etta166

Try Fourways Pharmacy in Herne Hill. I had both my children's passport and ID card photos done there with no problems.

Grotty - give it another 2-3 days. I also had little to no sucess on day 1 but then was home and dry (pardon the pun) by day 7. I had to incentivise (chocolate buttons) and buy a new potty (as chosen by my son) to get there, but it did work. I think that days 1-3 are sometimes about associating the sensation of needing a pee with seeing it happen, rather than anticipating it and going to the potty. Also, I found it easier to build on the first sucessful potty use (lots of praise and a bit of a eureak moment for my son) than it was to catch the first pee.

Sanne Panne Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We had most success with naked bottoms and > chocolate buttons. I can imagine forcing frequent > potty visits can make some kids hate it but every > child is different. > > As for nighttime training... I thought it was more > dependent on the presence of a hormone that wakes > them when they need to pee. And that no training > will really work unless that hormone is present. > But not sure where I read it and how true it is. I found that the same things worked, and not making a big deal of accidents. They are accidents after all. And I have read the same about nights, and that you should not worry about it until about 7/8 years old anyway. We were trying to motivate him to get up and pee once he had woken in the morning rather than just go in his nappy. We knew that night-time wetting wasn't the issue in our case.

I found that my son resisted the "sit on the potty every 15 mins" part of Gina Ford, but other than that it was useful advice. I the end, I just asked every 15 mins if he needed to go, and sat him on the potty every hour or so to try. I also used a chocolate button as a reward, and then little cars/diggers for dry days, then dry weeks, then dry nights. All very straight forward, but I attribute that to him rather than me. He was only just 2 at the time, and I thought it was too soon but he was keen to have pants. My daughter has just started using the toilet herself at 14m, becuase she loves to copy her older brother! I'm not sure if I'm keen or not, as she now takes off her own nappy when I'm not looking...

I have happy memories of being the only one of my siblings (other than oldest) to get new shoes as I have v. narrow feet and all the others have v. wide feet. I think that if the size and width are the same then it's OK to pass shoes down if they still have use left in them.

What liner do you use in the nappy, and does it ever stick out the edge around the legs? That can make them leak as the wee just wicks out the side rather than absorbing into the insert. I use the main insert and newborn insert at the same time in BumGenius v3 on my daughter and did the same on my son. I found they only went about 1.5-2 hours without the double stuffing. She does look like she has a huge bum, tho, as a result...

redmare Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I'd say go for it, but if it's possible signal > early if it's a happy or otherwise tale. The > otherwise tales are disconcerting for those of us > about to go through labour for the first time... > :) Personally, I found it really useful to hear both sorts of story. I wanted to be able to think through the "what would I do in that situation" question when I wasn't actually in labour. But feel free to PM me if you need to hear about happy, easy births. I can tell you about my two, and they were both quite comical in their own ways.

You can change GP surgery. Maybe they would get the message if all their patients start leaving...

We have a lovely nanny share that has been going almost a year, and had another share for a year before that. Feel free to PM me if you want to. I personally think that it is really important to be open and discuss any issues, changes, positive or neagative feedback etc as early as possible, so that everyone knows where they stand. You have the option to set up as separate employers or moe employer, but which ever you do the employer(s) need to register with HMRC and pay the nanny using PAYE. I do my own, but the other family uses a payroll service. We both agreed the same gross salary for the nanny, so we didn't have to split the tax code. It's a good idea to have a contract between the two families if you are not setting up as a joint employer. Think about what you would do if one family wants to leave the nannyshare, and how much notice you need to make any major changes to the plans (like having another child, or changing the host arrangements...) As an employer, you should have Employer's Liability Insurance. Your home insurance should have this for domestic employees, but do check this as you could need a separate policy.

I like the Quinny Zapp, but it does not recline for naps. On the plus side, it folds very small, is very light, manovers easily and had a roomy seat for a toddler. Try buying second hand on the forum if you want to save money and don't think you'll use it for that long.

My son is also at Halfmoon Montessori and loves it. He goes in the morning, 5 days a week and is alway begging to stay all day (or sometimes even forever!). I really like it too. It is friendly and small, with a family atmosphere and staff that care about the individual needs of every child.

Email the school or Southwark Council. They have all the stats on who gets offered school places and where.

Check the small print of the contract you had with the nanny payroll company, and if you need help to understand it then go the the Citizen's Advice Bureau. They are great with this kind of thing. I would have thought the payroll company would have to take some responsibility, but if they won't you can always name and shame them on the forum to help other's avoid the same problem.

Convex Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Role reversal week = brilliant idea! haha - except that by Wednesday I was waering OH's trousers as he wasn't up to date on the laundry... and I really, really hate taking the bins out. Roll on Monday, so I can get back to the chores I know and love (well, love more than his, anyway).

