gillandjoe

i have the same problem. Maybe we should start a late afternoon playgroup? :) gill

I definitely feel this pain! I am home full-time with my 20 month old and am definitely treated like an old boot whenever daddy is around. Seriously though... if you have issues with your self-esteem (ahem, i do!) it can be pretty painful when I'm not enjoying it for the break that it is. I kind of have this fear that even my son won't like me and then where will i be? Too much disclosure, I guess, but I wondered if anyone else felt similarly?

How old do toddlers need to be to go to the cinema? My 20month old is probably way to young still, but i'm itching to go!

I go to Anderson's on Bellenden rd. about once a week because I like their coffee and they have a nice little garden. I like to get out with my babies and Anderson's is on the way to some of the places we go to. I don't feel that being a mother means I should be hidden away indoors like a leper. However, I will never go back to Anderson's again because I have finally tired of their surly, sullen, smug staff that sneer at me and my babies, even though I am extremely polite, tidy and conscious of my babies interactions in the cafe. And their 'handysit' high chairs suck too.

I get total irrational rage when on a busy commuter train on a very hot day and no one opens any windows. It makes me so angry I want to go all Michael Douglas on them. They are so dead inside that they would rather sit in their own filth breathing in each other's sweaty, disgusting bodies than reach up and pull open the window. I just don't understand!! If its hot and stuffy, why wouldn't you open a window if you could!!! Anyone else?

yup, what i meant by my post was that although my rampantly breastfeeding baby did not self-wean, he still adjusted to not nursing to sleep almost immediately. You shouldn't worry about it at all! To be honest, i miss nursing him to sleep now eventhough he sleeps better throughout the night! x

my son son breastfed to sleep every time for the first 18 months. He also fed LOADS - 7 or 8 times a night - so I decided to stop breastfeeding and he went straight from nursing to sleep to cuddling to sleep. Just as lovely and not at all stressful to switch to even after 18 months of solely nursing to sleep. don't worry! it is natural and wonderful to nurse your baby to sleep. I think health visitors really need to learn the difference between advice based on fact and advice based on prejudice about attachment parenting!!

Thanks for all your tips, ladies! My computer failed me just after I posted so I've only just read them! I feel a lot better about going away for a few days now and we are definitely going to do it. I'm thinking, films, shopping, reading with a glass of wine on my own... I can't wait! :) xx

I am ready to stop breastfeeding my 18 month old. He has always fed very frequently and still feeds 6,7.8.... times a night. I have tried the 'don't offer, don't refuse' technique over the last few months but he is a very assertive breastfeeder and is showing no signs of slowing down. I can't take it anymore! My partner and I have decided to stop cold turkey over the Easter weekend, so I will stay at my parents' house for a couple of days and my partner will do all the night time stuff with his mum to help there in the day. My questions are: Is this cruel? How long does it take to break the BF habit and for my milk to dry up? How do I reduce my supply? and I have no intention of replacing with a bottle, is this ok? Any other tips would be much appreciated!! I'm terrified but feel that it is really my time to stop. Thank you!

I find it upsetting that all these sorts of debates seem to centre unquestioningly around the idea that the only measure of success is how much money you earn or how high up the career ladder you are. No one ever seems to see it from the flipside that perhaps breadwinning men have the bum deal. I think discussions around gender equality should focus more on comparisons between quality of life rather than who earns the most money in the home. Playground woman's comments are also disturbing because I earning an education is an end in itself, not just about how high a salary you can get at the end of it.

I just don't understand why you would WANT to have your child christened if you weren't religious. To me, not being religious means I get to AVOID things like christenings! With regards to everything posted about weddings etc. I have found it very hard to explain to my non-parent friends (basically everyone) that I can't leave my BF son for nights of debauched partying even if I deeply want to! I have missed weddings and 30th weekends etc. because of this. Non-parents just don't understand and I am definitely losing friends because of this. I think they all feel that I don't really want to party anymore and use my baby as an excuse. Poor mummy-no-mates!

Hello all, I am looking for a decent, local and affordable small-job builder to do a bit of floor tiling. My partner and I have just bought our first flat, a do-er up-er, and have had a horrendous experience with the builder who did our bathroom and basically had to pay him to leave. I am very nervous about taking on another builder but we want to get this bit of flooring done professionally - probably only a day or so's work. Any names of tried and tested local builders would be very much appreciated. Thanks!!

My very-pergnant friend said that she would definitely get her baby to sleep well with a dream feed and there was no way she and her partner would ever sleep separately to maximise asleep hours - inwardly i sniggered, thinking little does she know! I am at the moment going through a very rough time - still co-sleeping (i.e. my partner still sleeps on a mattress beside the big bed!) and breastfeeding my 16 month old non-stop. I am sooo tired! I have done the usual when having a rough time, become very self-critical and cursing myself for not doing control crying when he was little. This thread has made me feel a bit better anyway!

