SR

Not sure what I would do in your position, haven't been there myself yet..but... If you saw all the other mums getting pissed off and felt the teacher wasn't handling your daughter why didn't you take her to the side yourself and handle her to stop the disruption? Why don't you give the ballet teacher tips if you know how to handle her?

Congratulations!, Lots of good tips here. Be kind to each other, everyday acts to help make the other one's life more enjoyable or manageable are a must. I don't agree with an earlier comment though that you have to decide who's career takes priority. While this works for some (most?) couples this isn't how it works for us. We had our baby quite late, are both earning a similar salary and both enjoy our careers. We share childcare responsibilities fairly evenly. One picks up at the nursery, one drops off, both have a day off work every second week. It's alternate turns if there is a childcare emergency. So if neither wants to give up the career it's still doable but in this model it doesn't really work if one is going full on career i.e. constant travelling and/or overtime.

Seedlings in Forest Hill. Am I allowed on the Dulwich forum :-) Really happy with it. Have to second ladywotlunches point. I thought I would prefer another nursery as from the initial phone calls they seemed more professional. On visiting I preferred the friendlier vibe at Seedlings. Also looked at the older children as I plan for my little one to be there long term, the older kids were chatty and seemed to be having fun which I took as a good sign. Not sure what age your wee one is but I had my name down since pregnancy, so get in there! Good Luck

Many Thanks Everyone, I'll make use of these suggestions to buy a couple of smallish gifts that can appear as required during the flight. much appreciated!

Hi Neilly, Sorry no personal experience but I do know someone who's toddler goes and who is very happy with it. Not sure if you have been to visit yet but if you ask then I'm sure they can put you in touch with other parents. I know that my nursery offered to put us in touch with parents although we saw the results of a parent survey so could see the positive feedback there and didn't in the end approach other parents. Piplings should be good, I think they are on the more expensive side.

Sorry Sanne Penne, can't help with your question, and went on a rant! Although I'm afraid it's my hunch you don't have much chance as a non faith applicant, hope I am wrong. Good luck!

Personally I do not think that religious establishments should control entry to state education. People "discover religion" as new mother says because they discover that they want their child to go to a decent school and get a decent education. What about Hindus, what about Muslims? Paying taxes the same as Church of England Christians but no decent schools for their religious preference nearby. So kids are excluded from decent state schools. This might be inflamatory, but surely I'm not the only one?

Hi, Anyone have any recommendations on a toy for a 2.5 yr old boy? Our friends will be visiting form afar and after staying with us will have a long haul flight so would be great to hear of something on the small side that will keep him entertained for a while. Do not have the budget to be splashing out on Nintendo DS (if that is what they are called) happy to spend between ?20 - ?40. Please help!

Hi Olympia, I used the ofsted site to get an idea of nurserys in the area and also a rough idea if they are any good. Also search the internet for questions to ask, there are things you might not think of i.e. take your shoes off at baby area, what food do they prepare, is there a baby sleep area, what is the outdoor area like. I asked the same questions at each place and then I got an idea of what was good. The main deciding factor though was good old gut instint :-) ofsted inspections - http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Inspection-reports/ good luck.

l'anima apparently - haven't been myself but read a review saying v kid friendly. Compared to Locanda locatelli (the new kid in town) already mentioned and also kid friendly, food is fantastic.

I used Forest Hill Cabs, 0208 291 1111. It was around midnight but if you are in labour during the day it's worth considering traffic i.e. insist on going in when you have regular and close contractions, they kept putting me off even when I was 3 in ten mins. Goodluck!

It's not a legal requirement for little ones to be in a car seat in a taxi. Having called around recently I couldn't find a cab firm with baby carseat (we didn't want to take ours as going to Euston). If ADS supply, then they sound like a good bet.

My Baby is now 8 months and this sounds familiar. My interpretation of my own situation was that my baby had associated the boob to sleep so couldn't get back to sleep without it. It wasn't hunger as sometimes she only suckled for a minute before dosing back off to sleep. I was starting to co sleep just so that I could get enough sleep and didn't have to get up every few hours. Now that my baby is weaned and I have given bottles to ensure she wasn't hungry I have done some sleep training. Basically shush patting between the hours of 10.30 and 5am not feeding - it's hard at first as she really associated suckling with getting back to sleep and cried but the habit has now been broke and she is now sleeping through. Apparently we all have sleep cycles and have periods of light waking through the night but can almost immediately settle ourselves back to sleep - my baby seems to settle herself now. So I'd say it is not an unusual situation and your daughter could co-sleep as then it's easy to let the baby suckle or if you want to break the habit she has to stop the association of suckling to sleep which is hard in the short term. 5 months is quite young to break the habit maybe she has to continue for a few more months - it's up to her :-) Hope that helps!

Agree - they are happy to let you use the changing cubicle for breast feeding and the loo has baby change facilities.

I agree, sounds like you are doing great. I think this site has good ideas for activities that are age appropriate for each week although of course some of the 2mth stuff is good for a 3mth old. Enjoy! http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/development/letsplay/?intcmp=tnav_baby_play

I used Mamatens - http://www.mama-tens.info/ who do price match also had the discount code mama10 which I think got a fiver off, not sure if it's still valid. (Personally preferred gas)

I also vote for saline drops. .I do use the Nuk but have limited my usage since the doctor told me that her little nose is very sensitive and doesn't need the suction/anything up ther just wipe what does come out.