cazbee

I would also be interested in these classes. Fridays or Saturday mornings would suit us too!

The flotilla finishes in Greenwich in front of the Old Royal Naval College. It might be a bit less crowded there as the Queen gets off at Tower Bridge and I assume all the music and pageantry happen more downstream. But it would still be a good vantage point for the thusand boats. There is a park at Island Gardens on the other side of the river which might also offer a good vantage point. You could do a train to Lewisham and DLR to Cutty Sark or Island Gardens which have step free access I believe.

fapl, you have just brought back many happy memories of that book! My Dad is a veteran of the Australian Women's Weekly Kid's Birthday Cake book and recently turned his skills to a Hello Kitty Cake for a friend's daughter's first birthday. I've tried to attach a photo. I think he bought a large rectangular sponge from a cake shop and cut out the face shape.

I wanted to add another recommendation for Steve and DG Services. He returfed and tidied up our garden on very short notice (calling that evening to assess the job for the next day) and worked really hard to source suppliers and materials. He and his coworker were a pleasure to have around and put in a really hard day's graft and left the garden tidy. We are loving using our "new" garden and so glad we got it all done.

Lochie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That is a really good tip about rye lane for > brows! I always worry the cheaper the price the > more likely they'll give me a really bad > 'surprised look' brow but if they are as good as > the expensive places I'll give them a go...thanks > cazbee I go to the place called Nubian Hair and Beauty in the bit of Rye Lane between Choumert Road and the station. It's on the left hand side heading towards the station. I always go by the brows of the ladies doing the job and theirs are always immaculate, no surprised looks!

My staple semi-presentable mum outfit at the moment is a jersey wrap dress (no ironing required) with M&S opaque suck you in tights underneath, the kind with built in shapewear, and a nice pair of knee high flat boots. The tights are surprisingly comfortable and were only about ?6 a pair and give you a nice smooth shape. Then largest, most glamorous scarf from wardrobe slung around neck which spruces it all up and acts as stain coverer! The dresses I got were from People Tree and are made from nice thick fabric and were not too expensive. Neat eyebrows also make me feel more groomed. The ladies that do it in the shops on Rye Lane are just as good as anywhere else and the last time I went I was charged the ridiculous sum of ?3 (I gave her a tip of course!).

I splashed out on the Baby Bjorn one when it came out, being rather put off by the heavy, huge clunky ones I had come across at relatives houses and was swayed by the fancy videos on their website. It cost a small fortune, especially at the time being on mat leave, but I had bought almost everything else second hand so decided to just go for it. I have to say it's a great product, true to the fancy videos, and we have used it loads for our baby, for guests and loaning to friends.

Hi Strawbs. I'm sorry you have to fly out for a family situation. I dread that call. I have done this trip once on my own with my son when he was 8 months old and survived to tell the tale, and on one leg we didn't even have a bassinet (I burst into tears at the check-in counter when they told me that!) but it really wasn't that bad and can definitely be done. I am going again soon with my husband when our son will be 17 months old son and I am sure even with two of us it will be much harder work this time. I think 6 months is a good age to be doing it as your son won't be too mobile and agree he probably will sleep well once the drone of the engines kicks in. I couldn't sleep as my baby was just starting to crawl and I was terrified of him waking up and toppling out of the bassinet, so I just watched loads and loads of trashy films and it did seem to pass the time. I kept reciting to myself with each flight "it is only half a day - I can survive half a day". Like Vanessa3 after childbirth that was nothing in comparison! My son when he was awake was mostly amused with an empty plastic bottle and paper cups from the galley and I don't think I will be that lucky on our next trip! I can't offer advice on the neocate but I second the suggestion of getting it here on prescription and taking as many unopened tins with you as you can fit in your case. It is summer there so you won't need to pack bulky clothes. Customs will probably not have a problem with the formula as long as the tins are sealed. Maybe take a letter from your GP? If you run out you will definitely be able to get a dairy free equivalent there. Would your travel insurance cover trips to GP and medical costs there to get the formula on script? Could you put out a call to mum friends in Oz on Facebook to see if they have any advice/info on dairy free formula? I flew with Singapore which was not the cheapest but the flight times were convenient and the staff were excellent. They helped me get settled on each flight, put my hand luggage away, brought a little toy for the baby (I kept them all and attached them to his buggy as badges of honour for surviving the flight!!) and held him so I could go to the loo, eat my meal etc. I did break up the journey which worked well for me because I am not a good flyer even pre-baby (a bit unfortunate for an Australian!) and find it very physically taxing. I took a 10pm flight from Heathrow, then got a cab from Singapore airport and stayed a night with some brilliant friends who had a baby so were kitted out, then had a full day in the tropical sun, which I found good for adjusting our body clocks and then went back to the airport for another night flight at 8pm the rest of the way to Sydney. I can't say I or baby slept much that night in Singapore but being able to lie down/rest/eat/shower/feel slightly human again was good enough. I wasn't in a hurry to get home, which I appreaciate you will be if it's a family emergency, and didn't have to pay for a hotel which are very steep. If you think a stopover would be good for you do you have any mates in the tropics you could call on for a night? For me, the hardest part was not the flight but the first week dealing with a jet lagged baby. My parents were working so I had to basically keep going all day and night for the first 5 days so it was just like having a newborn tiredness wise. So in that respect I was glad I broke up the journey as I wasn't quite so knackered when I got there. Hopefully you will have some offers of babysitting when you arrive. Best of luck. You will be fine and hopefully you will be able to spend some enjoyable time with friends and family as well as dealing with the family situation. xx

