit unwell > afterwards - how long for? Wondered what others > experience has been? The NHS mandate is to vaccinate babies <12 mo for BCG. If your personal feeling is that 6 wks is too early, you are allowed to reschedule for a later date before you LO's 1st birthday-- or not at all -- your decision.

Barring any unforseen bedtime explosions from Little Saff, I'd be up for it. xxx

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!! xxx

Could you have a blocked duct? A warm bath should help. xx

We were told something similar by our HV. Little Saff was born on the 98th then dropped down to around the 20th. The HV was totally freaked out, and she kept saying my baby was 'losing weight'. How stupid do you have to be to confuse percentiles with mass???? My daughter was not losing weight. In fact she was slowly gaining weight. However, b/c her weight gain was slow, she was dropping in the percentiles. This means pretty much nothing. My LO was (and is!) a happy, healthy little girl. Recommendation from a dietitian to add formula milk (we were exclusively breastfeeding), I found preposterous. There is no benefit to a healthy bf infant to add formula milk, IMO. I did however, book an app w a private paediatrician (after we were told it could take weeks to see someone on the NHS), more to reassure Mr Saff than anything. The doc gave Little Saff a good going over, pulse, breathing, joints, weight, etc. He said she was completely normal... for ?200! Eek. Oh well. Unless your baby is sick in some way, I wouldn't bother w a dietitian or a paediatrician. Trust your instinct. If you do decide to go private, you are not then stuck in the private system. In addition, if a private practitioner does pick up something unusual in your LO, s/he can write a letter of recommendation to your regular NHS GP. Hope that helps. xx Saff xx PS: Now 10 months on, the HVs are saying Little Saff is too big, and we should reduce our feeds! Gimme a break already!! I'm totally ignoring the HV this time. As far as I'm concerned, the only useful thing we got out of our HVs so far was a couple of free baby books.

Keef Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I suspect it would be a wasted badge, as I'm never > about to go to any groups in dulwich. Perhaps I'll > wear an "I like beer" badge. And if any of you > friendly mums see me in a pub, you can feel free > to come and buy me a drink and have a chat ;-) My husband would deffo wear one of those!

I'm not affluent or healthy. Edited to say, You won't be taking a badge then new mother??? ;) xx Saff xx PS: Still not healthy or affluent... and as of tomorrow, young is up for debate too.

So much snow on Hilly Fields today, I kept getting 'ice-lock' on the buggy wheels :-0

Checking into dates with Fiona... Looking at Tuesdays or Wednesdays... will also ask about evenings. Cheers xx Saff xx