Bobbaz

I also used the keen group, no problem at all... well except for the massively painful contractions! 02076931000.

Depends what out there! I've not come across anything so I thought specifying kung-fu might be somwhat limiting.

I'd love to take my son who is in Reception year to an after school class, especially with the dark, cold nights the park is less and less appealing. Does anyone know of any locally at all?

Peckham Pulse is good. Have a look online for their timetable for Jelly Babies.

I just walked near the top of Goose Green and there's a burst pipe leaking lots of water into the road at the top of Keston Rd, not sure if it might be that causing the problem?

I just can't understand why with todays technology the PO haven't come up with a machine that you pop your parcel on, select type of delivery and pay? Bonkers if you ask me. You can print off and pay for postage online but if it's recorded your still need to get them to stamp the proof of postage...largely pointless.

As always I've left it too late to book a ticket (that works around school time) for the lovely big grotto's in central London but can anyone suggest a good grotto anywhere else in the SE area? Maybe at a local farm or shopping centre?

If you've got a boy, Jazz's Barbers on LL are good, ?9 during the week.

Personally I only buy Huggies, more expensive but they're the only brand with the elasticated bit going all the way round the back which prevent any messy leaks into clothes. If you like pampers though the own brand one seem pretty similar so I'd go down that route.

Most of the hairdressers on Lordship lane do them and are very good and usually give good boys and girls a lollie. Normally around ?9. (except for Willis B which quoted ?26!!!!)

All the above advice is great. 1 thing I would mention though if you are new to travelling with a buggy is to check if any prams are coming off the luggage carousel, if not keep your eyes peeled for an out-sixed baggage area as this is normally where you'll find your pram! I spent ages waiting at the carousel the 1st time this happened to me.

Dells auto's, just off Lordship lane always did a great job on my old Peugot 206. I've always found to be very reasonable, honest and reliable.

I hired one from Kings for the borth of my 1st child and wish I hadn't as it was a bit rubbish, the pads came off and ended up giving me electric shocks - just what you need - more pain during labour! Anyway for the birth of my 2nd child I went out and bought one, I'm glad I did as the early stages of labour weren't overly painful but it was nice to have a bit of non-drug pain relief, then my baby decided to come all of a sudden which didn't leave me any time for extra pain relief and all I had was my TENS machine, trust me the boost button was well used! I'm happy to sell mine if you want it, ?15, you just need to buy fresh sticky pads for it which I think you can get for ?6 from Lloyds chemist on Northcross Rd.

I think someone in the wanted section had lost a silver watch?

185 bus

I forget the name of it sorry but I used a nice mum-to-be cream and oil from Sainsbury's, their own range (might even be called mum to be?). I think it's lavender and vanilla but it's very mildly scented (and nice), wasn't very expensive at all. I totally know what you mean about the cocoa butter ones, way too sweet for me too.

I stuck my sons black-out blind to the frame using those cheap and cheerful sticky velcro rectangles. You can buy them in any stationers and worked really well.

Having recently given birth I'm looking to treat myself and book my Summer Holiday and wondered if anyone can recommend somewhere family friendly? I'm after somewhere in Europe (2-4 hours flight time), with a kids club for a 3 year old and also suitable for a 4/5month baby (a room with a small kitchen/kitchenette would be fab). Ideally a high 4 or 5 star type hotel/accomodation in a small resort but with good restaurants in walking distance would be perfect. Any suggestions appreciated!

Thanks for your responses I will keep persevering. At least know I know it's possible at his age. I've tried the rewards method, a good talking to, the bathroom is right next to his bedroom and the landing light is always kept on so he's got no issues on that front. He seems happy enough to agree to going to the bathroom but my biggest problem seems to be that he's such a sound sleeper he doesn't wake up when he needs to go or when he's wet, just gets up in the morning, pops on a new pair of PJ trousers and climbs into my bed! Looks like I've got lots more washing ahead of me in the meantime!

I'm sure I'll get a barage of counter-replies to this but controlled crying really worked for me. Start with a few minutes and work your way up. I genuinely think this is harder for the parents than the baby! Myself and several friends have used this method and if you stick to it have generally found results within 1-2 weeks. Good luck!

It's a tough one as having a baby does cost but there's always ways round things and your lifestyle will change dramatically anyway once the baby arrives. Your number 1 cost without a shadow of doubt are childcare costs, the things you need to factor in are do you have support from your family/friends or are you going to have to pay for a childminder/nursery/nanny? It is possible for you to return to work relatively quickly after the birth maybe on a part-time basis to add a little to your income? Childcare costs will vary dramatically dependent upon the option you go for a Nanny is wonderful but they aren't cheap and you'd have to earn over ?30k I would say to justify this option but childminders/nurseries can cost much less. The forum is fab for buying 2nd hand (or sometimes free) baby items and certainly your lifestyle changing meant for us we saved a fortune in going-out partying costs! I didn't find that 1st year overly expensive in all honesty, it's when you get into school fees, clubs, big presents that the costs start mounting up. The 1st year tends to be your initial lay out for nursery/pram etc and nappies - not too painful. Anyway good luck with starting your new family!

I took my Son out of nappies when he was 2 and he picked it up in a couple of weeks, he's now 3.5 and I thought it would be a good time to take away his bedtime pull up nappy as I know he treats it as completely legitimate to wee in his nappy as soon as it goes on, (regardless of the fact that he goes to the toilet at all other times). I started to remove it about 5 weeks ago and I am still having to change his sheets every day. I make sure he goes to the loo before bed and if he happens to wake up in the night I will also make him go to the loo but even then he's still wet. I know he understands he needs to go to the loo but I think he's just naturally wee'ing whilst he sleeps and wetting himself also doesn't wake him up. Am I doing this too early? Does anyone have any tips?

Sadly I think you might find that most nanny's get full pay for their holidays. My advice is to agree in advance how many days holiday you want to give your childminder and also what you want to do about bank holidays too! (and make sure you track them somewhere!) Then you pay her/him full pay for those days but anything over that would be unpaid. While you're agreeing this I would also check out what you'd like to do about sick pay as I also paid my nanny for sick days too (as long as it was within reason) but she would also try and get someone else to cover for her if poss (I was fortunate my Nanny's Sister and Mom were also nannys!) I seem to recall I gave 20 days plus bank hols (if they fell on the day she normally worked) but 2 weeks of her holiday would be agreed by us both so her holiday fell at the same time as we wanted to take our summer holiday.

Anywhere is fine I'd say at 5 months, but for ease I'd pick somewhere in Europe to keep the flight times down and I would base the decision on whether or not to go self catering on whether or not you're weaning your little one yet. If you need pureed food then self catering is definitely easier than say all-inclusive where you're limited to a buffet or having to eat only at certain times when the restaurant is open. When we took our baby away I would also buy sterilising tablets so you can just fill up a sink with cold water and drop a tablet in, so if you're just using bottles hotel or self catering is fine.

I contemplated this myself and see no reason why not to if it works for you - however the only reason I decided not to go down this route what the lack of nice children's bedding available in double size.