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When I consulted Southwark Council prior to completing my application form I queried whether the schools we applied to would be informed of the position of choice on our application form. Southwark Council confirmed the school would not know. I'm confused now that Heber appear to have been given this information. Can anyone explain?

I wish I didn't work :( Have fun everyone!

You have my sympathy. I had a failed ventouse then forceps delivery which ultimately caused a 3rd degree tear - I didn't even know what one of those was or that it was possible when I went in to have my little one. I had bladder control issues and soreness for a while afterwards but its all healed up now. Completely back to normal so try not to worry! You just have to be patient. But you'll get there eventually.

I didn't have a c-section but did stay in hospital for 5 days. I don't remember much about it to be honest other than I was really hungry all the time so as others suggest - get your other half to bring food in. What I would like to contradict is the negative comments about breastfeeding support. This was the one good thing about staying in the ward - there was a midwife called Sue who taught me how to breastfeed before I left hospital - she was amazing! In the early hours of the morning when I didn't have a clue what was going on or how to sort my baby out who was screaming, she would sit me in a chair, take my baby's head, take my breast and show me how to get her to latch on properly. She then sat with me to make sure i was doing it properly - the best start to breast feeding I could ever have hoped for and, as I say, one of the few positive things I can say about having to stay in hospital after the birth!

This may sound silly but I just wanted somebody to look at how I was doing it and tell me if I was doing it 'right'. My baby was a low birth weight and has continued to be small even at the age of 4. That's just the way she is. But the feedback I received from health visitors suggested she wasn't growing quickly enough therefore there was a problem with feeding. On reflection I don't think this was the case at all, but I wasted a lot of time and effort worrying about a problem which didn't really exist. If someone could just have observed me breastfeeding and said yep, looks like you're doing fine then that would have been enormously helpful.

That's awful. Hope you're ok and not too shaken up. Thanks for letting us know - I take that route home whenever I go out for the evening so will make sure I don't going forward.

I was approached by this man in summer when he saw our garden was so overgrown and at risk of bringing down our fence. However he became very angry with me when I said I didn't want to pay him to do it because my partner and I would do it ourselves. He was utterly outraged! I found him quite threatening to be honest.

I've tried the chocolate bribe - it hasn't worked for me. Great for potty training! But hasn't worked on thumb sucking - she's obviously got wise to me. Thanks for the tip though.

Interesting that your daughter didn't start sucking her thumb until 3 - neither did my daughter! She only started doing it when she joined a nursery where one of the little girls sucked her thumb a lot, so I think my daughter copied her. We too have tried offering her treats to reward good behaviour when she doesn't suck her thumb, and we've put horrible stuff on her trhumb when she doesn't (which breaks my heart!). I don't think she wants to disappoint us but does it unconsciously now. I sucked my thumb until I was 7 years old and consequently needed a lot of dental work to correct protruding front teeth. Although it's tough to be so firm with her at this tender young age, I'm sure she'll thank me when she's 18 years old! Good luck - if you do identify any top tips along the way then do let me know.

Thanks so much for all your suggestions. Anna - have tried the stop nail biting varnish and she pulls her face for a while but it doesn't stop her sucking her thumb. MitchK and capt_birdseye - thanks for the thumb guard tip. They are a bit pricey but I've no idea what else to do so I think we'll give that a try. It's good to hear it works! Many thanks

Does anyone have any advice on how to stop thumb sucking. Our dentist confirmed that it can potentially cause problems so in an effort to avoid uncomfortable and expensive dental work further down the line we've been trying to persuade our nearly 4 year old daughter to stop sucking her thumb - with poor results! Any tips?

What a relief to hear I'm not the only one! I spend about 3 hours in the car each day - commuting to West London from East Dulwich. My 3 year old goes to a nursery near my work so I can be there quickly if she's ill or has an accident. It also gives us more time together (albeit in the car) - and that's time as a family because I also drop her daddy off at work this side of London before taking her to nursery. We don't do breakfast at home - it is cereal (without milk) in the car. Along with juice. She cleans her teeth in the car after she's had her cereal. She has tea at nursery and up until the age of 2 I did cook each night for her. She used to eat quite well but as she's got older the need for a cooked meal is less - so we can choose whether or not we want to cook. If we don't, or we've both been out for a big lunch, then I can give my daughter pasta (only 10mins) or toast or a sandwich....or more cereal! She quite likes crumpets at the moment too! And she'll have some fruit either in the car on the way home or after her tea. Whatever happens we do all sit at the table together and eat something, even if it is just a snack. We run her bath while we're eating so it's ready for her to get into straight afterwards. As soon as she's out the bath we chill in the lounge for a bit, get her pyjamas on then she's off to bed. I can't get her to bed before 7pm - it's generally more like 7.30-8pm. A cleaner who also does ironing is essential for me. I was doing the full time work and commute without one to begin with and it was really hard. For only ?30 a week it makes an enormous difference and gives me my weekend back with my daughter. Meals cooked at weekends (just cook double!) and frozen for us in the week help as Ann says. I did my first internet shop last night - think it could be the way forward! That, and trying to plan what we're eating in advance. Rather than tryign to decide in the car on the way home! I promise you it does get easier but it's never going to be easy. It's exhausting and I can't help but feel envious of those mums who don't need to work full time. My new years resolution is to try to leave work at 4.30 on the dot because it makes such a difference to my journey time if I can get on the road straight away. And as they get older they can actually help more so while you're cooking they can lay the table or help stir something - it makes for more valuable time together. Good luck!

