Bumpkin

That area totally needs a tube line or some other form of extra transport - I lived there around 15 years ago before all the new developments and you could barely squeeze onto the trains from Queens Town Road or Battersea Park during rush hour. It must be impossible now. If you lived there you would be 100% behind this. It's not just for rich people, it's a very diverse area with a lot of council flats as well as the new builds by the river.

I had a non hormonal copper coil fitted 4 years ago as I was breastfeeding at the time and didn't want the hormonal one. Having always had light periods before (partly due to being on the pill for years), I wasn't too concerned about them getting heavier, however they were very heavy to start with and much closer together and I had much worse pmt. Also, I had around 3 or 4 times mid month where I had really severe pain which I thought was kidneys, but the dr told me was likely to be a ovarian cyst bursting and I've never had that before, a friend of mine had the same so I guess it's linked (didn't last long, but was very bad at the time). After a couple of years, it all settled down and my periods are pretty much back to normal, not painful and not that heavy and I haven't had the severe pain in ages. For me, I think it was worth going through the early painful period, but I was starting from a very easy base.

Have also pm'd you

Being well past this, all I can say is if at 10 months she's sleeping 12 hrs at night time I wouldn't care what she did during the day!!! I wouldn't worry too much about timing of naps in the day - can she nap in the buggy so that you can get out with her? They change routine quite rapidly over the first 18 months and get more into the longer lunchtime nap once they are walking in my experience.

We had a male nanny from when my son was 13 months and I was absolutely thrilled with him. He was great at playing all types of games with my son but was equally good at the softer skills I wanted in a nanny. One big plus was that I got the feeling he didn't stand around chatting with the other female nannies much, but actively played with my son and the other boy we shared with when they were out. Our manny was very much in demand and I had several friends trying to lure him away from us, so if your husband is any good with children I'm sure you would have a market in ED, good luck!

or just sit them on your lap or on your partners lap.. we never took highchairs camping.

depends on child, but mine freaked out at his 1st b'day party even though was just NCT friends + 1 other. Had to carry him around the whole time otherwise he cried! So I wouldn't worry about going too overboard.

Oops, should prob have posted this under classified section, anyone know how to move?

As our son is starting school this September, we no longer need our fantastic nanny. We've known L for 3 years now and she's brilliant at looking after all ages of children. She takes our son and his friend out twice a day come rain or shine to loads of different places around Dulwich including a huge range of parks, soft play, libraries, play groups, 1 o'clock clubs. She really takes care to understand all the children she looks after and ensures that they get the right stimulation, rest, nourishment and care so they can grow to be happy, healthy children. She's never had a sick day in all the time we've had her and is extremely reliable and organised. She's ideally looking for 2 days work from mid September, probably Tuesday / Wednesday but worth having a chat if you need different days. If you're interested, let me know and I'll pass on your details.

I've had a nanny share for 3 years now with 6 different families and would highly recommend. We've had 6 different shares due to children going to nursery or moving house so there is a hassle factor of having to find a new share, sometimes at relatively short notice, however we've met 6 really lovely families and made some good friends along the way. I would ensure that you have some slack to be able to pay full whack for short periods of time if you need to if your share pulls out. As people are only required to give their nanny 1 month notice, you don't really need to look too far in advance unless you're starting in September when children will be moving up to school / nursery. Prob 3 months max, however there's no harm in starting earlier. I found my nanny and all my shares via the forum - tried a couple of nanny websites and got nothing and cost me money. Haven't got strong tips on interviewing, we went with the first nanny we interviewed as our son loved him straight away although we did interview a couple of others. Our nanny was already with a family so that was a factor in deciding as it's important to feel you can work well with the other family. I would always ask the family you are looking to share with how long they want to have a nanny for as I nearly didn't with one family and they let slip they only needed it for 3 months. The thing that I loved was on the days at my house, not having to rush my son out of the house and him being settled at home when I got back. He was able to nap in his bed and have home cooked food. He had another child to play with and we got to know the families pretty well. He was taken out twice a day to the park, softplay or play groups, so got all the interaction with other children that he would get at nursery but in smaller more manageable chunks when he was only little. Potential benefits from nursery is that you don't have to bother providing food and you don't have to worry about the share ending or the nanny being off sick (although mine never was in 3 yrs). However I see these as very small hassles compared to not having to have sent my shy child to nursery before I felt he was ready. He was never ever clingy when I left him with his nanny but took best part of a year to start enjoying nursery when he was 3 (we still have the share 2 days a week and nursery another 2 days). Regarding Money, the nannies quote the pay that they expect to get and you need to pay tax on top which can be quite significant. There are various nanny tax companies that for a small fee will sort this out for you and provide payslips. On top of that you need to provide food for the children and nanny and pay for any extras e.g. busses, play groups. Good luck with it!

