Dulwich Born And Bred

I went to a mixed primary, loved it, went to a mixed secondary school which I liked but the distance was too far for travelling so I went to a single sex school and hated it. There was so much bullying, bitching etc it was unbelievable. Lots of my friends were also boy obsessed because there was none ( instead of the male teachers became the focus of their attention!) and some of them still today have problems forming a relationship with the opposite sex as they had no experience whilst growing up of mixing with boys. It is a very personal thing, and it does depends on the personality of your child. My sister wants to send her girls to a single sex school as she thinks mixed schools will provide too much distraction, so we both think differently about it!

Looks like a Hoodie with two rather large dogs on a lead...least its on a lead!;-)

Regarding the older age, we all used to have our BCG at the age of 13 are none the worst for it, so I personally don't think age is an issue when it comes to the BCG.

I think WHO recommends up to the age of 2, though I personally think once they are fully weaned ( from one onwards when they are having three meals a day, snacks and can have cow's milk morning and night time) then they don't really need to be breast fed but that is a personal thing.

I am sure there are some mums who would fuss over their child more but I know lots of mums who do not. If you love kids, you would be able to devote quality time to both, it is the same thing with nanny shares, you get some nannies favouring one child over the other but most nannies will give each child quality time. The point of having two children in yoru care be it via nanny share or a mummy nanny is to enable both children to interact and grow up with each other. It is company for the children and it teaches them to share among other things. I come from a large family and as my son is an only child, he misses out on a sibling, a nanny share is great for us as he gets a substitute sibling, and hopefully a long lasting friendship since they will be growing up and hitting milestones together. A sole charge nanny looking after just one child charges ?7-10 an hour, so a nanny share would usually be ?5-7 an hour, a childminder is usually ?5 an hour, so I would expect a mummy nanny to be around ?5-7 an hour, I honestly would not expect ?8+ an hour when I would get that as a sole charge nanny, and I would not feel right calling in that because as you stated we are using your house, your food, your utilities. Regarding the highchairs, cot etc, could you not get it second hand and split the cost? or she puts what she can afford towards it? A booster seat and travel cot don;t cost much these days.

That is not right, as a nanny, when I go back to work as a mummy nanny I will be charging ?6 an hour simply because I have my own child along also so for me it works out the same price roughly as a nanny share. Usually I would charge ?8-10 for a sole charge so depending on experience I think ?5-7 an hour for a mummy nanny is about right.

I was advised not to either as TB is very hard to catch,and as my son is not exposed to lots of people on a daily basis ( i.e nursery/people abroad/etc)it was not deemed priority that he has his BCG at this moment in time. I will probably reassess when my son is older but for now he has not had the BCG.

You are taking it out of concept Keef. She is an editor for a baby and parenting magazine, so she is risking an uproar from the breastfeeding mothers, furthermore in the magazine there should have been two viewpoints, hers and that of a breastfeeding mother in order to address the balance and to appeal to both formula and breast feeding mothers. To call it 'Creepy' it just immature and pathetic and not what you expect from an editor of a baby/parenting magazine. I suppose she thinks giving birth vaginally is 'creepy' too.:))

Ahh, it is a whole different challenge when they are on the move. My little man is loving discovering a whole new world now he is on the move. I just purchased some Prince Lionheart Cushioned corner/sharp edges covers as though you cannot prevent all accidents at least when they bang their heads it will soften the blow a bit! I have also got some safety gates so he cannot fall down the stairs or leave the lounge if I am in another room. I have not bothered with socket covers as they are all covered up by sofas/beds/various other pieces of furniture etc so he does not have access to them. I have not bothered put a lock on cupboard doors as there is nothing dangerous in all the lower cupboards. Same as the drawers, I would never bother with that as he does not have access to anything dangerous as the knives are in the top drawer and by the time he can reach those he will be going school and will be old enough to know he cannot touch those. The cooker is high up and he is unable to grab anything from the hob so not bothered with that. I have covered the TV/DVD player with some scatter cushions, though he is quite tall and does manage to 'smack' the TV all the time. I think you just have to do what you would do in a flood, move all your precious things up higher. You could wrap everything in bubble wrap and trust me, they would still have an accident at some point. Just got for what is the most dangerous and what they are most likely to come into contact with on a daily basis ( ie if they spend lots of time in the lounge and you have exposed wires/sockets/lots of sharp furniture then that would be priority to make child friendly). Babies...the worry never ends!:))

Babies cannot cool themselves down so if your rooms are quite hot, it is best just to do a vest and low tog grobag/thin sheet/blanket. My little man usually sleeps in just his nappy/or sleeveless vest and a very thin cellular blanket when the temperature drops. Give their back/tum a feel to see if they are hot.

