Knomester

I think there have been some similar threads on this topic so it may be worth doing a search. In our case, our son goes to a childminder 3-4 days per week. We found her after lots of research a few months before he was due to start and he has been with her for over 18 months now. We pay ?57.50 for an 8am to 6pm day and she has 4 weeks' paid holiday per year. Our son's childminder provides all food, drinks, milk, etc. She pays for the groups that they attend (usually 2 or 3 each week) and for things like soft play or city farms when she takes him there. We supply the nappies but she supplies wipes, etc. So really the price we pay is for everything and there are no hidden extras, but I understand all childminders work in different ways so you would need to check individually with them.

I think we stopped around 4 months (by which time he could get his arms out), but then moved on to a sleeping bag with sheet tucked in tightly under arms to make him feel secure.

Voted!

Thank you. I'll have to take a look at the blurb and work it out then!

I am probably being really dim, but is our entitlement to CB calculated for us or do we need to do that ourselves and opt out if necessary? We are still receiving it and I have never received any correspondence about it. Am I wrong to just assume that we are still entitled to it?

Thank you for the messages and PMs. I was too late home from work to take another proper look last night but will do. There is plenty of room for some teeth, if that's what it is, but I would just rather know whether he is teething or not so we can be mindful of it. I had milk teeth taken out, but I don't know if that was because they were extra ones or there just wasn't room for them in my mouth - I'll check!

I just wondered if anyone has come across a situation where their toddler has grown more than the standard 20 milk / baby teeth? Our 2.5 year old has all 20 baby teeth, however he has shown all the signs of teething over the past 2 or 3 weeks (fingers in mouth, refusing to eat, early waking, rosy red cheeks, etc) and on closer inspection seems to have what look like teeth sat under his gums at the back on both sides of his lower jaw (white patches just below the surface of the gums). We took him to see the dentist to check, but in and between him not wanting to open his mouth and her not really seizing the opportunity when I did lay him on my lap and got him to open his mouth she didn't get a good look. She dismissed it saying that toddlers never grow extra teeth. A very quick search on the internet has shown this not to be true, although admittedly very rare. I just wondered if anyone has come across the same situation, or if there is another possible explanation for this, before we look into it further? Thanks

I have no personal experience of this (yet) but, like bluesuperted, I have a son who is a late August baby. We are still in two minds about what we will do and are waiting to see how he develops over the next few months (he isn't 3 yet). However, if we decide not to send him to school in the September when he will have just turned 4, we would put him straight into Y1 the following year (rather than reception where he would be a year behind his peers). Every child is different, but as a parent who is not a huge fan of 'formal' education for under 7s, let alone under 5s, I will be interested to hear what decisions others have made in a similar situation.

Thank you all for your help and advice. In the end, as my toddler already has a pair of leather ankle boots for everyday wear, we bought him a pair of waterproof snowboots (with adjustable velcro straps) for cold and snowy weather - http://www.muddypuddles.com/boys/footwear_1/snowboots_1/reflex_snowboots.htm - and a pair of knee high wellies for jumping in puddles on rainy days - http://www.muddypuddles.com/footwear/wellies/classic_wellies_navy.htm Both have proved to be excellent choices so far. We bought both in the next size up (size 8) and he wears them with thick welly socks. The snowboots fit well and are lovely and warm. They are also really light so he can run around in them no problem. The wellies come high up his legs so combined with waterproof trousers are perfect for mud and puddles. They also seem to fit much better than any of the other brands we tried (John Lewis, Hunter and Crocs). Can't wait for his feet to grow so that he can have a pair of splats though - they look amazing!

I sadly can't do either, but please go ahead if the date suits and I'll join you all next time.

We love it there!

We have the OXO spoon and fork which our toddler used from quite early on. Before that he just used a weaning spoon to feed himself and then the tommee tippee spoons which have a shorter ergonomically shaped handle. My husband helped him learn by sitting patiently with him around the same age as your little one encouraging him to 'scoop' and showing him so he could copy. As for foods, like Fuschia mentioned, anything thick and easy to scoop out of a high sided bowl - porridge, yogurt, soups, casseroles, scrambled eggs, small pasta shapes in sauce, etc

Thank you all so much! Lots to looks at.

