Belle

Yes - I know there's Oaktree Nursery (Tell grove), which is 2 and up for short days or half day sessions, and Buds, up near the Harvester, similar but is term time only. They were the only two we looked at, but there may be others.

Yes, I thought that was interesting too Edmummy. Zoe Williams writes about this in her book about pregnancy and birth (and she's speaking from a viewpoint of someone who was a v happy bf-er). There is quite an amusing section where she is badgering the Dept of Health to be more specific about why they promote the exclusive for 6 mths approach and they inadvertently copy her into an internal email about how they can get rid of her.

Recent thread in the family room on this was useful: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,559990,page=1

You can watch it on 4oD little Ed family. loved it. loved the kids! and how he was just sobbing at the end - v touching. Keef - they have touched on waterbirths etc, but think you might be right re the difficulty of how much they can show? I actually quite love the two old school midwives, they're so sweet...think I would prefer one of them to the younger one who kept half laughing at the noisy lady.

They were both terrible presenters! especially when interviewing people. But also some bad links and awkward moments. It just didn't work. I also found it hard to get really excited about how many/which one first would be born on CHRISTMAS DAY, it's the births we tune in for really isn't it - i don't think the audience cared that much about who'd racked up the most Xmas babies etc. it was nice to find out how the parents whose babies had been in special baby unit were doing - that was very moving.

Looking forward to it, though may have to watch on sky plus as Glee starts at the same time :-$ Really looking forward to the return to the original format (hopefully) as have to say, didn't think the live/Doctor embarassing illnesses/Julia whatnot format worked that well at Christmas - though the actual birth stories were lovely as always.

I have tried this a couple of times recently with similar aged toddler (nearly 2 in my case) - but have to admit for us it's not worked. Although he's gone to sleep a lot easier at bedtime, it's meant that he was too tired to eat tea properly, and has also meant that if I take him out in the buggy e.g late afternoon he'll def drop off, which is a bit near bedtime and makes him grumpy. So it's not been right for us, but if she's not having the same symptoms of tiredness he has - meltdowns etc, then maybe it's right for you? plenty kids seem to drop it around this age. I know lots of mums who say their toddlers stopped napping around 2 (know quite a few who went on until nearly 4 though!).

intexasatthe moment Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Some children ,especially boys ,have a really high > instep - sort of makes their foot very deep ,which > can make putting shoes on difficult . ( and > wellingtons practically impossible ). That's very interesting, as my son has a v high instep according to shoe shops, and shoes are always tricky, wellies esp so.

Adfam is a charity which supports the familes of people with alcohol and/or drug problems, I knew someone who worked for them and they sound v good: http://www.adfam.org.uk/ I agree with what other posters have said about the drinking culture in our country - it makes for a lot of grey areas. I guess the ultimate test is: is it affecting his life and his relationships? From what you say, it does sound like it is, but it might help to talk to one of the helplines mentioned here and get a professional's perspective.

I've been wondering about this too, and think it must just vary - surely if we are encouraging and showing , that's all that we can do, rather than making a battle ground of it? My son is coming up to 2, and I do chuckle that gina ford (who I do find useful on some things) seems to think they should do it by 18 months! My son was nowhere near then and now only takes off a top/bib/pushes down trousers out of mischief, not when it's actually useful to do so. She also reckons they should automatically put all discarded clothes in the laundry basket without prompting... For what it's worth, my 4 year old nephew was here the other day and requested help with his shoes - I'm sure he can do it on his own, but just needs a bit of help now and then.

Equally, I remember being in King's during the snowstorm of Jan/Feb 2009 with my newborn son. Many people were unable to travel yet I met doctors and nurses who walked miles to get to work, and helped each other out with everything (e.g. consultants doing jobs they wouldn't normally do) because they were having to operate on a skeletal staff.

I don't think anybody would suggest Anne Frank didn't say anything of worth - I read what Keef said (though not wanting to put words in other posters' mouths obviously) as being more that children have a different, perhaps more simplistic, view of the world, even those in captivity. The really interesting (and terribly poignant)thing about her diary is how much of it is normal teenage preoccupations: family tensions, dreams of the future, the boy next door. ETA cross posted with Keef.

Hi - a forum user called Apenn did a v useful activity schedule a while back which you should be able to find, think if you search 'activity schedule' it'll come up - quite a few people contributed and it was updated, it's got all the details you need e.g venue, age range etc.

yes, have seen it in magazines, I think I saw a pic of Sadie Frost in one. I'm still not swayed though! It's all a bit dangerously close to slanket territory somehow...

It's interesting though - some of the comments underneath the article suggested that the reason she'd given so much detail was because she'd have been criticised if she simply said 'I'm bottle-feeding', and I think there's something in that. Actually there are many celebrities who suggest their post baby slimline figures are down to breastfeeding and 'running around after' their kids - when we all know the private daily personal trainer and chef prob help too ;-) Dannii Minogue is a recent example of a celeb who's regularly publicly talked about the fact she's bfing, and her baby is brought to her on set so she can continue to do this. I did think Denise Van Outen was a bit pathetic when she said she didn't bf because she didn't want to risk being papped doing it - I don't buy that really. I agree re the heat tone being annoying - that's why I don't it any more, it stopped being witty and started being snipey and immature (or maybe I grew up!).

Completely agree that this is a ridiculous move by FB (not the first I gather). However on Heatworld - there's a little context here: this is what Heat magazine tends to do, to poke fun at celebrities, its tone is pretty juvenile and can be critical, and readers don't necessarily take it that seriously. I'm not saying I agree with this editorial stance, but I think it's a bit different from reading this kind of article in, say, a serious newspaper. As it is, they are not mocking NC for breastfeeding per se, I read this as part of a bigger backlash against her for putting her life on show in a reality tv show, to me this reads as a 'too much information, Nathalie' commentary. I also find some of the comments below the article a bit worrying - I don't think anyone can pronounce on another woman's milk supply with absolute certainty. Looking at this from another perspective, isn't it a good thing that a young celeb mum is talking openly about breastfeeding, and the fact she did bf and supports longer bfing? I know there are many issues on how bf is handled by the media, but I think this one isn't an important one, compared with e.g. Facebook.

