Bumpkin

Hi James Regarding the extra ?5m - does this have to be spent this financial year? I'm slightly concerned about this being spent on buldge classes only as this will only solve the problem for one intake of children as there will have to be the same extra space for the bulge class until these children move on to secondary school. Will this then adversely affect children the following years as I can't imagine much funding will be forthcoming in future years given we had so much this year? Pleased to see some of it being used for permanent expansion of at least one school though. Thanks

I saw some in Sainsburys the other day in the first aisle with the garden stuff

Hello - I'd love to come if space - can make 8pm no probs.

I actually managed to get a private room on the main post natal ward for a whole week due to looking truly dreadful after emergency c-section and a day in the high dependency unit. I'm sure if you're going for a planned section, you won't end up like that, but if you're really not coping, it's worth knowing they are there and getting a friendly midwife to push for it (I bribed mine with chocolates - really good tip from a friend). I also managed to get hold of a plastic cot that clipped onto the side of my bed and was open at the bed side so the baby was next to me at night as he refused to sleep in the separate cots and I couldn't really lift him out at first. Only downside of the private room was it was really cold, so an extra blanket would have been nice, but was quiet which was much appreciated. Kings were fantastic - I had quite bad pre-eclapmsia which came on at the very last minute and they were so amazing at looking after me & the baby, would definitely go there again without any hesitation.

Goosemum - I think that's a very important point as from what I can see at work, being able to socialise / network is just as important if not more than your academic skills in getting ahead if that's what you want from life. Let alone the benefit of having good friends that live close by. I went to a local primary and was very happy with loads of friends within close walking distance. I then went to a private secondary that undoubtably provided a good education, but there was a strong focus on spending all hours outside school doing loads of homework and the friends I made there all lived driving distance away. Looking back, I'm not sure that spending less time on academic things and more time nurturing friendships outside of school wouldn't have been a better thing all round.

A friend of mine has a whole load of lovely baby clothes she would like to donate to mums that are on a very low budget. Does anyone know how best to do this round here?

Fantastic, thanks for that, think it's a trip to Brixton tomorrow - always happy for an excuse to wander over to Morleys and the market. Will check out the diggerland website now.. x

It's my day off with the tot tomorrow and I asked him what he would like to do in the morning, more as general chat than really expecting much of a reply from a just 2 year old. However I was told most firmly 'find digger'. So am wondering if anyone has noticed any digging going on in the local area!

Thanks for all your replies - still to decide, but all very helpful. Ours is also a big fattie and had very mild eczema which to my shame got significantly better when I started a more vigourous washing routine (behind the ears mostly). Not that I'm suggesting you don't wash your child linzkg! more that baby B's prob wasn't that serious.

Mr B works freelance and has time off in May. We would both love to go back to Thailand as love the place and have local friends there, but I'm not sure if it would just be too hot for a 2 yr old at that time? My instinct would be to leave it to next November when it's a bit cooler and the tot is a bit older, but can never guarantee us both being able to take holiday at the same time..

I got one for a Quest off Ebay for ?5 inc postage.

Hi, Sorry Barry, I only just checked this again - I am at London Bridge tomorrow and Wednesday morning at around 8.30 am if that helps?

Hi Barry, not sure if this is totally on topic and if you can help, but am very frustrated with myself as just bought an annual season ticket at London Bridge and accidentally bought at rail ticket office rather than underground as meant to get Oyster card update. So I only have a paper ticket which I have now had to get replaced 4 times in 2 weeks as the magnetic strip stops working almost immediately. I've spoken to about 5 different people at TFL / South Eastern etc about getting this transferred to an Oyster card and they all say it should be done but London Bridge can't and if I apply for a refund I lose the 2 months free... not sure where to go next, but wondered if you had any bright ideas! Thanks

I totally agree LittleED family on the controlled crying. I hated the idea of controlled crying when baby B was younger but after putting up with 2 months of being woken up 2/3 times in the night and at 5am when Mr B was working away from home during the week (and baby B was a reasonable age and had slept through before), my friend said - face it, you have to try it. So at 5am I put him back in cot (rather than bringing into bed where he didn't go back to sleep at all...); let him cry for 10 mins, went back and reassured him, he cried for 2 mins and then slept til 8am!! For several weeks after he slept straignt through to 7am and I felt stupid for not trying it before... Have used it several times since at any sign of not wanting to go to bed etc and have found that 10 mins max of crying usually sorts us out for the next few months (haven't had to do this for so long, "several" is prob an exageration)- surely better for a baby to have decent sleep than worry about a very short period of crying?

