pebbles

Fuschia - my son started this annoying stage when i was breastfeeding my daughter and although have been stopped for a while now this has continued!!!

From another angle - my 3 yr old son says he is hungry ALL THE TIME. Honestly out of everything in this parenting malarky - this is the thing that gets to me the most. And basically he isn't hungry, he just says he is if he's bored or being ignored. He doesn't complain about being hungry with anyone else other than me and my husband and even when he's eaten an enormous amount, if he's bored or for instance when i'm on the phone he'll complain about being hungry until i either get off the phone or give him something to keep him quiet!!! so what i'm trying to say is, is she definitely hungry and not just trying to get attention?

I'm sorry I can't help with the work/pregnant/toddler balance HOWEVER i will say that in my opinion that nothing is worse than being pregnant with a toddler. Things get soooo much easier as soon as you have had the baby, ie don't be disheartened as things will get easier. I think you sound amazing balancing so much and I agree that even if it's just the evening meal that you take out of your day it'll be worth it. Don't be afraid to ask for help, there's nothing wrong with help

My mum is a governor there having been a teacher for 25 years and she can't speak high enough of the Head and teachers. They are understandably thrilled to bits with the report. There are still places available if anyone is interested.

Sorry, i can't help you Belle but I did just need to respond to Molly - hysterical that your husband thinks you're wearing blue lipstick!!! - i guess you never needed to bother with plying on the makeup when you first met as it would only have deterred him :)

Hi, we always go to Babble & Squeak at the East Dulwich Tavern. 10 - 11.45 - ?4 (less for 2nd child but not sure how much). It's great and absolutely perfect for both your age groups.

a dimmer switch or side light that's dim so when feeding at night you don't want it to be light as to wake up baby but light enough to perhaps read or something if feeding takes a while..... or just invest in an iphone - was definitely my lifeline during night feeds. i 2nd fushia's bed comment. if you have enough room i would go for bed over chair. luckily i mastered the lying down and feeding position (i think some people perhaps find this difficult) which was lovely at night when tired. i would just buy a plastic changing mat and then you can put this on top of chest of drawers, bed, floor and just move dependent on where you want to change. we invested in over the cot changing thingy and never used it black out blinds - a definite must in my opinion good luck

What age would you recommend that kids start? My husband and I both are very keen to learn how to ski however want to wait until we can take both kids and for them to learn as well? I'll keep this saved until that day :)

Hear hear Toast and Samstopit

absolutely recommend the ones with the bed under. i would also recommend going straight to proper single rather than kids size cos thenain. you don't ever need to upgrade again

I too felt so sorry for the lady who wanted an epidural, however sadly i wasn't shocked. I have heard from so many friends who have been in exactly the same situation. I do understand the NHS money situation however for the baby an epidural I think is so much better pethadine so surely that's the choice they should have made? I do feel sorry for her now when she watches it cos her face expressions were just hysterical :)

I'm the youngest of 3 - 2 older brothers. There is 18 months between them and then I'm about 3 yrs younger. I idolise them and always have - even when they kept on beating me up! There have been times over the years that i've been jealous of their closeness (I think as they're boys they just told each other of their antics which they didn't want their little sis to know) and I did find this difficult. I feel extremely lucky to have 2 siblings and although i mostly see them together I definitely feel that i have different relationships with them both and need them for different things (drunken nights out, shoulder to cry on etc!!) Bizarrely, although both my husband (oldest of 3) and myself have loved being families of 5, we have always only wanted 2. Very very happy with our 2 and our lives and just feel that having another one would rock the balance - odd and we aren't sure why!!!

I agree with Pickle that for me routine was key and absolutely shower at night :) Crystal Palace 1 Club was just amazing as I felt truly comfortable with no1 running around and playing while i fed baby. So definitely find a few places that you feel no1 is happy with playing and you will feel happy with feeding. And to ease your worries, for me there is nothing worse than being pregnant with a toddler so having two i found was just so much easier Good luck, it's a joy i promise :)

I know this should really be in classifieds but thought it would get more response here!! I'm about to make a quilt for my daughter out of my Granny's old embroidered handkerchiefs (thanks to The Scarlet Peacocks quilt making course). I have just been through them and there aren't enough to make a quilt. So basically I was wondering whether there was anyone out there who has some pretty embroidered handkerchiefs that they don't use or perhaps have from a mummy or granny and would like to see them used to do something special rather than collect dust? It will be loved very very much. Any embroidered handkerchief donations muchly appreciated and I promise to email you a photo of the finished article if the handkerchiefs mean something to you (like these mean to me!) Thanks in advance Sally