Is this a wierd point to make?... Does anyone ever have a little nagging worry of, "what if I don't have any more kids and this one doesn't want to be around me or his dad when he's older?" Or worse worries... That is literally the only reason why I would consider having another. I think the sibling argument will become a thing of the past in the future and more and more people will choose to have only children. I think, as with everything, it's a case of swings and roundabouts and one situation isn't better than the other. only children are not worse off than children with siblings in balance.

When I was a teacher I caught nits that were discovered by a hairdresser who had just finished cutting my hair! She politely asked me to leave - it was mortifying! Funnily enough, it never occurred to me to wonder which socio-economic class was spreading them round the school. 'Local teacher', you seem to have some very strange ideas indeed!

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My 14 month old is boob addict too so I'm interested in all tips so far and to come. I am starting to feel like the wierd mum in the cafe with my rather large toddler still begging for breast often. My baby will go hours without milk if he's not with me but as soon as he sees me he begs for it. However, my breasts do not get any kind of engorged anymore even if I'm gone for 5 or 6 hours. Does this mean my supply is reducing on its own? Hmmm... a mystery. Good luck, Bishop and well done for having such amazin stamina!

Ruth_B wrote: Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sleeping naked together would be lovely...,If we > even got to share a bed! Theres a reason why no one should ever sit on our sofas at home without asking if they've been cleaned recently. Just sayin'. Ha ha ha! Me too! The sofa started out being a bit more fun because of new positions etc. but now its just uncomfortable and weird because quite often the cat is asleep on the cushion next to us! Sorry, too much information...

I take offense at the term 'breastapo'! How dare you?! only kidding ;)

Buttercup, I honestly meant no harm in my question and am sorry if I offended you! That is why I was quite frankly, pretty annoyed when I was accused of picking a fight. I wish you all the best with your baby soon to arrive , one thing is for sure - its a rollercoaster! R&A wrote: 'I commented purely to stick up for buttercup, as i remember what criticism feels like when you?re already very hormonal and tired' I did NOT criticise!!!!!!! I asked a question out of curiosity! Please, please let it go. It was a misunderstanding. In terms of bf vs bottle feeding - I am still bf my 1 year old and if I had had the nerve to refuse him my breast and the will to prepare bottles, I would have done a long time ago because I reckon he would be a MUCH better sleeper if he weren't breast-dependent. And I'm still wearing nursing bras... :(

This is not a breastfeeding vs bottle debate, moderator. This an argument about the intention behind a question I put to the OP. LOndonmix, I did not ask the OP to justify her choice. I was simply asking a genuine question because I am interested to know why someone would opt for bottle feeding over breast before having experienced either in real life. I think I have perhaps hit a raw nerve with some of you and if I have, I apologise. I thought that asking why someone wanted to bottlefeed would be a bit like asking someone why they wanted to be vegetarian. Not a heartbreaking and earth-shattering interrrogation, as you are insinuating. Buttercup hasn't responed because she is probably flabberghasted at all of this nonsense, as I am. I had no idea an honest question would lead to this kind of rubbish. I take it back, please feed your babies their bottles in peace, free from any judgement from me. If anyone ever asks me about why I breastfed I will remember that the accepted form of repsponse is to bite their head off.

PS London Mix, ummm, why would you post, asking a load of perfect strangers, a question about formula with a load of personal background info if you were too sensitive to answer a question about your publicised positions on baby feeding?

Please read what the OP wrote herself and get the full picture, Saffron Buttercup wrote: "Also I think there is a pressure to breast feed. My partner wants me to breast feed for the first 6 months but I have told him that I want to do it during our time in hospital and once we arrive home until the bottles are sterilised and made. He's not too happy about this but I've said it's my body and it's what I want to do." I think that it is pretty obvious that she is saying she is choosing to bottlefeed!!! And what is wrong with that? Absolutely nothing, I just found it an intriguing point of view in this 'breast is best' day and age. Do you not find it interesteing why mothers make their choices in parenting? It is probably the most interesting thing to me, in recent years. I also find it funny that you have both assumed that I am an evangelical breastfeeder, without asking me, all from a simple question that was without any loaded wording and even finished off saying 'Just interested!' What you might construe from that is that, perhaps, I was just interested!!!!!

R & A - you are wrong. The OP clearly stated that she had no intention of giving breastfeeding a go past the colostrum stage. You are also wrong in assuming I meant to be confrontational - I was actually just curious. The purpose of a forum is to discuss issues and it is commonly accepted that threads have a tendency to digress in interesting ways past the original purpose of the first post. It is what most people understand as a kind of conversation. I can't understand why you would find a simple question like, 'I wonder why you are so set against breastfeeding, buttercup? Is there a reason? Just interested' provocative and offensive. It makes me wonder how you make it through each day dealing with people if a simple question like that offends you. Get a life!

Buttercup wrote: "Also I think there is a pressure to breast feed. My partner wants me to breast feed for the first 6 months but I have told him that I want to do it during our time in hospital and once we arrive home until the bottles are sterilised and made. He's not too happy about this but I've said it's my body and it's what I want to do." Amen, R&A