I'm assuming having a cat would prohibit you from having chickens?

I'm absolutely amazed at these posts - fabric shop man has always been lovely to me whenever I've been in there. Furthermore, he has gone out of his way to make me feel safe when I felt threatened on a couple of occasions. He even offered me a cup of tea when I went in there one time! He's lovely!

Thanks very much.

Could anyone advise who I should contact to try to book Thomas Moore Hall on Lordship Lane...and any idea how much it cost? Many thanks Patricia

My 3 year old daughter goes to a Montessori school and is positively flourishing - she loves the 'work'. They have a holiday club over summer and she couldn't wait to get back to the Montessori activities. She attended a normal workplace nursery when she was a baby which was amazing. That closed, she went to a non-montessori nursery which was a disaster. I'm delighted I found this place and although I didn't choose it for the montessori method at all it has suited my little girl. It may not be for every child though. Good luck!

Of course! Anyone who says they have never shouted at their little one is telling fibs!

I too used the BT monitor and think it was fantastic. (I'm ashamed to say I still use it now even though my little one is 3!).

We are very close to you and the problem started in the way you describe until the picture would simply disappear. We demanded a new box from Virgin and we've had a much better reception ever since.

I'd like to offer an entirely different point of view. I've commuted to work (by car) with my daughter since she was 6 months old and it's worked well for me. As a baby she would wake up for a feed around the time I left home anyway so it simply meant putting some clothes on her, giving her a feed and popping her into her car seat. The journey to work would take about 45mins (East Dulwich to White City) during which she would sleep. I left home around 7am to avoid the traffic, would feed her again in the car just before I took her into my workplace nursery and head off to work. I'd then go and see her at lunchtime for another feed before picking her up at 4.30pm to go home (again avoiding the worst of the traffic). This routine meant I spent far more time with my daughter than I otherwise would have and, as with all little ones when they start nursery, I was able to be there within 5mins each time she was taken ill, which happened a lot over that first year. Knowing I was close by was a great comfort and the nursery was superb and heavily subsidised - I was lucky to get a place there. I was also still feeding my daughter myself and I find it hard to envisage a scenario that would have allowed me to go back to work full time again - I did find leaving her quite traumatic and was very upset at the beginning, but having her so close to me made it workable for me. But everyone's different and I'm sure other people would criticise me for being a full time mum or going back to work when my daughter was only 6 months old. Now, my workplace nursery hs closed but my daughter is in a private nursery close to my work. We enjoy driving into work together each morning (with her daddy in the car too) and in the afternoon. She is very tired at the end of the day but sleeps for an hour en route home, which again means we can eat together in the evening. I had to commute in with her by train one day and I spent about 2.5 hours travelling each way so I would never recommend that. There's not enough room on the train for a pushchair, then you rely on helpful strangers when you reach a set of stairs with no available escalator etc. and it's very stressful. Good luck with whatever decision you arrive at! Patricia

When I was pregnant I was genuinely overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity Londoners in general showed me, particularly in East Dulwich. I was regularly offered seats on crowded trains/buses and people held the door open for me more. It went some way to restoring my faith in human kindness - there are really lots of lovely people out there as well as the less appealing individuals who get discussed far more on this forum!

Lovin' this thread! We have a very limited time between getting home from work/nursery and needing to get our 3 year old to bed. Meals we tend to opt for are: Home made spare ribs with coleslaw Chicken and Vegetable soup Any variety of stir fry Beef stroganoff Pasta dishes M&S Chicken Kiev (70's-tastic!) Large shell on prawns griddled with crusty bread Chicken caesar salad Roasted veg cous cous Tuna nicoise salad Mackeral grilled Steak and chips! In the summer we tend to just get some bits and pieces from the fridge and eat them outside (variety of cheeses, fresh bread with good olive oil, salami, parma ham, tomato & mozarella salad with basil, baby gherkins, and a glass of rose for the grown ups!).

I don't know if the works being carried out Thames Water on Dunstans Road have anything to do with it but they started work this week and will continue throughout Feb. Residents have been advised drinking water could be cut off for some periods although promised to let us know when.

I'm opposite Goodrich School too Nero and we've yet to receive post this week too.