bluesuperted

Pickle, I have some great, thick, dark grey/charcoal leggings that I think I bought from the ever-glamourous Peacocks. I'll double check later as they are in the wash. Oh no! Damn it, I've remembered! They are Old Navy! In which case, try Gap?!

Hey Pernilla, saw you'd posted on the meet up but sadly couldn't make it today due to last minute change of plan! A few of us are going to the hummy mummies choir on Monday if you fancy that as well, it was lovely last week :) xx

Hey! Thanks Anna :) x Welcome to ED! There are actually loads of APers around these parts so you've come to a good place! I'm a SAHM of a lively and fun 15month old and into the usual slings, babyled, Cosleeping, breastfeeding stuff. It's ace! And yes there is quite an active group now, on Facebook and on Meetup.com called South-East London Attachment Parenting Group, really friendly and has regular meets at Tea Dance for Little People in Brockley amongst other things. This month's is tomorrow!! It gets busy as TDLP only has space for 12 families (first come first served and not just APers going along) but I'm going tomorrow and heading back at 12 so my space will be free around then and there might even be space earlier. PM and I can email you my mob or chance your arm and get there for the start of 10am? Hope to meet you and your little one soon!! X

It is personal preference but a soft structured good carrier that distributes the weight round by your hip instead of hanging off your shoulders seems to suit most who want to carry a baby beyond 10 months and say 20lbs. I use (daily) my Beco Gemini which is fantastic because the straps cross for extra support on top of the hip placement. I use the Ergo when I occasionally back carry, for shorter front carry journeys and to get E to sleep if he's struggling, still works like a charm and he's 15 months and I think around 2 stone in weight! I've recommended the Gemini to many people and all have loved it, it's super easy to put on quickly, pretty and very supportive to mum and baby. I love the Manduca too - and noticed one in the Rye Lane pram shop so might be worth popping there and trying that one out for yourself. Rose and Rebellions and Sleepy Nicos are other options that people love and they do similar things and there are some gorgeous designs (ahem!). Sling meets are a great start and also recommend Emily at the Horniman meet, she's lovely and a whizz with wrapping. I'd personally avoid the Baby Bjorn as it's not ideal for mum/dad or baby but I know some people get on well with them especially the Active for longer than a few months. I happily carry my son for hours every day in a hip-weight-bearing carrier but was only able to use our baby bjorn until he was about 6 weeks old, hence my lovely journey into slingdom!!

Ditto, it was a great session! Will definitely be buying a book of tickets :)

We'll be there and I know of at least 2 other definite plus babies! Looking forward to it, will introduce myself :)

If you were interested in the backpack/pram bag combo, this thread reminded me to sell my Storksak bag (?40) so here's the link - as I said I didn't find it that practical but that's mainly because I used a sling 98% of the time so a proper backpack was much more sensible! In terms of compartments it's actually very good and hangs nicely off a pram. http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,786532

Sanity girl - how funny, I did the same a few weeks ago with a fleece liner, eek! Thank god it was in our downstairs loo which has super flush power rather than our upstairs one which blocks at the drop of a hat! Hope it didn't cause any problems in the sewage works, I never put wet wipes down so I was a bit mortified as the fleece got sucked away... Our poo is definitely improving! Much harder (and therefore easier) now and in a tragic way I really am happy when he does a nice 'turdlike' one, so it will come soon for you guys I'm sure! I'm thinking that it means we're through the rough end of cloth nappying and the next 12 months will be loads easier :)

Ha! Was a bit self-conscious about poo-consistency chat but yes, you're right, nothing sacred in nappyland! Do you use Bambino Mio? That + line drying (daylight rather than sun, so not too ambitious) seems to be keeping our stains at bay.

This is far TMI simonethebeaver but my boy still BFs a lot (now 15 months) and his poo was sloppy Joe for a long time. But we coped with just fleece and no stains on any of our lovely nappies (Bumgenius V4 and Flip primarily). Now it's much easier and more solid, the fleece is wonderful!

Do you want disposable or re-useable? I use re-useable and made my own by chopping up squares of fleece baby blanket from Poundland (no need to hem as fleece doesn't fray). Apart from the really manky newly-weaned poo, it makes cleaning up so much easier and fleece is much stronger than paper liners (and nicer on baby bottoms).

Sports Direct on Rye Lane is selling decent, Karrimor backpacks at the moment for ?15. I've just got one and so much more practical than my Storksak changing bag which I will be selling! Also am getting very into wetbags (I do cloth nappy). The monkey foot ones are beautiful and addictive and not just for cloth users.

