Sol

Going to Stradford upon Avon with our 2 children for a weekend and need a child friendly place to stay? can anyone recommend one?

This is the camp running at Dulwich College this Easter and Summer: http://www.fitforsport.co.uk/venues/dulwich-college/ Prices similar to holiday dropp off. I found out too late, I already booked my child in Scamps which I find quite expensive. Fit for Sport take children from 3 years old. I imagine holiday drop off will have to find a new venue for Summer.

Thank you

What a shame. Hope they are able to use Dulwich College Sport Club in future

Congratulations. I don't even know how we lived without a car when our first child was born; I found going on public transport with young children a nightmare; outings, shopping etc is very difficult with children and without a car. But that may be just me who likes an easy/less complicated life and hate people looking at me on the train when the children are screaming or not behaving well. It may be easier with over 3 but not with toddlers/babies Maybe joining a car club will be a good option

Does anybody know what's the reason for the holiday drop off not running this Easter. Thank you.

How many more weeks holidays do private schools have in comparison with state schools? I believe there are about 13/14 weeks holidays in the school year for state schools; how about private schools? Is there a reason for this?

You wil have to call them and book it

Keep chasing Uzma, you never know. It does seem to be more difficult for under 2 as there are not that many children in the baby room

Some women/couples work really hard in order to pay private education and sacrifice other things which I Think is unnecessary in primary school. The most important is the time you share with your children and what you teach them at home, the experiences youn share with them, seeing them grow. What's the point of private education if you become a stranger to your children and they get more attach to the nanny/aupair, if you can not go on holidays or do other outings, if you get stressed and sick due to working full time and selling your soul as you say. It is fine for rich people who can afford it without having to sacrifice all these things.

I think you should wait for gumboots if that's what you really want or transfer her once you get an offer. It doesn't matter at this age, it will give her grandma a break if she goes to nursery a few days. It is hard work looking after young children. Good luck

It looks like it depends a lot on the family and aupair/ nanny. Some families hire au pairs to do full time hours and look after young children and pay them as au pairs; some other hire live in nannies and pay them as such and some other do hire au-pairs who in reality work as au-pairs (30 hours a week) and the rates vary between 70 and 100 per week for au pairs. For live in nannies someone told me ?250 and another one ?350 a week so a rate of around ?300 per week should be a fair one. Thanks a lot for the information.

I need someone to do more than the normal aupair hours; as she will be looking after a two year old all day; How much is the rate for a live in nanny?

I went to see the one in Dulwich Village awhile ago and didn't like the fact that there wasn't any toys outside for them to play with; they were just running oround without much to do when outside; that was my impression. Maybe because it was montessori or maybe because they share the fields and can not keep things outside; who knows

Mine toddler bedtime routine is a nightmare at the moment, not wanting to go to sleep until 10pm. I think it is because she is getting out of her daily nap

I don't think you need to go into a detailed explanation. Mine asked me and I told her exactly where she came from; no more queries or mystery after that. I didn't go into explaining the whole creation process just told her that she came through the whole in the V.

I started to believe all this nursery waiting lists are just a trick to may themselves more desirable; the other issue is that people always put their name down in at least 3 nurseries which increase the waiting lists; in reality you just need one to offer you a place. With a bit of chasing I have always been offered places in the nurseries I wanted for my two children

http://www.osteopathylondon.co.uk/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/mallinder?opendocument&part=2 I think John is great, very professional and experience. See link above

You should have followed them. I saw a couple of nurseries with children in Goose Green Park on Monday; they all had hi-vis vests and the children were well cared for. The only thing I didn?t like was that the children were walking back with the carers but they were holding their hands. My child's previous nursery used to take them out in double pushchairs but I imagine it is OK to walk if the nursery is not too far. I must admit I visited many nurseries for my second child in Dulwich and not many gave me the confident I needed it. I do feel sorry for the children sometimes. First step montessory in Upland road was extremelly tidy in my opinion which showed they didn't give much freedom to the children; not only that but there was a lady who probably had a handover or didn't sleep well the night before and showed no interest on the children at all, apparently she was a trainee; one child went to the toilet and didn't pull his pants up and they took him out of the toilet in a not very nice way, my impression was that they were not very caring. Mother Goose in Upland Road was fine; but the staff did need it TLC. Mother Goose in Green Lane told me they had places available and asked me to put my money and application in the letter box and didnt even open the door; then I got an email saying I was on the waiting list for the following year or two, can't remember now. This was a couple of years ago, hopefully they have improved now. Children adapt easily but we realy don't know what's going on when they can't even speak properly

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nextbase-NB48AC-SDV48AC-Portable-Integrated/dp/B0053VPWC2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1362434477&sr=8-6 We bought this one last year and it has been great. One of the screens has a built in battery so it can be used anywhere (on the plane for instance); to use both you need to connect it to the car power or the electricity.

It looks like it is definitely a good choice to celebrate my birthday; all I need now is my mum to come and look after the children; I can't wait for a sunny/beach break just for the two of us.

There are lots of choice; I will put the recommended ones on a list and research them further. Thank you

Lidlk in Peckham

Agree, most of them will charge 10 pounds per hour

Great! Thank you so much for the advice; there is lots of information on the Internet that makes difficult to choose; it is always better to get advice from people who has been there