Kes

Do the lanes/Oakwood only deal with home births? After lots of problems and an emergency cs last time home probably wouldn't be an option if I had another but sounds like you get much better care with caseload midwives.

akc74 We had the exact same thing with our little girl, leg creases not matching up at 8 months despite no problems at the earlier checks It was really obvious once it was pointed out but we had the x-rays and all was fine, the consultant we saw (at the Evelina at St Thomas') said it was quite common for kids to be sent in with non matching creases, fingers crossed it'll be the same for you xxx

Just to add our nursery (and I think they all do it) have a key worker for each child and a staff-child ratio of 1-3 when they are that little. Our daughter and her key worker adored each other but sadly she has just left :o( her new key worker is an existing staff member though so at least she already knows her and will hopefully be just as happy given a bit of time. I'm afraid I've had quite a few friends who've had multiple nannies quit or go to another job, I'd imagine a childminder would be the best bet if you want continuity with the same person but there are no garuntees anywhere. I think it's also very hard to tell untill you know what your child will be like at 11 months. My daughter was/is very sociable but rather slow at learning to crawl walk etc. so I felt that being in a nursery with other kids her age would encourage her to get going! K

I had a lovely lovely day at the Sanctuary in Covent garden with an NCT friend, was only breastfeeding morning and night by that point though so it was easy. Only problem with the sanctuary was I had a body scrub thing and the young girl saw my dreadful stretch marked saggy belly and asked if I'd lost a lot of weight recently - I think she thought I'd had a gastric band! K

Hi, If he/she is small I'd ask if it was still in the normal range, if not, can they tell if he/she has been small all along or there is a reason the growth has slowed and how is that likely to effect the rest of the pregnancy - will they want to get the baby out early or try to keep it in for as long as possible? Also - ask how sure they are! It's pretty hard to make things out at that point as it's all very crushed in there! To add to what others have said I was sent for a scan for the same reason at 34 weeks, the woman took one look at me and said "don't worry - you're fine!" the scan backed her up and I ended up with a 9lb 10oz whopper! While a friend of mine had no indications of being small and had a 3lb full term baby (who's totally fine). Fingers crossed for you, I've never heard of anyone being sent for a scan for being small who actually was! K

Before I had my daughter I was planning to put her with a child minder at that age because I thought she'd be too young to be in a nursery, but when it came to it we looked around and found a small nursery we liked. She loves it, and has been there 8 months now, all the older kids were very sweet with her when she started and now she cuddles the new babies if they are upset. She only goes 2 days a week though and we really didn't like the bigger nurseries we looked at so I think I may have gone with a childminder if it was full time. As others have said it's very hard to know in advance how you'll feel, probably good to get your name in a few nurseries so you don't miss that boat if you do decide to go that way. K

I'll repeat everyone else, MMR scare story Doc has been struck off, and also hauled up for doing some really unethical things with kids. All the others involved in his study have disowned it, Any smoke was just because he whipped up a mighty media fire, which was probably related to the fact he was being paid by people trying to sue the vaccine makers, clear conflict of interest. They do have a lot at once it seems, my husband took our little one and I was rather shocked when they came back and said how many she'd had in one go, but she was entirely fine. I really wouldn't let your mum waste money on separate jabs, the mmr is fine.

Sounds great, will it always be on Thursdays? Sadly I work the second half of the week, but if I can make it sometime I'll come along. K

Any advice? Wondering about getting a 3 wheel off road thing second hand for jogging in the park and walking in the countryside, the Maclaren just won't cut it for that! Would need to be able to cope properly off-road and off-path and have handles high enough for my 6 foot self and 6 foot 4 husband. Thanks all K

Keef - when is tippee toes? There seems to be lots of stuff monday mornings but not much Monday afternoon or anytime Tuesday!

lovenest - wish I could it seems to be a black hole, Peckham Rye one o'clock club tends to be our fall back position but would love to hear about other things!

Hi, we went there last autumn, little one wasn't quite toddling but it was great. Perhaps a bit different as we went with a group of friends who don't have kids so did a bit of splitting up and taking turns to go off and do things, but we really enjoyed it and it was really easy. My daughter loved the pancake house and the pool and riding about in a little trailer attached to a bike - pretty hard work riding all that up the hill tho! K

I'd second your baby - week by week. Didn't really get on with What to expect but I know others liked it

Worth bearing in mind though that on the new measure the national average is only 16% and this was only devised after the exams were taken so schools where languages are not compulsory, or where many children opt for RE rather than History or Geography will inevitably look really bad. For a comparison, my old school, not in London scores 2% on the new measure. (That's probably one kid!)

Hi my 16 month old girl has masses of hair, past her shoulders already! I've cut it a few times myself but not sure I can continue to inflict that on her! So where do you go to get a little ones hair cut? I've seen barbers advertising childs cuts but do they do girls too? Or is that a really silly question? I really don't want to be spending a fortune on her hair, I just need to get her fringe out of her eyes without it being totally crooked! Thanks

we used the airwrap bumper, was great at stopping her posting the dummy out when she was little, now she can chuck it over the top but doesn't do it so much so it's not such a problem!

hi mgdoble my little goes to magic mind nusery in nunhead not sure if that is quite the right location for you but she started there at just under a year. Not sure what the waiting list is like, I think it was better than some others. Good luck! I think childminders might have shorter waits if you need something quick. K

Hi Vickster, just to add I had it when I was pregnant, I was only 8 weeks at the time, but have asthma and know from experience how horribly ill I get with flu! There was a really big study done a a couple of years ago which found that it was best for all pregnant women over 12 weeks to have the jab and anyone with underlying medical issues should have it even if pre-12 weeks. Prior to the study they didn't give it to pregnant woman as they didn't think it was really needed but not because there was any suggestion of negative effects. So I think you're right to get it, flu and a new born would be hideous! Hope the little is here soon and you both avoid the flu! K

Thanks everyone, I'll see if the library has any of those so I can have a look at them before I part with my cash! K

Hi looking for advice from you very helpful people again! I had a few books when DD was a baby but not read anything recently, she's now 16 months and I'd like something with advice on toddlers - any suggestions? A bit of advice and reassurance on dealing with tantrums, meals times etc. that I can dip into when I need it would be good Thanks! K

I was just coming on to see if it was just us! Nothing here either (Nunhead) I was assuming it was the snow last week, but nothing on Saturday or today so far either.

Gussy - we're doing exactly that this year, we've never had christmas in our own home, or even in London, we always end up trying to go to both sets of family and slots in grandparents too (Surrey, Devon, Glos) spemd the whole time on trains or stuck in traffic, lugging massive bags around and getting exhusted. We're putting our feet down this year and it'll be just the 3 of us on Christmas day! K

That's good to know sillywoman, I was wondering the same thing myself earlier today.

hehe great thread I've recently developed a real need for long baths to sooth something or other, it always tends to come on when visiting relatives! At the inlaws we do quite well, there are normally so many of them at Christmas, that after a few drinks you can wander off on your own for several hours before anyone realises you've gone! K

Hi, we did exactly this last Friday leaving about 7pm, we went south circular then A3 you can then do M25 M3 but as we were going all the way to Devon we followed the A3 as far as Guildford then A31, A331 up to the M3. In daylight its a nice drive over the hogs back! K