Well, if you wanted to save your pennies for the external house, Asda has a really well priced and reviewed dolls house in the current sale: http://direct.asda.com/Traditional-Wooden-Dolls-House---38048/000737340,default,pd.html Looks simple but very pretty, I'd quite like one myself but not sure my toddler son would approve! For other forumites, the Asda sale is worth a look. I've ordered a half price wooden kitchen which looks great and will be able to pick it up from Rye Lane which is a bonus. Again reviews and price very favourable: http://direct.asda.com/Wooden-Play-Kitchen/000745355,default,pd.html It seems to flit in and out of stock (currently out) but I did the text alert thing and managed to get one within hours. Hope this helps!

?50 for 10 PAYG sessions is really reasonable if it still makes sense for you and providing my little one could cope I'd be really tempted to buy a block at that price :) I assumed gorgeous cute tiny babies were welcome as they are no trouble, it's the rambunctious toddlers we'll be worrying about! Although my boy (15m), while he is very energetic, loves music so it could work brilliantly for him. I can't wait for next Monday, really excited and thanks for offering something a little different.

Hi Belle, sorry to hear he's so umcomfy. Another recommendation for side lying cosleeping if you wanted to try that. Several GPs recommended it to me when my LO had a cold (we were already Cosleeping) but you really are so aware so it's safe enough plus he would get comfort both in terms of position and your proximity. It might help you both get more sleep in these early days. Hope he feels better soon and you all get more shut eye!! xx

Good point, baby carriers are ignored IME and so handy at airports anyway. We flew United/Continental.

I'd love to come along. Massive musical theatre fan in Uni and school days! Proudest moment was being the narrator in Joseph for a fairly shonky little student production! I also was going to mention price :S (thanks Otta!) as ?8 is quite pricey. Appreciate that it's drop in but will limit how often we could come. The PAYG idea is good but still a little high - hope you don't mind me saying and understand you have costs/margin though, just giving feedback as think if you price it right you might get a MASSIVE amount of regular interest!! Will definitely try to be there for 14th :)

It's still a lifesaver (way of life??) with me 15 months on! I feel seriously encumbered when I have the buggy, I'm such a buggy user novice really - gets some pitying looks as I manhandle the pram going over curbs etc!

I only used my ergo from about three months (without insert but padded with reuseable nappies, blankets - not sure how recommended but worked for my big baby!). Prior to that I used a bjorn originally (not recommended but was a good intro!) and then a moby wrap. Definitely recommend a stretchy like that or a Kari-me if you can persevere with a few different holds. I felt better (and therefore so did baby!) once I got my confidence up in wrapping and could do it completely on my own. I only did a few holds but there are loads of great demos on YouTube and think I've met Emily too - she'd be ideal as is a wrapping master!! Using a moby with a newborn is something I really look forward to when I do have another baby as it's so lovely and snuggly, congrats!!

If it's not thrush, I can't recommend egg white strongly enough - metanium is good but egg white is an absolute miracle worker. It's amazing and usually clears up the horrid rash in one go - or a couple at most? It's an old wives tale but it really really works. Coupled with as much nappy off time as possible - hope it clears!

My secondhand Bugaboo was zero (?X paid - ?X sold = ?0 cost). I hardly used mine but it was still the biggest baby bargain I bought and a lovely buggy for all concerned. Some people are just savvy. read the reviews, get a good piece of kit (secondhand) and sell it on, not brand-driven or status seeking at all. Also, I studied in a child development related field and one of the most important things we learnt was: the parent has a hell of a lot of insight, listen to it or ignore it at your peril. You don't know what it's like to be the parent of the child you are looking at/studying/assessing/pontificating about on an anonymous forum. We got docked A LOT of marks for example if we forgot to include them in any listing of the 'multidisciplinary team' surrounding the child. You wouldn't score very highly with mass generalisations based on class and culture either I'm afraid. Original poster - I think the Bee looks like a great buggy and might go for that one in future if I was wanting a buggy for a new baby. But my cameleon was very nice too. Just wasn't enough like a sling for me...

Asda on the Old Kent Rd has a big selection...

I don't know re etch a sketch I'm afraid although I'm sure I've seen cheapo versions in the Peckham pound shops. If not Argos? Pound shop also sells fake toy iPhones... ;) But toddlers (and babies) get full hand (and hold) luggage allowance I think. Was certainly the case on our flight, regardless of having a seat. So you basically have 4x hand luggage allowance - loads! I think I said my handbag was baby's but they could have their own bag instead. It's kind of fair enough given the amount of detritus these babes require on long journeys!

Buggie that's hilarious, get the indoctrination started early - make sure she follows mummy into the caring/emergency professions!

Here's the blog post I mentioned: worth looking at the 'ears and altitude' section. The post is EPIC but does seem full to the brim with useful information and tips garnered from many years of experience. http://flyingwithchildren.blogspot.com/