Lochie - i was mortified when i paid a recent visit to the dentist. I brush my teeth thoroughly twice a day (and she confirmed that my teeth were regularly cleaned) however they are falling apart around me - a bit of an exaggeration but i had 4 (white) fillings at the front of my teeth. She basically asked me if i was an alcoholic - i said no but i like a drink and she said she would know if i was an alchy!!! she then asked if i ate a lot of fruit and i said yes - i live off it. honestly i have fruit salad for brekkie, snack and all puddings - I LOVE FRUIT. and she said sorry to tell you but you're a lot better off eating chocolate!!!! AND to back everyone else up DO NOT BRUSH TEETH JUST AFTER EATING. Either brush before breakfast or at least 30 minutes afterwards. What i now do is brush before and then mouth wash after all meals when at home. it's scary. i now have a mouth shield that i have to put in 4x a week with seriously seriously seriously strong concentrate toothpaste to try and rectify the damage that i have done from ALL my fruit eating. it's mortifying, i thought eating fruit was healthy!!! this is going to sound seriously stupid but i never thought about my kids but having just written all this down i've suddenly realised that my kids will eat fruit til the kingdom come - doh obviously we have to take this with a pinch of salt but my dentist did always say don't eat fruit as the last thing in the meal (ie not for children's desert)!!!! sorry to be bearer of bad news

Both mine were around 15 months and I did it gradually - if they were and out and about they wouldn't have one but if at home they would. It probably took about 6 weeks to drop it completely - i'm still in the middle of dropping my no2's morning nap.

I take my 3 1/2 yr old and 16m old to Bea's music classes and they're fab. She taylors them brilliantly to all age groups and my eldest just loves it.

Thanks so much everyone, Thule it is then - hopefully will catch the shops before the sales ends. Thanks

littleEDfamily - tell me MORE - you watched her on tv - how, when, where.... i'm so happy that some of you have found the amazing power of baby oil :) now i'm actually a little stressed tonight. normally i could leave a mess in the kitchen/playroom cos i was too tired and couldn't be bothered but having had a house full all day with numerous amounts of children and tonight i've been inundated with work (trying to dabble in something from home which is proving harder than i thought to manage!!) my house is currently looking like a tip and i'm finding my mind isn't on my work - how appalling is that. i had a fab fab fab friend over yesterday who i'm sure is FlyLady in her spare time!! anyway, she came over and helped me map out some family meals over a 2 week period and also (and i know this sounds so odd as to why i couldn't do it on my own) but made me up a weekly shopping list of stuff that we always need for me to do an online shop. she said she does hers on a wed/thurs for delivery on a fri so she always has stuff for weekend and week whereas if she has delivery on a monday she's normally run out by the friday!!) so anyway, as soon as i get this work done i'm going to do my online shop. I cannot tell you how much my husband has laughed at my comments over the last few weeks. He doesn't "do" the EDF so i've copied and pasted the thread and he thinks i've had some kind of personality change - this is not me!!! he also isn't happy that i buy baby oil for the sink and never for anything else!!!!

Hello fellow parents We are thinking about getting a roofbox but wondered whether there are any that you recommend? I'm not sure whether it makes a difference but we have a Mecedes Estate. Thanks in advance

flannel - nothing nice than a cool flannel on a woman's neck/forehead while in labour i 2nd (and 3rd and 4th) bendy straw

Thanks Belle and Fuschia, i'll phone the drs first thing Monday. Luckily we have private health insurance for her so hopefully will be able to get her an ENT appointment asap. Belle - would you recommend your ENT dr? Name/hospital? I will also give her antibiotics again as well - thank you for alleviating my concerns Belle. She doesn't have a dummy but she does suck her thumb which is good. Can i ask why a smoothie? I've also read that dairy products aren't necessarily good? sorry for all the questions i just feel so so sorry for her and dreadful that she gets it at the weekend when we have to wait til monday.

Please help. My 15m old daughter is on her 3rd ear infection since xmas day. She was put on antibiotics on 27th Dec and by time we finished course - 7 days later it had cleared up. 2 days after finishing it was back with avengence so went back to drs and they prescribed another lot of antibiotics - different one - again, took 3-4 days to clear up and we finished course - prob about 8 1/2 days. Anyway we finished Friday before last, she then got a d&v bug which lasted 6 days til Thursday. Today... ear infection back. I'm not really keen on putting her on another set of antibiotics as she's only 15m and the last 2 lots haven't worked. I've read cranial osteopathy can help so i've booked her an appointment for Tuesday morning. We are doing all the obvious for pain relief - calpol, ibuprofen, not wetting her ears (however we haven't washed her hair properly now since when it started so this isn't the cause), keeping her upright, letting her drink lots of water so the sucking helps the hurting. Please please tell me ALL wives tales that you know cos we will try anything.

gwod - that's amazing, i love that idea, do you have similar aged children? anyone out there fancies being a cleaning buddy with me just shout - what an amazing idea :)

ha ha ha - you don't need to be worried about me, all or nothing!!!! loving the new name gussy - do we have to soak wooden spoons to get rid of bacteria? don't even want to think how old ours are and certainly never been soaked - ugh - a bit of bacteria never did anyone any harm! - i hope :) i have to say i'm sitting here smiling, we're off to stay with fil for weekend and normally it's a manic pack first thing and we leave the house in a state and then come back to it and i get all depressed however this time, kids bags are packed only ours to do and house is looking pretty good - pat on back!!! am definitely going to check out pickle's recipe thread - any help needed with cooking over here