Kes

If you're thinking UK, I can recommend http://www.coombemill.com/ it's a farm in Cornwall, self catering cottages and lots of stuff for kids, the owners have 6 kids themselves, we went last year with 18 month old, going back again this year Kes

Hi SEgirl, I take my 2 year old to Nunhead library on Monday mornings 10.30-11.30ish, nice space for them to roam about in, a few toys, some sticking or colouring, instruments and then the very enthusiastic librarian sings songs. There is also a toddler group at Ivydale at the same time, although both times I went there it was packed and they were having to turn people away. On Tuedays we go to Buchan Rd Tennants hall for a music session run by Ivydale 10.30-11.30ish Quite a lot of actions and dancing about so nice for the toddlers My daughter also loves the Horniman museum and of course parks, playgrounds etc K

Hi Olympia, I could probably do Wednesday evenings too, have PMed you

Ellie, I'd go and visit them all, ask as many questions as you possibly can and then go with your gut feeling! The experience you have in any hospital will be hugely influenced by how the birth goes and I'm afraid that is mostly luck. You'll find huge praise from those who've had straight forward births and utter horror stories from those who haven't for every hospital. I had my baby at St T's and can confirm there is a midwife led non-medical bit there, can't comment on any of the others. I would say tho - having had my heart set on using the midwife unit and ending up transfering to the medical unit for every intervention under the sun, that if you go down the midwife unit route anywhere, be prepared practiacally and emotionally for the possibility it may not work out. I'd assume that at Kings, although there is no Midwife led unit, if everything was "normal" you'd be cared for by midwives and not encouraged to have any epidural, monitoring, etc. etc. unless it was really needed?? Expect someone else on here can answer that! K

Hi Pickle, We have the Gro clock, it's been great, but for sleep training a 2 yr old, I'd agree it may be a bit babyish for your kids.

Anya - So nice to hear you mention the overhang lol! If you were to do an evening class for those whose babies were older I'd be interested, even after 2 years there is work to do and I've not found any other Pilates classes that are convenient in the area

Hi Anya, Too late for me as it was 2 years ago now, but I would have been interested if the class had been around then

Oh these are brilliant I feel for the oversized dancers, I was told firmly by my Mum that I couldn't do Ballet because I was far too tall so I'd never be a ballerina (like my height would be the only thing stopping me!). I was however allowed to do Tap and Disco, inevitably I was always the tail girl dressed as a boy in trousers and a shirt (or on one occasion a bear costume), standing bitterly behind my little sister and the other girls in their pretty pink leotards and skirts. Playing a boy also necessitated haveing my hair scraped back, pinned and "laquered" (as my Mum put it)so tightly that I could barely blink. Not that I had much hair, envious of my curls, my Mum insisted I keep my hair short to perserve them, add to this the mens clothes I had to wear as womens were to short for me by my early teens and I was constantly mistaken for a boy untill I got a saturday job, bought hippy skirts and grew my hair right down my back (which also looked dreadful) K

There is a music and dance thing at buchan road tennants hall in nunhead 10.30-11.30 its new so cant say what its like im taking my 2 yr old

I think its more for babies. The library just round the corner has baby and toddler play and singing at the same time though.

Hi we were there in March with our then 19 month old, we did the camel trail bikes mentioned above (daughter on kids seat on the back) - the bit from Padstow to wadebridge was the nicest. Also Newquay zoo and for a wet day the aquarium. The Rick Stein Bistro is happy to take kids for lunch! Have fun!

What a shame this wasn't thought out better and what a waste of money, Our local Councillors on the Nunhead side of the park have posted a blog about how pleased they are with the playground so I've put some comments in there about what has been said here and what I saw myself today. The blog is here if you want to have a look: http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.com/

I remember doing this at school with custard powder and once seeing a video of a man walk across a swimming pool filled with custard (made thicker than you normally would I think!)

I have this after just one baby (it was a bloomin big one though), skin held out right up to the end and then the stretch mark fairy hit me, been rubbing in the bio oil for 2 years but it hasn't helped I'm afraid. I had a massage a while ago and the girl asked me if I'd had a gastric band and lost loads of weight because of all the excess skin :o( if you find any solution other than surgery please post it! I don't mind that I'll never wear a bikini again but I'm 6 foot tall and now have to be really careful to find tops long enough that there is no chance of my belly skin popping out. eurgh

I think that may go for anyone on ML at least some of the time! do you have the option to go in for odd days before you go back properly? It was called keeping in touch days where I work, don't know if everywhere does it, but I found it really helpful in reminding me that I like my job, am pretty good at it and frankly some days I feel far more competent there than at home!