Sundays are not good for me since it usually is spent consuming a big roast dinner with all the family, but any meet ups you have during the week/Sat I shall aim to attend.

My son sleeps on his tummy too, he has done from very young as it was the only way I could get some sleep in between the constant feeding.

BellendenBear, I did put 'among other ' to let people know that other factors can contribute to cot death, but for others who are interested it can overheating, sleeping on tummy, there is a higher rate of cot death for underweight babies, boys, and those to mothers under the age of 20. I know of someone whose baby died in her arms whilst she went shopping and he was just 8 days old, it is just one of those things. I think for my peace of mind, because the first six months is when it usually happens, I prefer my son near to me but then I am breastfeeding also so it makes sense for him to be next to me. With regards to children sharing a room,I have known of a few toddlers tormenting their baby sibling. My second cousin heard crying and a strange noise from her children bedroom, when she went in, her little boy had buried his baby brother under lots of nappies and was standing by the cot looking very guilty! My mum said my brother was horrible to me and used to twist my arms etc. I guess if the sibling is jealous, they could be a bit mean. Personally I would not trust a younger child to share with a baby, I know with my son that the little ones can get overexcited and though they are trying to help him, they end up making him cry by attempting to pick him up and by being helpful but as they are little themselves it does not go down well!

Jollybaby It says on here that: 75 percent of babies died in a room without an adult in it, hence the advice to have baby in a room with you for the first six months among other things. http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/sleep/cotdeathdaytimenaps/

My son can sleep through anything ( when he does sleep! He likes to go down late and get up late!) I don't believe in making a house too quiet for baby as it means the slightest noise and they are up. I do live by a main road and have no double glazing so he has had to learn to sleep through the traffic noise, sirens blaring and the rest. He can sleep with the light on or off. I just wish he would go down at a reasonable hour like 8pm, 10-midnight is NOT fun! After sleeping next to a man that snores like a pig in pain, the noises my son makes are mild compared to his father.

My son turned nine months today and is still sleeping in my room, I don't intend to put him in a room on his own during the night until he is 1/2, as I personally feel I would not be able to relax otherwise. They recommend babies sleeping in the same room as their parents because our breathing regulates theirs since babies can hold their breath. I have to say my son did this a lot, he went blue at one point also, so I was very glad indeed that he was sleeping with me because I dread to think of the different outcome that could have had. With regards to monitors it says on the FSID website that: Do movement (breathing) monitors prevent cot death? There is no evidence that movement monitors (also known as apnoea or breathing monitors) prevent cot death. Babies can and do die whilst on a monitor. They are designed to sound an alarm after 20 seconds if they can?t detect a baby?s breathing movement. They cannot detect a blocked airway until breathing movements stop. Its all a personal choice, as it seems like there are lots of healthy babies in Dulwich despite being in their own room from a young age or staying in the same room as their parents.

I apologise if anyone took offence. I am not anti formula either.

Ermm babies don't get a choice in what they drink, you give them formula of course they will grow on it and like it, its their source of nutrition and food. It DOES smell and taste vile. I am not getting into a FF vs BF argument with you, you can continue that argument alone, at the end of the day the original poster is breast feeding and wants to get her baby on bottles, you can take up the FF vs BF argument but I am saying if a baby is usually on breast milk and rejecting bottles/formula, it is not surprising why because formula milk is not as nice and bottles are not nice when coming from breast, it would be a bit like me having nice organic cow milk or a nice tasty steak from William Rose and then having to have powered milk or a cheap iceland meat..it would take some getting used to! If I had just kept my son on formula and didn't give him breast then of course he is going to like his formula and thrive on it, because it is all he knows and his only source of food, but if you give most babies breast, and then try to offer them bottles and formula, you usually will find a lot of babies put up resistance. Sorry but that is fact, you can take it as personally as you want. Those that know me know I am not someone who goes around stating formula is evil and nasty and they must breast feed, each to their own. And I will state again, the original poster is breast feeding. If the original poster was feeding formula then you can take issue with me. That is the last I will be saying on the matter.