So - back to the original post. My OH has just reminded me about "role reversal week". Evey now and again (OK, when I b**ch and nag at him) he proposes that we have a role reversal for a week and do each other's chores, childcare duties etc. I am then reminded that although he spends less time on chores, he does do all the things that I hate doing. And we merrily go back to the system that we have evolved over 13 years of living together, which does actually suit us even if I sometimes feel put-upon. Ole - worth a try in your house? Not sure how it will work out if you can't swap childcare roles as well...

Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It's true. My 3 year old daughter's preschool is > having a "pirates & princesses" party. We will be > sending her as a pirate! Have you said anything to other Mums or the school? I'd be horrified if my son's preschool did anything segregated like that.

Why not a mixed class, out of interest? I think my son would enjoy ballet, but I had never thought that there would be boys-only classes to go to.

I'm rather proud of the fact that my son is obsessed with cleaning and vacuuming. He always wants to help, especially if it involves spraying some sort of claening product and then wiping it up! He's 3, and I'm hoping this will last. He also like to help cook. I've tried very hard to get him to help with my chores and Daddy's chores, and to understand what we do when we're out of the house during the day. My OH is a gardener and I'm an office worker, so he obviously prefers Daddy's job to mine at the moment. My daughter is only just 1, but she's going to have to start "helping" around the house soon too :) I don't think that there's any reason we have to perpetuate gender stereotypes into the next generation.

WoD - I agree with you. How you were parented erally matters. I try to bear in mind that my OH had a SAHM who did everything other than work for money outside the house and a father who only worked for money and did NOTHING else. My OH is a paragon of equality compared to that. On the other hand, I had 2 working parents who shared cooking and childcare (and no-one did much else in terms of house-work except my Mum did the laundry). I would like things to be split more equally, but for that to happen I need to be less of a control freak and I probably need to educate OH about why I do so many things he doesn't even realise need doing. Like other posters have said, he's great at helping out if I tell him what needs to be done. Communicaiton is key, and IMHO you need time away from the kids to communicate on a adult level. Preferably every 2 weeks or so, a date it a good time for a grown-up chat.

Sounds pretty similar to my life, except that I'm the main breadwinner too. But... I could write something about my set-up that conveys the same information and does not sound so negative. I find it more helpful to think of the things that my OH does do, rather than the things he doesn't. Try to make a list of things that you do, things that he does and then both sit down and see if there's any way you can both agree to even things up. Your OH may not even realise half the things that you do or why they need doing. Also, if he does come up with plans and activities at the weekend, why are thay flawed? Because it's not exactly what you would have done? Or it doesn't fit with your idea of the daily routine? So what, let him do some "flawed" acitvities with your son and see if they really have the consequences/problems that you predict. That is the only way for both of you to learn what can and can't work. You are never going to look after your children in exactly the same way, especially if you are super organised (sounds like you are) and your OH is more implusive and not a planner. Let him take over more stuff for a while and see what happens. And I've also noticed that my oH and I get along better if we go out with each other regularly and leave the kids at home.

http://www.which.co.uk/baby-and-child/baby-transport/reviews-ns/child-car-seat-fitting-problems-explored/child-seats-in-medium-cars/ This is where I got most of my information from, then from car seat manufacturers' and car manufacturers' websites Hope you get waht you are looking for.

Sharls - what car seats do you use? I would love to have a smaller car... Could you let me know if Vauxhall receommend that you can use 3 seats in the back of the new Corsa? Thanks! editing this to note that sadly none of my car seats (Maxi-Cosi Priori XP (x2) and Britax Evolva 123) have been safety tested in the middle back seat of a corsa. :(

I was looking into this about 2 years ago, and the answer then was that no smaller (5 seat) cars fit 3 seats if the children are all under 4. We ended up buying a VW Touran as that was one of the smallest 7 seaters. It fits 3 forward facing group 1 seats in the middle row, or one group 0 (backwards facing) and 2 Group 1 (forwards facing) seats. At the moment, we have 2 Maxi-Cosi PrioriFix and 1 Britax Evolva 123. My sister-in-law uses a Citroen Xara Picasso, but she has one child that is only on a Group 2-3 booster and two children in Group 1 forwards facing seats. My neighbour has a Toyota FRV which has a 3rd seat with Isofix between the front passenger and driver seats, but they are pretty hard to find now. Most manufactures of cars and car seats will tell you what conbinations of the car/car seats have been crash-tested and found to be safe. Another option is to shop around for narrow car seats. There's a huge variation in size on the market. Failing that, there is a seat called the multimac that seat 3/4 children and can fit into most cars. It's very expensive, tho. Feel free to pm for more info if you like. I'm abit out of date, but must have spent days researching this!

This always sounded great to me, in theory, but I think that you actually have to register as a childminder to do this if you want it to be all above board. At least, that is the case if you look after the other child in your house. I think that if you go to the other house then you are OK not to register with Ofsted, but I'm not 100% on that. Good luck finding someone else to share with, it sounds like a perfect childcare option if you can make it work.

Don't know if you are still following this thread, but the distance was down to 636m this year.