I just wondered if any of you know much about wellies or waterproof boots in terms of how good they are for childrens' feet? Our toddler is due some new wellies as his feet have just grown, but we're not sure which brand or style to go for. Until now he has always had a basic welly (currently has the ?12 ones from John Lewis which have the cuff at the top), but as he wears them so much (all day sometimes - he spends most of his time in mud and puddles) I'm not sure whether they are any good for his feet, etc. We spend so much money on correctly fitted shoes that it strikes me as odd to just stick his feet in any old wellies when it's not just for occasional use (as in our son's case). There are so many wellies out there - bog standard wellies, crocs, hunter, joules, etc and I've also heard there are properly fitted waterproof boots you can by (I can't remember the details...) - that I'm not really sure where to start. He is a size 7 shoe so would probably need a bigger size in boots to allow for thicker socks. I don't know if that makes any difference. I'd be grateful for any thoughts / guidance! Thanks

Me too. I'll drag bluesuperted along ;)

20p?! You were luck ;) I used to get a shiny 10p piece in my little tin in exchange for my tooth (except for when I had to have big baby teeth taken out to make room and they earned me a special 50p for being brave!).

Thanks alieh

I'm sorry Fuschia I missed your response last week. We are driving but taking our cot is not an option so I'm looking into buying a second hand BabyDan travel cot to tide us over until we're ready for big boy beds! Thanks again for everyone's input. If you have a BabyDan travel cot to sell please do get in touch by PM!

Thank you all. sillywoman - there won't be a single bed where we're staying in February, plus I have no doubt that he would just climb out anyway! He still moves around a lot at night (still in a grobag). etta166 - Thanks for the feedback on the Nomad. I guess I'm a bit cautious to take th plunge because they are so expensive, but I'll take a look on ebay to see how much they're going for second hand. Fuschia - They look great for a child whos stays in bed, but Baby Knomester just has no experience of sleeping in a bed yet so I'm not sure any of use would get a wink of sleep if I tried that now. A good holiday option for when he has moved to a big bed though.

We are now in the same position as oimissus was and I thought I'd resurrect this thread rather than start a new one... Baby Knomester is 2 and 4 months, still in a standard cot at home (and staying put for the foreseeable future) but is tall (around 96/97cm) and has out grown his travelcot. We have a holiday coming up in February and need to get something sorted for then as well as for summer hols and when he stays with grandparents. As far as I can see, when it comes to travel cots, our options are: Babydan Travel Cot (which Fmm mentioned above) with a travel mattress which isn't particularly good for travel as it doesn't collapse - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001E1DH2M/ref=s9_simh_gw_p75_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1Z1XKP877BRQAHQBDH8X&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=317828027&pf_rd_i=468294 or Nomad Travel Bed - http://www.pushchairs.co.uk/acatalog/nomad_travel_bed.html Does anyone have experience of the Nomad bed? I'm worried that Baby Knomester might just think it's a play tent and climb out (which wouldn't make our holiday particularly enjoyable...!). Thanks

We had the Beco Gemini which bluesuperted refers to for our son from around 6 months and still use it now to front carry (parent facing) him from time to time at nearly 28 months (although he's getting a bit heavy for me now at over 35lb and about 94cm tall!). A good sling which has worn and washed well and been comforable for us all to use. I do think though that if we ever had another baby we'd probably go for the Manduca instead.

It's a known problem with vodaphone at the moment - there's another thread about it on the forum somewhere. I managed to get a month's line rental refunded yesterday, but they still can't confirm when it will all be sorted.

Have those of you who have had refunds had those refunds credited to your accounts already? I had a real battle with them today for them to even accept that there is a problem which is affecting my network coverage (and not a problem with my phone which is what they tried to fob me off with at first). They told me that I can't have a refund yet - they put a note on my file and will deal with refunds when the problem is rectified and I will have to call back. They told my husband it would be another week when he called last week, today they told me they don't know when it will be sorted.

Maybe to grow into a bit, but I loved Fantastic Mr Fox, Danny Champion of the World, James & the Giant Peach, The Borrowers, etc. Also love the Michal Morpurgo books (suitable for varying ages for being read to and reading self). Then once you're onto longer stories with chapters how about Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, The Secret Garden...

I know a lot of you and your children are very fond of the London Transport Museum, as we are, so I thought I'd post these links which I came across this morning. It sounds as though the museum needs some financial support, following recent cuts to its funding, in order to remain open. http://bitly.com/SIDdEK http://tinyurl.com/bpw7aqe