etta166

I had labour like cramps from 32 weeks with both pregnancies, and delivered both my babies at 38 weeks. However, I would call and see a midwife today or go to the maternal assessment unit at Kings to get checked out. I went a couple of times to be monitored just to make sure that everything was OK. The maternal assessment unit is a walk in clinic, so you can just call them up and then come in.

I like morning sessions for my older child. Most groups that I do are in the morning, so I can spend quality one-on-one time with my second child at play groups in the morning and the have family time and play dates in the afternoon. I would struggle to get mine to eat lunch before an afternoon session, and then I expect that the younger one would fall asleep on the way to or from nursery rather than in her bed for a nap. Also, if you do mornings then you can escape at lunch time on Friday for a weekend away...

I also liked my medela swing pump, and you can get a reasonably priced one on eBay. However, given the situation you have described, maybe one or two formula feeds a day would give her more rest than having to express on top of everything else? Mixed feeding can work very well...

I agree with what everyone else has said. I think you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself that you don't need to. Weaning takes time, so you could step back to 1 or 2 meals a day and take things more slowly. I'd say that my 15 month old is still in the process of weaning, and we started at 6 months too. Trying new foods and being fed are both quite unsettling experiences. Try having someone spoon feed you with something that you've never had before... I know that I'd feel really out of control. It may just be that your baby feels confident with the foods that she has tried and likes, and wants to stick to that. It may be best to just let her eat things that she likes, and try to experience other new foods by playing, squeezing, messing and eventually tasting. Try to take a step back and relax. Ask yourself some questions about your weaning aims: why does she need to eat 3 times a day? what do you consider to be a balanced diet and why? what is wrong with her current diet and why? would it be ok if your baby just sat with you at meals and played with your food? do you think she would find it easier to eat the same things she can see you eating? The other thing to bear in mind is that weaning is always messy, and rubbing food around the place, trying to finger-paint with it and using it to style your hair are all normal things for a baby to do. Good luck and try to enjoy it!

I second what Knomester said - it all depends on the shape of the baby. Mothercare has worn well, but are huge. My 15m daughter is still in 9-12 month size. M&S more long and thin, and has also worn well. All out mothercare stuff and M&S stuff has been used by 4+ children and is still going strong. John Lewis fit my son, but not my daughter. The only stuff that has worn out in our household is the larger sizes from Tesco and Sainsbury, and they have not stood up to crawling as the knees have worn out.

Fuschia Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > But it was minder's third child, if I read it > right? sorry - I only read the quoted section in buggie's post

The great thing now is that it is easy to find the information on the package (look on the side for the information per 100g of cereal - then you just have to decide how much sugar is too much). Things like AllBran and Bran Flakes have LOADS of sugar added. I remember being given FrootLoops as a child, only for my very strict mother to try them one day and be horrifed by how sweet they are! For what it's worth, my 15m and 2yo have generic shreddies and cheerios from time to time, but not every day. I have even been known to buy the multipacks of sugary cereal to take on holidays with us... The rest of the time it is porrige or toast (no jam).

minder - your notes probably said "elderly primagravida", which does mean old for a first time mother. It was on my mum's notes from the 70s and she was only 28!! I think that the cut off for this note to be made is now closer to 35 for a first child.

Have a look at this thread http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,889362 I've thought about it for our street, but not done anything yet...

I've had 2 home births with the King's College community midwives, including my first child. They were fantastic, and take anyone booked at King's who want a home birth. There are two team that serve the whole King's catchment area and you meet the whole team, but are generally seen by one midwife through the pregnancy and post birth. If you find you can't book with the Brierly team, it's worth considering the King's midwives instead.

I travelled to the US under very similar circumstances. If you check in a stroller at the gate with most airlines, they will give it back to you at the gate at the other end. I found it useful to take an extra baggage strap or belt to connect the doubles kit onto the folded Phil & Teds. I took the carrycot part onto the plane with me. I also took reins for the toddler and a sling for the baby, as a back up in case we had to wait a long time at the gate or at immigration. Good luck!

Saffron Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Some countries are no longer recommending > sterilising feeding bottles at all, even from > birth. In Western countries our water is clean, > and modern detergents are powerful antibacterial > agents. Soap and hot water is all you need. A > run through the dishwasher would be more than > sufficient. xx I got a lot of my baby kit from other European countries, and the bottles and breast pump that I have recommend that sterilizing is not necessary for healthy, full-term babies. I mostly breast-fed both my children and consequently don't know a huge amount about sterilizing bottles for formula. However, I rarely bothered sterilizing my bottles or breast pump parts, and washed in the dishwasher instead. Hot, soapy washing up water is supposed to be just as good.

Saila Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > but CF is a genetic disease and the test at birth > would have been definitive (assuming it was a > genetic test) for the mutations that they tested > for. - surely the proportion of mutations that she > tested negative for can now be ruled out > > therefore the probability of having another > mutation will be much lower than standard CF > mutation Yes, but no test is 100% accurate. There will always be cases where a positive result comes out negative, or a negative result that comes out positive. Even if you have been tested at birth, you could still have one of the mutations that was tested for and not know it. Either way, CF is rare. It is usually diagnosed very early, and you would often have an inkling that it was a possibility because of having relatives that have CF. CF is one of many possible diagnoses and it's most likely that they are testing to rule it out, rather than because they suspect that it is the cause of the repeated infections.

fapl Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I thought CF was one of the diseases that they > tested for in the newborn screening tests when > they take spots of blood from the baby's heel. Yes, but they can only test for some of the more common mutations that are known to cause CF. It's not currently possible to screen for all cases of CF using a blood test.

