kristymac1

Crikey, give the OP a break! I have no idea either what the Arethusa trip is but the post didn't bother me at all - like an awful lot of posts on here it's only relevant to a minority - usually I would just 'walk on by', perhaps you could all so the same?

Oh, how I feel your pain! My little one will be four in February and still struggles to sleep through - although since turning 3 it has been a much more regular occurence than before (I too could count on two hands the number of sleep-throughs she's done before then), we struggled with any kind of 'sleep-training', she used to vomit if left to cry for even short periods of time, and then we entered a sleep walking/talking phase. I know of friends who have used cranial-osteopathy (sp?) for sleep issues with good results - I think there is someone who operates out of the Therapy Rooms above Health Matters on Lordship Lane. We didn't try it, probably should have, but think during the worst phases we were too tired to consider anything and during the better phases we didn't want to rock the boat! It's so difficult, and I do really wish you well and hope you get some speedy results whichever route you take. x

I couldn't agree more berryberry!

Dr Donald, Dr Dallas and Dr Davidson are all very good

Hi, I don't want to sound critical but did you inform the childminder and any other parents of children she looks after that your 1yr old may be in the incubation stage? I've never been particularly keen on the idea of chicken-pox 'parties', when my daughter had it she was really quite poorly and whilst I understand it is usually better to 'get it over and done with', children can react to childhood diseases/infections quite differently...... Hope the next few days aren't too bad and your son makes a speedy recovery.

I'm always slightly perplexed at the amount of space people assume is 'necessary' to house a happy family, we live in Jennings, a similar 2 up 2 down arrangement to Landells, we only have one little one but would (given the chance) happily raise two children in our home, we have an extension on the back and so our downstairs space is similar to a lot of 3-bed terrace properties in ED, upstairs space is minimal and no chance of a loft extension as the roofs are too shallow, but provided the kids (and parents) have a place to sleep - young kids love to share and the idea of bunkbeds sends our little one to sleeptime heaven. More bedrooms = bigger mortage, and I (personally) would choose a lack of financial stress (and therefore a happier family) over an extra bedroom any day...... Good luck!x

I think it really is the ability to pay her with childcare vouchers, which depending on whether you are a high rate tax payer or not can be worth up to ?200 per month (if both parents claim them) saving in tax through a salary sacrifice scheme. Definitely worth it!

We had some lovely tricksters come to our door this evening - the last lot turned up in force (there was about 8 kids in the scrum) My little one is a bit too little to be out doing the knocking but she had just as much fun screaming TRICK OR TREAT back at them and then dishing out the big bowl of sweets. We did hang a lit pumpkin outside the door so that may have encouraged a few more visitors - all good harmless fun! x

Telegraph Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks for your message and info. Can you > reccommend a play group? I am looking for > childminder so willing to explore all avenues. A > childminder has quoted me ?65 for the day (8am - > 6/6.15pm) - is that excessive. She is well > qualified (though I have not seen her ofsted > report yet) - and says she does a lot with the > children ( she only takes 3). > Registered childminders are only allowed to look after a certain number of children - certainly 3 children under 5yrs old would be the maximum anyway. ?65 does sound a little steep, although I know it's not unheard of, given that that is more than a nursery place I would certainly want a fair few details on what you were getting for your money. At the end of the day I think you just have to go on instinct and if you feel your little one will be safe, happy and stimulated then that's the most important thing. Good luck its such a difficult thing to go through..... > Thanks

Try this Rabbitts changing mat - literally changed my life! DD became immediately submissive, and we only had to place the straps over (with toys attached) and never had to strap her down - honestly, one of the best baby/toddler items we bought.

For me the issue is not whether a family can 'live on' ?45K or not - some will live better than others depending on the number of people supported on that income and the household outgoings. My issue is this constant reference to the fact that it is the 'richest 15%' of tax payers who will be affected - this is simply not true - within the remaining 85% there will be households earning in excess of ?80K who will still get the benefit and many households within the so-called richest 15% who will be bringing in well below this - bottom line, that's unfair. I have no problem per se with CB being cut for those in the higher tax bracket, but it should be implemented fairly. I'm happy for our family to contribute to erasing the deficit in this way and other ways too if necessary, but I just don't believe that it is beyond the Government to introduce these cuts fairly.

The Nappy Lady Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think most children tend to be quite > warm at night don't they? Or is my girl a bit > odd?! > My daughter is exactly the same - sleeps completely naked and has done for some time now - she has a 4.5tog duvet which unless its chilly ends on getting kicked off too - think her body temperature is set to Northern, just like her Mammy ;)....

It depends very much on the age of your child, there always seems to be far shorter waiting lists for the pre-school group, where-as the list grows for toddlers and in many cases, nurseries have closed their books for babies. I know people who have got their little ones (preschool) into Gumboots this year with only a month to wait - they were also able to be very flexible regarding days, opting for the less popular ones so that would also have helped. In my experience, it pays to badger the nursery managers to make sure they don't 'forget' the list....

njc97 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It is not the "lower middle band" of families that > will lose out, it's the richest 15% of familes > (Daily Mail figure so likely exaggerates as well). > People with a single income of at least ?44,000 > may think they "need" this to live on, but in > reality they don't. Which is why basing it on income alone is plain ridiculous - 44K in various parts of this country is a whole lot more than 44K in London - what about a family of five in an ok part of London, childcare costs for the kids, mortgage/rent - 44K doesn't go very far and I think there may be many out there that do rely on CB. And I wouldn't base any of my opinions on stats from the Daily Mail......

