eva_ben

How long would you spend putting a 2 year old to bed? We spend about an hour, with bath time and bedtime story each being up to half an hour. My mother has suggested that this is way too long, especially the book part, and is the reason our daughter is having trouble settling. I'd be grateful to hear what others are doing!

Glad to see there are many positive stories about Kings. Our experience of pre and postnatal care was excellent. However, care during labour itself was pretty bloody crap. Luckily, it was a relatively short labour and there were no complications. Maybe Kings operates best if you do have a difficult birth. I asked to see my notes afterwards and the problem seems to be that they were too busy and didn't have enough staff. Although I was induced, and so was at Kings for the whole thing, we weren't allocated a labour room until just one hour before the birth. Due to shift changes, I believe, we had five different midwives dealing with us. When I was examined for the first time, at 7cm dilated, I couldn't believe that the midwife was actually being sarcastic towards me - totally uncalled for. It felt like we pretty much got the minimum possible care during labour. Thankfully, my body did everything it needed to do and there were no complications. But I felt I might as well have given birth in a barn, I'd have been more relaxed (and would have had more space!) and I would have avoided some sarcasm and aggro.

There are some interesting storage solutions on Ikea Hackers: http://www.ikeahackers.net/

Yes, it feels right that wheelchair users should have priority and it is of course the way it is. I was quite annoyed with a bus driver who let me on the bus with a pushchair two days ago when there was already a wheelchair user there, and there wasn't room for us both. I had looked over to the spot before boarding but as the bus was busy I hadn't seen the wheelchair user (and maybe I was more on the look out for other pushchairs - handles not heads). It would have been much easier for me to wait for another bus if I'd known. I'd just come back from a day in Brighton so the pushchair was full of bags and I was knackered, so folding was a hassle and getting off wasn't an option as the driver immediately sped on. Bus drivers need to be much clearer on this - as I say, he shouldn't have let me on or he should have told me I'd need to fold. In the event the wheelchair user was super nice and I didn't get off at the next stop as she was getting off at the one after and there was, just, a way for us to muddle through - but it was a situation that could have been easily avoided.

If any other local Greek speakers find this thread and are interested in joining us, we're now arranging meetups through email, so pm me or a member of the group if you'd like to join us.

Nai, na ta pome ayrio. See you there!

Hello, me again, just a quick shout to check we are still good for tomorrow? Let me know!

γειά σας παιδιά, so see you αύριο (29th), at the Gardens, at 9am! Hopefully we can all still make it.

This sounds really brilliant. What a shame it's not a little bit closer! We'll definitely try to make it to one, but Transport for London is telling me that the round trip from our house in Camberwell is two and a half hours, which sadly means I don't see us attending as regularly as I'd like. Great to know about though!

great and thanks! the venue is still good for us.

greetings from. Canterbury. the 29th. mas kanei emas. sorry to be the cause of the change but looking forward to it!

by far off I meant time, not meros, btw. have fun tomorrow!

Oh no, my partner's mother has fallen and broken her hip so we're off to Canterbury to see her in hospital and help my father in law. So I'm going to have to miss tomorrow. Poli megalo krima. Can we organise the next meeting so it's not so far off?

We can do either. Venue: I'm weary of calling it because I've not been to the park one. Do they both have sofas / areas that are comfy when wrestling with big wriggly babies?

My baby who was 8 and a half months old when we went to the Basketball got extremely upset once the crowd started cheering when the balls went in. She'd been fine up to then with the general noise. The problem wasn't the noise level but the kind of noise. I didn't have ear defenders with me and had to leave and was only able to creep back in when she'd fallen asleep on me. After waking up to the noise though she was fine. We've tickets to the paralympics next week and we're definitely taking ear defenders this time! We arrived much later than advised and it was totally fine.

Well I don't know if you've time for this but I got my baby's photo done by putting her in her cot with a cream bed sheet and taking a photo looking down at her. I'm very pleased with it and I think it's better than a lot of other babies' photos I've seen. I got it printed at photobox.co.uk . They have a passport photos template. Even with postage it works out cheaper than other places (and you can get some general photos printed cheaply at the same time with the same postage) and you can be sure to get a good passport photo. They also do next day delivery. Obviously you need to make sure you follow the guidelines for how the passport shots should be framed etc (these are also provided by photobox if you can't find online).

Thavma. Been to the Gardens, not been to the park cafe, happy to do either. supergolden88 - how about you?

Ok, I should warn you we're not at our best in the morning ;-) but 9am is fine. Είμαστε στο Camberwell, ώστε δεν είμαστε μακριά. Δεν ξέρω ποια μέρη είναι ανοικτα από νωρίς στο E.D. Suggestions?

Η μικρή μου πηγαίνει για ύπνο κάπου ανάμεσα 10 - 11,30 για μισή ώρα ή μία ώρα. Οι ώρες μας δεν είναι πολύ σταθερες and there's often slippage. So I don't know what to suggest. We'll work with whatever suits the two of you best.

υπέροχα! That's date's good for me too. mum2besoon, sounds like our babies are very close in age. Θα χαρώ να σας συναντήσω σύντομα.

Goodness, I just saw I wrote that 'I am now 8 months old'!! Er, that's not quite right. My baby, however, does answer to that description. I've also purchased some dual language story books which look good, such as this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baba-Forty-Thieves-Greek-English/dp/1844445267/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344843024&sr=8-1 My mother is based in London and speaks only Greek to the baby (and tells me off for not doing likewise). I'm rather counting on her picking up the language via my mother, but I know that's really not enough, so a Greek language meetup would indeed be great.

Hi Sylvia Just saw your post. How did you get on? Both my parents are Greek and I grew up in the UK speaking Greek at home with my parents and English with my siblings. I now have an 8 month old and have been rather lazy and mostly been speaking to her in English. Did you find any groups? Eva

Oopse, sorry uptime, I was just looking through my photos of our trip and realise that the seats are the sort that flip up after all! In case you haven't yet been, so can see the seats in one of my photos so pm me if this info is still any use to you.

Er, I can't really remember the seats themselves so well, but I think it would be okay. It's not like they're fold up seats. The seating gradient is very steep, so from the point of view of seeing out, you probably won't need it...

We went to the basketball yesterday with my 8 month old. We went with the carrier but there were a lot of people with buggies and it did look very easy. My advice is, if you've got a baby as young as ours, make a contingency plan for loud noises. Our little one was fine during the warm ups, the loud music, all of it until the first ball went in the basket and then she got very upset at the sound of the crowds cheering! We had to leave for the first game, but after she'd had a nap she didn't seem to mind it during the second game. Also, getting to the Olympic Park from Denmark Hill, I'd advise taking the train to St Pancras then the javelin train. It was really relaxed and easy.