We are invited to six, yes six baby free weddings this year. Argh!!!

I've had the baby jogger from birth for our son. It's the only one I've ever had so I can't compare to other buggies but it was definitely a great buy for us. The one handed pull the strap fold is great and comes into its own in situations like going through airports, especially if you're travelling with bub alone. I took my son out to Australia alone when he was 8 months old and it was possible to have him on one hip and quickly fold buggy with my free hand and whip it onto the scanner at security or off the luggage carousel. I noticed it was a really common buggy in Australia (about 1 in 4 that I spotted I think) which must be because of the size of the sun shade. The giant hood is a great feature and that combined with the recline make it very sleep inducing in my experience - almost too sleep inducing as our little one has always napped much better in the buggy than in his cot! I never actually bought a rain cover as I had one of those sheepskin stroller bags with a water resistant front (one of my best ever ebay purchases!) and the combination of that zipped up and hood down were fine in the rain. The wheel base is quite long and wide which means I do get caught on chair legs trying to manoeuvre in and out of cafes and I have to be extra careful crossing roads and driveways because of the length. But on the other hand it is quite reassuringly stable. It has never tipped over backwards even with a weekly shop poked in the basket underneath and slung in shopping bags on the handle and the baby out taken out. I hope that's helpful. Happy buggy shopping!

Hi Lucy. I had a similar experience with my son who suddenly at about 5 1/2 months developed a screaming, red faced aversion to the car. It was timed perfectly for our first family holiday driving up to Scotland just when it became mega expensive to change our plans and fly or go on the train! I bought him a large mirror like this one Bear mirror not so I could see him but just to put in front of him so he could see the "other" baby. This seemed to really help and is still a firm favourite. I also used to give teething powder to distract him/calm him down mid screaming fit. He did grow out of it and went on to have many happy months in the maxi cosi before he outgrew it and went into a bigger seat.

I was just pondering the very same question. Cheeky C's play group at the Greendale Centre 9:30 - 12 or Bea's Baby Bop at Rye Books on Upland Road 10:30-11:30?

Thanks all for the brilliant replies, PMs and recommendations. I'm so grateful to you.

Hello forumites. First of all, apologies for the dour subject and I do hope this is sufficiently family related, even though not really related to parenting. My wonderful father in law was recently diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer, and like many men his age has quite severe prostatitis, which is really effecting his sleep and reducing his quality of life. He is frustrating and worrying all of his family by not proactively looking at what form of treatment to seek. He is a doctor but left medicine a long time ago, so he feels he is not in the loop about what is currently available and is rather daunted by investigating it all. My question is, has anyone else's family been through this and what did they do? Does anyone know who the best doctors/surgeons are in London, and what the latest treatments are? He lives in London. Many thanks in advance for any replies.

Sounds like she is already sorted for jewellery and expensive gifts! How about spending the budget on taking her out to dinner somewhere special, like the Wolseley and use it as an opportunity to spend quality time together and celebrate the young woman she is becoming. I would have loved to have an adult outside my family take a special interest in my development. Godparents are a wonderful concept!

We recently braved a drive to Scotland with a Maxicosi hating nearly 6 month old. In the weeks before we left (so too late to book the train or flights!) he took to massive screaming fits in the carseat. I can't tell you how much I was dreading the journey. Two things seemed to help, although they are probably more suitable for younger babies. The first was a big mirror that I hung over the seat right in front of him. He seemed to enjoy watching/kicking at/chatting to the "other" baby. The particular one was called the BearView Infant Mirror. It certainly brightens up the view rather than the grey upholstery. The other thing that seemed to help a little bit was teething powder! I think it distracted him/calmed him down at the height of a screaming fit and he would then go off to sleep. I was also looking into buying a RF 0=4 seat before the trip and was surprised at how few there were on the market and how expensive they were. I'm going home to Australia soon and the carseats on the market there seem to be predominantly in this category. Have a wonderful trip. We are going to France next week too on Ryanair - we may well wish we had driven!!