From memory, we did as Fuschia suggests and had introduced the beaker for water anyway, and I think in the month or so before he turned 1 (not that I was wedded to the official advice, it just kind of happened that way) we used to do one milk beaker a day. By the time he was 13 or so months I think we'd just transitioned over to 3 (or however many he was on by then) milk beakers a day. I did notice he drank less from a beaker than from a bottle, but then even with bottles by that stage he wasn't always draining so I figured he wasn't a massive milk fiend, and i knew he was getting plenty calcium elsewhere. He's only had two milk feeds a day since he was 1 and a bit I think, and sometimes he'll drain the beaker, other times barely touch it - I think it's good to have the same attitude we all try to with food, that if they want it they will take it, and kind of be led by them a bit. My son used dummies till he was about 15/16 months so I anticipated far more of a struggle giving up the bottle, and was pleasantly suprised. We mainly use bog standard Tommee Tippee beakers, but the (poss TT also?) ones which have a straw that flips up seem to get him to drink more, whether it's milk/water/juice, so we use one of those too.

Yes, I've had similar experiences. I'm sure it's all down to the discretion of the doctors involved, though. And of course if you're on a private health insurance scheme then you'd need that GP referral. But I've seen, and had my son seen by, specialists privately without a referral. In both cases I was able to get the treatment rerouted onto the NHS once the initial problem had been diagnosed.

I always found this v confusing/annoying when bottle feeding, so much contradictory advice and little understanding from Dept of Health/FSA that we do tend to leave the house with our small babies once in a while. In the end just lumped the cost and used ready made 1 litre cartons of SMA Gold. The small ones are handy for when out and about, but I used to take the next bottle I needed ready made up, so that the carton was my standby. I also used to make the bottles up in advance, which technically you shouldn't do but I figured since using ready made stuff was safer anyway. There was no way I could be bothered with the boil/wait/cool thing in the middle of the night. I also never warmed the bottles, so that bit wasn't an issue.

yep I'm wondering similar things alieh, and also trying similar strategies. But we've had the same problem even on days when (by default) nap has been much shorter (of course am then way more frazzled dealing with a prolonged bedtime battle!). have had a look at baby whisperer forum and def going to try gradual retreat more concertedly now. And yep pre emptive pain relief sounds good - have tried calpol but will try nurofen as that's always helped him with teething more. I do also suspect his ongoing ear issues might be part of the problem (though currently not ill he's missing the grommets which solved his last sleep problems...).

I posted a while back as my toddler went through a phase of not going down v easily - that phase passed and now seems like a walk in the park compared to the current phase we're battling. He's nearly 2, and for the last 3-4 weeks has been increasingly difficult to put down at night. This happens regardless of slight variations in bedtime/naptimes etc. The minute we put him in his cot he starts yelling, and from there it's usually an hour of shrieking before he goes to sleep. I hasten to add, that's not an hour of us leaving him! We have tried various approaches - staying in there with him to soothe him - v difficult as even once seemingly asleep is v canny at waking up as me or OH slinks out of the door; going in at regular intervals to reassure him; adminstering cuddles and reassurance; not picking up but just patting on back; leaving for longer intervals and going up every 10-15 mins. Nothing works and it's getting worse. I'm fairly convinced it's separation anxiety/fear of being left alone, rather than fear of the dark as nightlights/door open with hall light on have not made a difference. Rather oddly, we had a hiatus of this whilst in Scotland recently - perhaps because he was ill while we were there and so more tired than normal. Help! I can't work out what we could be doing differently, it's massively disrupting everyone and most importantly it's heartbreaking to hear him so upset. He's definitely not currently ill, nor is he going down hungry/too hot etc. I suppose the answer might be that one of us really needs to be in there with him till he goes to sleep (and stays asleep) every night, but that seems hard to achieve and not teaching him to sleep on his own - but perhaps that's too harsh on a not quite 2 year old? Argh, so hard to know what's right. He's been a pretty good sleeper overall up to now.

actually, have just remembered we left our boy for a night at about 7 months, think poss that helped with the longer trip a few months later. will there be other opportunities like this, or will your husband have to go to head office much? not sure if that makes a difference, but it could. I think the distance/travel time required is the biggest drawback really.

We left our son for the first time overnight at 9 months - for two nights, as we went to a wedding without him. He was in his own home, with grandparents. He was also recovering from his first ear infection - so though fine, wasn't 100%. It was absolutely fine. I'm not sure how I'd have felt about it if we'd had to travel away though, it wasn't very far away. I have to say it was AMAZING! I felt odd leaving him, but he knew his grandparents well, and by the time we got on the train I was feeling happy. I think there may be something in the idea of having a trial night with the sitter, for your own peace of mind/to accustom the child and sitter to the routine.

I know you've already tried it bnut t hink pilates really is meant to be the best thing for a tummy - worth another go, or maybe one of the hybrid type ones, like pilatesfit I think? I say as someone with several classes paid for and yet to be used at ESPH gym...but I did find it helped when I was doing it regularly. btw think you must disguise this mythical tum v well as you always look annoyingly svelte to me ;-)

I think I'm going to make sweet potato soup with honey, and then serve it in little coffee cups we have, as a sort of canape/starter thing. Then poss crostini (sp?) or blinis with smoked salmon, doesn't feel like christmas without smoked salmon, and parmesan crisps.