Moos, I didn't say formula is bad, my son took formula when he was tongue tied and I have been trying to get him onto formula since he rejected the bottle, I only intended to breast feed for 6 months, but he is not having it, sorry if you took it that way but that is not the way I intended it to come across. Breastmilk IS sweeter, and the flavour does vary according to what the mother eats, so if a baby does reject formula, it is understandable as to why, as I have tried formula, and it is absolutely utterly vile. Of course some babies will happily mix feed, but a lot of babies do reject bottles/formula when they are usually breast fed, as someone said, it is a battle of wills for those that got baby to take bottles, I am sure if I starved my son and absolutely utterly refuse him breast milk no matter how hungry he is, and how long it takes, he will probably give in and take formula, but it is not something I want to do, I tried leaving it a few hours ( I went out, and my family tried to feed him via bottles) but they could not stand seeing him distressed, nor could I. Whichever way you dress it up, breast is easier for babies, correct temperature, comfort and warmth of mother etc. Saying that if I ever had another baby, I doubt I would breast feed,even though it IS better for baby, I find it so restricting, 8 months on, I am shattered being the only one who can feed my son, and having my social life based around on when he feeds.

My son who is my first child took a bottle in the beginning ( he was tongue tied) but then rejected the bottle, I have bought so many different teats, bottles, cups and beakers but 8 months on, he is still absolutely refusing to take a bottle. He will play with the teat if there is water in it ( he likes the sound of the teat when he drags it with his gums, and he likes the feel of them on his gums but he does not drink from it) but if there is milk, be it formula or breast milk in the bottle, he will actually retch! Babies are smart, they know the breast is the good stuff, so they reject the bottle, and who can blame them? My son is just absolutely not having it. So I am no longer forcing him with the bottle as it is too distressing for him. Oh well, least I just have 4 months left until he is a year, and he can have cow's milk from a cup or beaker. Sadly all the advice did not work for me with regards to using cups, beakers and various bottles and teats. I guess I could starve him all day and night to make him take a bottle but for me it is too distressing, though I can fully understand mums that have to as they have to return to work so have no choice. I hope you are one of the lucky ones and your son will take a bottle for you!!

When my son did take breastmilk for a short while at the beginning, he did not like frozen milk either, though he was fine with milk that has been in the fridge, but I noticed that frozen milk has a rather soapy smell whereas milk that has been stored in the fridge smelt fine.

Congrats Newcomer!! I have gained 3 stones throughout my pregnancy and I thought breastfeeding would get it off...well I lost a lot of weight the first month of pregnancy because I was so ill from my labour, but breastfeeding has given me the biggest appetite going and now 8 months on, I am still 3 stones overweight.

So nice to read of parents thinking their nanny is worth it, and you are right Amy, Supply and Demand!

A junior doctor earns more than that: Pay Nannies earn from ?6-10 an hour sole charge, so with an extra child, I do not think it is much asking for ?6-7 an hour from EACH family, Lidls the supermarket pays their staff ?7 an hour and they get staff discounts, breaks and so on. Bear in mind we don't get breaks like most people do, we have to fit in around the children. Plus we do extras such as laundry, cooking, some of us run errands also and do extras, babysitting is usually expected in most jobs. Anyone who has kids or work with full time will know how tiring it is, so after work, most of us are too shattered to do anything! We also start extra early, I know lots of nannies are up at 6am in order to start work for 7/8am, and finish at 6pm, but don't get home until 7pm by the time we usually have a chat with the parents on how the day has been. Its very long hours. Plus if the parents are running late, we cannot go home. Working with children is pretty demanding, in the nursery environment you are likely to get allocated paid breaks, pension, and so on. Whereas nannies have to do their own pensions, fit their breaks in ( if they managed to get one as not all kids nap) around the children. It is a very active busy day and looking after someone else's most precious thing is quite a serious responsibility to have. There are always au pairs, childminders if you want a cheaper alternative, or you could get a young new nanny starting out for cheaper, but if you want an experienced nanny then they will be around ?7-10, and I think it is a very fair price to pay. So basically back to the original question, each family usually pays about ?6-7 per hour for a nanny share so the nanny gets around ?12-14 pounds per hour. I have not met an nanny that charges ?9 from each family for a child especially when you can get a sole charge nanny for that.

Sorry if that came across as harsh, I did not mean it to, but just the first few weeks of life they are suckling so much in order to pack on body weight, and though I was upset about the breast feeding being a struggle, I knew it was more important that my son was fed, so hence he was fed by bottle the majority of the time, and offered the breast after. He will not lose the ability to breast feed because as I said once he has his tongue snip,, he will have to relearn to suckle with his new tongue anyway, my son suckled straight away after his he his tongue snip, Claire makes sure that the babies can feed before she lets you go home. It just seems a shame to upset your son, whilst he is struggling with the tongue tie, so since your appointment is not too far ahead, it would probably be better to just let him feed via the bottle in order not to upset him and to make him resent the breast.