Hiya, We registered with Gumboots earlier in the year and they were planning their 'imminent' move then..... They were proposing to provide a minibus from the CP road site to the temporary one in Nunhead each morning for the duration of the development - so you wouldn't need to worry about getting yourself and Bub to Nunhead. As far as I could tell it was/is a very good nursery (administration a little hit and miss - but aren't they all?), subsequently we were offered a place for my daughter at Mothergoose Greendale and snapped it up - haven't heard anything from Gumboots.......

Child benefit has always operated as a benefit for all and I think it should stay that way - clearly it is beyond the Government to undergo a proper means-test (which should include cost of living and not just based on income) - it is the 'lower, middle-band' of families (whether single or two parents in one residence) who will suffer, and in areas where the cost of living is high (and not necessairly the quality) this is a bad thing - lots of people on ok salaries rely on the child benefit. You can of course opt out of receiving it - I would like to think that if I was earning a super-sized salary I would opt out (easy to say of course as that scenario is most unlikely, but I genuinely believe I would) There are many real abuses of the benefit system which should be addressed first, saving the tax payer millions. This is just too easy for them.

No Belle, I think you've read it quite right! Seems more than a tad unfair....... There are an awful lot of people who will be directly affected by this - and I don't mean those who can afford to put CB allowance into savings for their kids, racking up a nice little nest egg for later down the line - I mean people who genuinely rely on that money each month to contibute to the cost of raising their children. I'm more than a little concerned that we have a Chancellor in Osborne that can't/won't do the maths to incorporate proper means testing...

TillieTrotter Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My children are 13,15 and 21 now so I don't really > belong in here but I'd just like to say how lovely > this thread is. The support you give each other > is amazing and no doubt incredibly comforting. > Well done ladies (and gents). On the contrary - most of us are looking towrads those more experienced in this game than us (relatively) newbies (my daughter is 3.5 and I still feel like I'm tripping over my own feet some days....). At least you're still here to tell the tale!! x

Saw John Torode in Peckham Rye Park cafe on Thursday, he seemed to be involved in some filming at Zippos - next Materchef series?

Hi, we bought this one Forst Sandpit John Lewis and its great - we only have a small garden but it fits really nicely and because there are seats to the side its not unusual for 4 kids to be playing all at the same time (also means you can take a pew with a cuppa, and dip your feet too!) We actually pack it away each winter - mostly because the cover just gets waterlogged and isn't 'animal-proof', I guess that part is a bit of a pain, but you could always get a big sheet of hardboard or similar to lie over the waterproof cover for the winter.

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > kristymac1 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > But you don't worry about me lumping 'people > with > > small families' or 'shift workers' together in > > their respective homogenised groupings....... > > No, I don't. That's because families with young > children and shift workers find that their 'hours' > ie when they must function and when they must > sleep, are often decided on account of having > young children and being shift workers. > > 'The elderly' are not. They can be tired, or > active. Miserable as sin or full of life. In the > instance of this thread, whether or not they > object to party noise is not decided simply on > account of them being 'the elderly'. ok, I guess, but as I explained earlier my intention was not to patronise them by assuming they were 'all the same'.... However, based on personal experience the people I know who would happily be referred to as elderly (parents, elderly neighbours),active and full of life they may be (and they are), they also feel more vulnerable when face with situations similar to that described by the OP.

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It did imply otherwise, but I wouldn't worry about > it. > > You're hardly alone in lumping 'the elderly' > together as one homogenised bunch without giving > it too much thought. But you don't worry about me lumping 'people with small families' or 'shift workers' together in their respective homogenised groupings.......

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ohhh... 'those elderly'.. yes, it must be time to > patronise the elderly - yet again. It's been all > of a few weeks since 'the elderly' were deemed > incapable of dealing with junk mail. > > 'The elderly' I know, 80+, love a good party on a > special occasion. > > I've come to the conclusion that - not > exceptionally but in the main - the people who > don't like a party at 80 probably didn't like one > at 40 either. Age has nothing to do with it. What a load of rubbish - there was nothing patronising about my post - I was simply pointing out that not everyone would feel able or want to nip downstairs and join the party (since this was a presented as a way of coping with the noise) - if my post implied otherwise, I'm sorry - but I don't think it did. Peterstorm1985's post hit the nail on the head - showing a little concern and consideration in advance of the event goes an awful long way.

benwiggles Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Honestly it really concerns me that people can get > so worried about people having fun, my neighbours > who live in the flat below were having a rocking > party below us the other weekend it was making a > lot of noise so me and my flatmate, went down > introduced ourselves and joined in. > and what about if you're someone on your own who's a little intimidated, or elderly, or has a young family, or works shifts? We'd all like to be in a position to 'live and let live' but sometimes personal circumstances mean we can't or don't want to join in someone elses 'fun'. A little consideration for others in their own homes goes a long way......

I always found nurofen worked better than calpol for teething pain, you could try that. Good luck, sounds pretty distressing for all of you...