I meant to add to this chain last night, and thought that I had, but clearly managed not to in my sleep deprived state! I am jumping on the bandwagon following Dovertheroad's fantastic idea to tap the potential of the Mums and Dads out there on the forum who want flexible, part-time work. My husband's gardening and garden design business is looking for a part-time PA/Admin assistant to help with: Diary management and booking client appointments Book-keeping and invoicing General admin and staying on top of a mountain of paperwork! I expect that we need 10-16 hours a week. The hours are completely flexible, so you could do different days and times each week to fit in around other commitments. You could work from his office in Vauxhall, our house in North Dulwich or from your own home. Ideally, you'd need office and admin experience, good computer skills (using Xero would be an advantage) and good spoken and written English. Please pm me for more details if you are interested.

We changed it when our son could sit well with support, so about 5 months. Given that you can lie the chair all the way back if you need to, you could probably change it earlier even though the instrucitons say to wait until 6m. The other option is to use it with your car seat, which is a bit more upright anyway.

I'm inspired by Dovertheroad's post - such a great idea. There must be huge unused potential out there in the Family Room users... My husband's Gardening and Garden Design company is in need of a part-time PA and/or admin assistant. I think that the role would take up 10-16 hours a week and can be as flexible as you like. Almost all the work could be done from your home or our home (North Dulwich) or his office (Vauxhall). There would not need to be fixed hours or days, so the job could easily fit in around school/nursery etc. The role involves: Diary management and booking appointments Book-keeping (experience with Xero a bonus) Invoicing (again, experience with Xero a bonus) General admin, staying on top of and organising a mountain of paperwork! You'd need office experience, good computer skills and good spoken and written English. If you're interested and want more details, please pm me. Also - if this post would be better placed on another section of the forum just let me know and I will move it. I'm trying to reach Mums and Dads that want to work flexibly, although parenthood is clearly not a pre-requisite for the job!

I've done an 8 hour flight to take my then 2 year old and 4 month old to see my parents in America. I can give you plenty of tips on entertainment during the flight etc. if you need. I would definitely book a bassinette as soon as you can, and then stay in touch with the airline as to whether you need to check in early or anything to make sure you get it. For the record, I had to fly Delta as they were the only option, and they were not good about anything to do with travelling with children... so I have no idea what it is like with BA or Virgin first hand but have heard good things about both.

Well, you can continue to use a 0+ seat (like Maxi-Cosi Cabriofix) until a baby weighs 13kg or they are so tall that their head sticks out the top. My first child got too tall at about 18m, second still fits easily at 15m. There is also the MaxiCosi Opal that you can use facing either way as a group 0+1 seat (so up to about 4 years old I think). After a lot of consideration, we didn't go for backwards facing seats once they were out of the Cabriofix, but that was partly to do with needing to fit 3 group 1 car seats into our car, which can't be done with the rear facing group 1 seats.

I had a Phil & Teds Sport double, and really disliked it. It was OK when used with the carry-cot part (for a toddler and a newborn) but I kept hitting my shins on the second seat when it was set up for a 6m+ baby and toddler. It's also quite heavy, and doesn't fold that small. On the plus side, I sold mine on to a friend who loves it (using it for her two who are 3y and 3m), and it is very easy to get a second hand one with all the bits from the forum for about ?200. In the end, I hardly used a double buggy and instead put my newborn in a single buggy, bought a scooter for my 2 year old, and used a baby carrier for the newborn when my toddler needed to go in the buggy for a rest from scooting. My nanny uses a side by side double Maclaren for her nannyshare (14m and almost 2y). That is quite light and folds small, and is suitable from newborn.

The Tulse Hill Tavern does rooms, but no idea what they are like. I have really struggled to find a B&B for family in the Herne Hill area in the past :(

I think the least you can reasonably pay an adult is the London living wage. Teenagers might work for less, but they are getting the work experience and CV points out of it too. And I agree with the above comment, it is much harder when the mum is at home - especially toddlers who know you're there and want to go and find you all the time...

Also bear in mind that a breech baby does not mean you have to have a C-section. If you are at Kings then there are a few consultants who have experience with breech deliveries, so you can opt for a vaginal delivery if they are around at the right time. There is literature about the safest way to deliver a breech baby (for mother and child), reviewed at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000166/pdf/standard

Saffron - you make good points. re. treatment vs prophylaxis - if you are already ill, it is much easier to accept the risk of an adverse reaction as the consequence of refusing treatment it immediate and obvious. However, the cost/benefit analysis is much more complex for prophylactic treatment, as the risk assocated with refusing treatment is harder to quantify and more distant. Many people find that any risk associated with a vaccine is too much because their child is well when they are vaccinated and the potential harm from contracting a disease some time in the future hardly enters into the equation...

I use Bambino Mio or One Life liners (you can get both from Kiddicare online or at Fourways Pharmacy in Herne Hill). The are wider than my BunGenius nappies, so we hardly ever get poo on the nappy. Of course, sometimes I forget the liner...