Regarding the bloodtests, they are done by the milk bank team themselves and you will be given a specific time slot on level 4 at Kings (opposite the MAU). It didn't take long at all and one of the milk bank volunteers was even on hand to give my little one a cuddle while they took the blood. The whole thing took about 20mins and I was able to feed bubs in an empty room next door afterwards. I wish I had started earlier as my baby was just over 4 months when I enrolled and then immediately had a growth spurt and I found I had a lot less surplus milk.

Mothercare on Rye Lane has them. You could call first and get them put aside to prevent a wasted journey. Happy holidays ... jealous!

From our experience I can understand why they are quite risk averse with physiological jaundice. In our baby's case he developed normal jaundice on day 2 at home but on day 4 he got worse very quickly. On the home visit that day our midwife called the newborn unit at Kings and sent us up for a blood test. Even though he was still waking to feed and wasn't dehydrated his bilirubin levels were much higher than expected and above the treatment line for a full blood exchange. Within 15 mins of the test he was admitted to ICU but thankfully avoided the blood exchange as the lights and some blood products were sufficient to get him out of danger. It was a nervous wait for 4 days while they ruled out causes such as the blood group incompatibility, infection and liver disease. We're still not sure what the cause was, although there were risk factors present such as me having prolonged rupture of the membranes, him being a bit early (37weeks) and also a ventouse delivery (which we were told increases the risk of jaundice due to the extra red blood cells to break down from the blister on the baby's skull). He was also born during the snow so there was no sunlight to give him a hand! Regarding feeding, our experience was that we were consistently advised that breast milk was the best thing to clear the jaundice. As soon as he was admitted they got me expressing every 3 hours and when he was out of danger the nurses got him out of the box for me to nervously try to feed. The nurses and BF counsellors were incredibly kind and supportive. Our little man's barbados tan hung around for more than a month and at all the check ups at Kings and with the midwives I was told to just keep breastfeeding him.

I'm not sure about the pillow for c-section but re pumps, the Medela electric ones are good. I have the Swing and it has worked very well. But if I had my time again I think I would buy a second hand hospital grade double electric pump on ebay like the Ameda lactaline (about ?40-50 as opposed to ?150 new) and buy a new milk collection kit (about ?12). I used similar up at Kings when my son was in the baby unit but had already bought the Medela one for home. It takes quite a bit of effort to wash and sterilise things for expressing so if you invest the time getting it all ready it really makes sense to have the option to double pump! Re nappies, we use Lidl toujours and think they are fab. Start at size 3 but our baby seems to have a large bottom (takes after Mum!) so was in these from about 6 weeks. They were voted best disposable on mumsnet recently. Congratulations and enjoy your little one!

From the mum of a very refluxy baby, big cotton scarfs (cheap from H&M or similar) in light colours or patterns are a slightly more dignified and trendy way to catch baby spit. Wash first so they are absorbent and throw in the wash again once you get home. Also more discreet for breastfeeding than a white muslin over your shoulder and just as light and breathable. Can't wait for more replies on this thread!

I bought a lovely Steiff bear for my goddaughter. I wanted something that she could enjoy now and keep in her room rather than something that she would need to wait till she was much older to use. I found one that was mohair but soft stuffed so still very cuddly. She loved it.

I've found I need to use a piece of cloth (eg. clean dry tea towel or muslin) to have enough grip to wedge the tubing into the funnel. Can't do it with "bare hands". Hope that makes sense. The other end fits quite easily into the motor on mine. You would have thought they would have engineered a nice easy fit for both ends! Seems not!

If you can't get onto something more local, I would recommend the St John's Ambulance courses run from their HQ in Marylebone. I did one when I was pregnant. It was a Sat morning from 9-12 and about ?35. Covered basic life support, burns, choking and common childhood illnesses. Lots of the people there had already had their babies and were taking turns attending while their other half babysat. They give you a good pack to take away with all the key stuff summarised. The teacher was excellent, really knew her stuff and it was very practical/hands on.

The dates sound fine to me too. Even if you miss a session due to an early arrival (this happened to me) you won't be left out of the catch-ups! You could also look into enrolling in an NCT postnatal course. I went to a lovely one at the Goose Green Centre that started when my baby was 6 weeks old. It was so nice to get together for a few hours each week in a supportive environment with other new mums. Living in this neighborhood with all the different activities and all the babies you'll soon find you have lovely mummy friends coming out of your ears!