Fantastic - congratultions! Glad Elsa held out for the wedding :-)

Belle - I understand what you're saying about Nick Clegg and I do feel sympathy for him struggling with a new baby as I definitely did. However, whilst I would have much sympathy with an average person in the street privately stating the same as Nick Clegg; he's a very senior politician who wants to run our country and publicly made statements that could damage someone's livelihood. So I judge him differently. Anyway, off topic - sorry.

Quite frankly I think much less of Nick Clegg now for his comments. Not because he didn't agree with Gina Ford's routines which everyone is entitled to do; but that he was "in tears from trying to force his child to conform"! For goodness sake, why couldn't he just read a range of parenting books and take the advice that made sense to him and work it round his child rather than just blind follow something to the letter. I think I would have gone mad if I'd followed her routines to the letter and certainly didn't remotely try to do that, but there are some very sound tips and timings that helped a lot. Doesn't say much for him in my opinion if he can't use his brain to use advice in the way he thinks is best.

I'm also a Gina fan in a 'lite' way - didn't start looking at her routines properly for the first couple of months, but found baby B so much easier to manage if he had enough sleep and fed at regular times. I have had a couple of comments on how lucky I am he goes to bed at a reasonable time and naps well but it didn't happen by accident - took a fair bit of (loving) effort with minimal stress to him thanks to Gina and he is now very flexible and will nap in car / buggy if need be. It's dull and hard work sticking to a routine at times, but I think it's important that babies eat well and sleep enough for their own development / growth / happiness. Don't like talking about his sleeping though - sure to jinx things!! Also aware that not all babies eat / sleep the same, but Gina definitely helped me.

Dr Gupta's on Crystal Palace Road are not offering it to all babies / children. Only those with underlying health problems. Didn't push for the reason on this, but interesting how different surgeries in exactly the same area take different stances.

Hi Claire I haven't flown long haul, but just got back from Lanzarote last night with a v nearly 2 year old. The flight out (both evening flights) was not much fun as he was on our lap and didn't want to be and didn't sleep very well. Flight back much better as we got moved to have spare seat so he sat in the middle of us on his own seat and once he finally fell asleep he stayed quite happily there. Could have been due to us all being more relaxed on way back though. Flew with baby B at 4 months and 1 year and he slept better on both of those as easily fell asleep in my lap and much lighter. Think there are pros and cons to any age - v early on easy as only have milk to worry about and they sleep in the buggy anywhere so you can go out for evenings. However later on they start to enjoy it more so you get different perspecitive. Personally I'd avoid the early weaning stages as unless you're very chilled, easy to get a bit stressed about what to feed them. Enjoy!

Baby B was fantastically loud grunter until around 12 weeks when his insides seemed to sort themselves out - think it's a wind type thing, but even after 3/4 hr winding at 4am, couldn't get it all out. We put him in his own room at 9 weeks and all slept far better.

Thanks Siduhe - I've filled out the form, will see what happens.

Dear Mr Barber I thought I should let you know that my partner was hit in the face by a large branch as he walked on the pavement from the Goose Green roundabout down Grove Vale this morning. It hit him quite hard and just missed his eye - obviously due to the very strong winds, but think the trees need a trim in case anyone gets hurt (said branch is still attached to tree, did not fall off). It was one of the trees on the corner of the park nearest to the petrol station on Grove Vale.

I tried these once and also found they got sweaty and smelly and went straight back to the disposable ones. Shame as would rather use these for eco friendly reasons.

Just found out from our Nanny that adults are now no longer allowed upstairs at soft play due to Health and Safety reasons! Thus he can't let the little ones go upstairs any more as it's not really safe for two 20 month olds to roam up there on their own. Does anyone know anything about this? Seems ridiculous and surely less safe for the kids.