That picture made me so cross for an entirely different reason. Whatever the arguments for and against breastfeeding in public / private / past a certain age are etc, one very definite fact is that that boy is going to have that article held up against him in school for a very long time and is never going to live it down. He's going to be bullied and laughed at and I can't believe that any sane mother would do that to her child. Why are some mothers so stupid and selfish to want to make a political point at the expense of their child? In fact, how dare Time do that to a child, surely that's exploitation in a way, selling more magazines at the expense of a 4 year old who can't consent to an article that's going t make his life a misery.

I really empathise, I was always a good sleeper until I had a baby. I went to my GP last year after a year of insomnia and got some zopiclone. They were great sleeping pills that actually got me to sleep, you sleep for 6 hrs (min) and wake up feeling refreshed! You're not meant to take them 2 nights in a row I think or very often as they are addictive, but just getting a couple of nights decent sleep put me back on track and I haven't had any for ages now. Bizzarely it's even harder to sleep when you're really over tired. Also, having them in the house helped psychologically as I knew I could get a good night's sleep if I really needed it. Tried nightol etc and absolute rubbish. Also, in case you're worried, I did get woken up by screaming child when taking these and was able to get up, settle him down and go back to sleep really quickly, so you don't need to worry about not hearing your child if you really need to! Good luck, I hope you get it sorted soon.

Hi zelda, I've just been offered a place for my son. I had reservations at first from the ofsted results but was very impressed when I looked around (and I looked at a Lot of local schools). I've also heard really good things from a lot of parents and am now feeling very positive about it. If you fancy meeting up sometime do get in touch as it would be great to meet some other children who are starting next year too.

I agree with the straight to pants except that if we had a car journey I put pull ups on and called them 'travel pants' as really didn't want to have to deal with sopping car seat and long journey! Never caused any confusion. Think prob also used them in the supermarket in v early stages. Asked my nanny what he did at the park if little B needed a wee and was initially horrified by 'he goes in a bush' but it is so much easier with boys, you can just go in any vegitation if a real emergency...

Have you tried bribing with chocolate buttons? Worked for us and surprisingly he forgot about the chocolate very quickly after getting the hang of it so it wasn't an ongoing request... Friend recommended it and was the only real incentive he bought into.

I cut out my baby's afternoon milk at 9 months as was still b/feeding and had had enough of doing it in public with a 9 month old at that time and had seen enough advice saying they didn't need it at that stage. He was always grumpy after an afternoon nap so I'd get some fruit / raisins into him fairly soon after he woke up and then he was fine. I don't think they need afternoon milk at 14 months although no expert. I personally don't suscribe to 'if baby wants it they should get it' as they are totally creatures of habit and would carry on forever with some things if you let them. He didn't miss it at all from what I remember, I thought at the time that it was better to get into eating more veg / fruit / protein and he always seems to have eaten well at meal times. Everyone has different views, but I'd go with what you think and don't feel mean, your baby will be fine if you're happy with the decision.

The Florence pub in Herne Hill does decent food and has a children's play room. Think the Victoria might also have a play room?

It is a nightmare, I had well over six months of refusing toddler but it was one thing I wouldn't give in on, I just threatened with no bedtime story and fought him every night until he gave in. Now he's 4, he gets up and goes and brushes his teeth first thing when he gets up in the morning everyday unprompted! Some things are just worth fighting with them for..

I would be interested, my 4 yr old would love it and I've been keeping an eye out for something.

I guess the present request should also be taken in the context of what they think you can afford as if you were on low incomes then rather cheeky, but if you were say corporate lawyers then not such an ask really.

I don't think you can take too much notice of these. My dad measured me and my sister regularly and plotted the points on a graph (yes extremely sad, he was a train spotter too...). According to his detailed predictions, she would end up 2 inches taller than me as she was taller age for age all the way through. She's now 2 inches shorter than me.

I'd definitely be interested in hearing about other events please. We were not around on Sunday, but would have come if we were and would do in future. Thanks

Where's the nearest place to get helium balloons for a kids party? Need large number, so somewhere that sells the canisters.

Mine's up loads in the night at the moment as his dad's working away for 3 months. Best excuse so far was at 2am in a very calm voice saying 'mummy, my finger nail needs cutting'. Given he fights like anything not to have them cut at a reasonable hour of the day I didn't think that was the main reason!

Nouvelle Images do great stickers for kids rooms. We got a load of underwater ones (fish, submarines, seaweed), painted the wall by the cot blue and stuck them on. They peel off easily if you want to replace later. They sell them in various places around here (ED / Horniman have some) and have bigger outlet at London Bridge with the full range.