Belle

Great, thanks.

Me too!

I agree - just speculating that that's what may be behind it.

playground in ruskin park is fab.

Hi James- I've PM'd you about the kits - can you let me know?

I know that shoes was one of the few things I didn't used to get as hand me downs, because there was a theory that (if your feet are growing) you shouldn't wear shoes that have been shaped/stretched by another child. Also know that e.g. Clarks won't sell without a fitting. So maybe that's why?

Oh no F that sounds awful! Hmm can you have a glass of wine now?

i think in 8 months of doing it, my son only woke once before we'd got upstairs to do it (but we did wake him for the feed as he was v refluxy so didn't like idea of doing it without winding etc). Sometimes e.g. if on holiday, we'd do it basically at a time to suit us - so sometimes as late as midnight - and he never woke beforehand wanting it.

i'm sure there's a debenhams/house of fraser if there's no john lewis, they've redone the city centre fairly recently - lots of shops there now, will surely be a marks and spencers?

Thing is though, sometimes you're worse off going back to work by the time you've paid childcare! Esp in London.

Cd you jushave the cocoon in bed with you? On top of duvet?

I really think dads being allowed to stay will make a massive difference - it would have done to us, would have transformed the experience. it's tough on mums when you're knackered and have a newborn who won't be put down - I think many of us have been on the phones to husbands telling them to get in as soon as the doors open!

Sw that is amazing news! Likeyou Anna I had a poor postnatal ward exp in 2009 but cdnt fault the labour care,- have heard anecdotally that things had improved and it's great to see more evidence of that here. I'm hopingfor a home birth this time but happy to know it'll be kings I go to if necessary.

cm = kids go to their house, and it's not one on one - but there are quotas so won't be millions of kids, there are rules re ratio/ages (e.g. only so many under 2 etc). It's a good option in my opinion as you get potentially more one to one/intimate care than a nursery setting. Of course not having the care in your own home has its pros/cons (works for me as some of the little work I do is from home so good to have him out of the house!). It's significantly cheaper than a nanny and can be cheaper than nursery too, and with more flexibility in some cases. However it's just one person so you need to know you click with them, are happy leaving child with them etc. Word of mouth recommendation prob best. oh other upside is you are not their employer (unlike nanny) so you don't have the financial/time responsibility of their benefits, sick leave etc.

Think there are poss padded things you can have in the bed? Or a friend of mine used her v sh aped feeding cushion (with point downwards) as sort of barriers so baby slept 'in' the V, if that makes sense.

snowboarder Wrote: They didn't > mention at school when they were telling us we > could run the country if we wanted that part time > would be tricky.... True!!

Toddler was shouting 'I done a poo' around 6am - turned out to be a clever ruse to get us up...

I did work out that we wouldn't make much money by the time we'd paid childcare if I went back,and certainly with two I doubt we'd be in profit. Though of course it would be a longer term investment as I'd hope my pay wouldn't be static. Princess - hats off to you. I struggled when I started freelance work last summer, and managed 2-3 months of fitting it into naps etc before sorting out a childminder one day a week. We don't do a v long day with her so financially it works out, even on the weeks I don't have work, as long as I have some months where I have a lot. My work requires some time in the office, and working face to face with colleagues, and I'd been relying on husband's leave and occasional grandma help when that happened, which just wasn't sustainable. I do feel really guilty when I have stretches of no work, but then being a full time mum is a bit more than 5 days work isn't it?! So I try to enjoy it if I get a break. Btw a friend of mine recently moved out of London (also a SAHM) and is doing some childminding and really enjoying it.

Oh please pm me about it if/when you get a chance! Thanks x

Must say SLT is one area I'm looking into re retraining!

This is an interesting one. I'm a full-time mum - made the decision quite early on for various reasons: 1) I felt the early weeks/months of my son's life had been 'blighted' by me having PND, and I felt it would be unbearably sad if that was his early experience of me - I wanted him to have some time with me now I felt more myself, before I went back to work. 2)I'd known since before I got pregnant that the job I was doing was no longer what i wanted to do long term, so bearing in mind the above, it was hard to make a case for going back to it. Added to this, it's not a job I felt I could reasonably do part-time (though that was an option offered) - I knew I'd end up working on the days I wasn't meant to be etc etc, and it's just not a family friendly role. I get easily stressed and could see it might not be the greatest plan trying to juggle my old job with my new role. 3)I'd 'only' been on statutory maternity pay, so in a sense we'd already made the downward adjustment in terms of income, though clearly the maternity pay did end! We were also lucky as my husband was promoted just before my son was born - but I think we'd have made the same decision had he not been. As it is, I too have found myself murmuring about courses and the freelance work I do (started this when son was around 18 mths, it is sporadic though can be busy at times - I do def feel I need to big this up e.g. at parties sometimes, have noticed since son reached 2 saying I am a full time mum attracts more comments. Incidentally a female doctor at King's laughed out loud in disbelief when I told her I wasn't going back to work!). I do find it odd though that people don't realise full time mums aren't necessarily giving up work for good! I see it more that I am taking a longer maternity leave (unpaid) than some of my peers, but of course I'm going to go back to work. I also feel I don't fit the full time mum mould in some ways, in that people often said to me after I told them my decision 'you must be really enjoying it t hen!' - actually nothing could be further from the truth some days! I am not a natural, I don't love every minute, and many times I've wished I'd been in a career I was enjoying and could have returned to part time after having my son - that would perhaps have been the ideal. But, overall it is working for us. Because of the way I felt about my work, I'm so glad I'm spending my time with my son and not on a career I don't ultimately want to pursue further. Not quite sure what will be happening post baby number 2 (due in Sept) - it does raise questions such as 'how long can I be out of work? how can i logisitically retrain? how could i pay childcare for 2 even if I did go back? What will I do when I do go back anyway??' etc etc. Funnily enough I've only recently had the 'where is my brain' moments people ask you about when you haven't gone back to work, and I think that's because I'm pregnant again so I know I won't be working for quite a while yet. I really am rambling so one last point - I actually have found 18 months plus to be way more enjoyable than the small baby days, so could imagine in a parallel life I'd have wanted my husband to take time off work for that bit, and I could have taken my turn at the later stage.

I did try a slumber sheep thing (guess similar?) that was sent to us from cousins in canada, I found the same thing - baby would stir after a cycle finished, really annoying. Same thing doesn't seem to apply with lullaby though.

The last point about being a purist is v apt for my son. But frustrating as he used to love things like casseroles/stews and just dig in. good to know he's not the only one!

Just looked up this thread to post about Hotel Terra Vina and saw yr post LI. I'd second the recommendation. It was started by the original founders of Hotel Du Vin hence the similarity. The monitor thing must be new as when we went (son was 6 mths at time) our monitor wouldn't stretch to the (fabulous) restaurant - so the receptionist kept it by her desk and listened for us. Plus, we took turns to go and check. It felt like a v nice and secure hotel. We had a sort of suite called Jerpigo I think, which allowed us to put son on a lower level room from us (down 2/3 steps) in travel cot - meant we could watch telly on low and not be in pitch dark etc. If you're foodies I shd think you'd love the place.

Thanks F, this is v interesting - my son used to be a great eater, and towards turning 2 became pickier and pickier, trying not to let it frustrate me, this article is v helpful.