If the child is a bit flighty as you say the violin may not be the best bet - I was that child - and it seemed to take so long to set up the music stand, tighten the bow and put resin on it, sort out the shoulder rest etc etc. that I almost never bothered to practice, my parents didn't push the practice, probably because when I did it must have sounded dreadful! I'm pretty sure it was Suzuki method. I learned piano a few years later, much better at that just sit down and play no faffing about first!

Hi Sally, My symptoms included extreme tiredness, aching all over, very heavy periods and little weight loss post pregnancy despite exclusive breast feeding. The problem of course is that many of these things sound "normal" for a new Mum and it was only after I started treatment that I realised how I was feeling was more extreme. I was also quite depressed at the time, this is a symptom and wasn't helped by the fact that I felt I was being pathetic (everyone feels like this and they're all doing ok etc) not that I was ill! The one more specific symptom is a goitre (swelling in the neck) and fortunately for me a med student friend spotted I had this and suggested I get tested, I've never been able to see it myself but if it wasn't for her I don't think I'd ever have thought to go to the GP about it. Thankfully the tests and treatment are very straightforward and the first few weeks on the pills I felt like superwoman! I've written a couple of blog posts about it too: http://southwarkbelle.blogspot.com/2010/07/bit-of-medical-rant.html http://southwarkbelle.blogspot.com/2011/05/czech-out-this-new-research.html This is a bit of a common rant of mine now - if it'd been picked up sooner I'm sure I'd have been able to enjoy my little ones early months far more than I did. Of course this may well not be the problem for you but I'd just ask the GP outright about it as they might not think of it otherwise. - Good luck! K

Sally81 - It'd be worth asking the GP, it's probably just the a hangover from the pregnancy and carrying the baby about, but I had a lot of aches and felt like I'd aged about 20 years after I'd had my daughter, after many months it turned out I had a thyroid problem caused by the pregnancy, started on pills for it and felt like a new woman! I know someone who had a form of arthritis caused by pregnancy too, so probably best to rule those out. Hope you're on the mend soon.

We had a co-sleeper cot. It was a full size cot but one side came right off and the base had lots of height options so you could have the baby right next to you but you couldn't roll onto him/her. I'd never have slept for worrying if she'd been in bed with me and I didn't want to kick my husband out! Once she dropped the night feeds we put the side up to the drop position and when we moved her to her own room (at 6 months) she was fine with it as she was in the bed she was used to. Ours was from mothercare but I wouldn't recommend that one as the catch has now broken on it, I think cossato do the same thing and there are some smaller versions I think the NCT online shop have them.

Oh that's brilliant, thank you Fuscia!

It seems a bit hit and miss how tfl respond to complaints.I was on a bus a while ago, the sign on the front and the sign/announcement inside were saying it terminated in different places, it actually terminated somewhere else to either of them just after I got on so I asked for a ticket for another bus (they normally do this if they terminate early) Ok I should have checked so the driver could have politely said no but he just had a go at me in front of loads of people and kicked me off - I was 41 weeks pregnant with a whopper of a baby, could barely walk and it was the hottest day of the year. I used the tfl complaints thing on their website and never heard back! Didn't chase it but I was a bit busy by that point! I've also been refused entry to a bus because there were other buggies on board, I was with my husband and we said we were happy to fold our buggy down, no problem with 2 of us, but no, just refused to let us on, bus was otherwise not busy My cousin was (briefly) a London bus driver and had a jolly good moan to me about how annoying women with buggies were on the bus, (he didn't get a sympathetic response!) does rather make you wonder who they think the buses are there for? We're in Nunhead, I don't feel I can rely on the buses anymore and the station has a huge flight of stairs up to it - we've bought a car for the first time! K

My daughter had a good scream when the jab was done but was fine minutes later and had no reaction afterwards. There are really high TB levels in some parts of London (mostly north of the river!) so probably worth it. Hope it goes ok!

Assuming it's still going you could try emailing [email protected] I was in touch with her about a year ago when I was looking for childcare, she runs the at home childcare service which is aimed at placing childminders with families who want the childminder in their own home but work unusual hours or shifts etc. We didn't pursue it as our house was a building site so wanted childcare away from home so can't say if it was any good but might be worth a look.

Ruth I'd heartily recommend the hypnobirthing for relaxation, I think you have to be in the right frame of mind for it but I found it really good for dealing with pain and anxiety at least up to the point where it was clear things were going wrong, I hope it works for you, good luck. K Oh and just been visiting a friend who recently had a VBAC and was really positive about it and about how much better the care and attention was this time round.

Thanks for all the advice re Oakwood / Forest Hill road - does anyone know if they do blood tests on site? I have to have them regularly for a minor condition and it's really inconvenient to drag all the way to Dulwich hospital from Nunhead and then try to keep a toddler calm for 2 hours in the waiting room, that might make the difference as to weather it's worth changing at this point given the mixed reviews. K