bluesuperted

Currently in the car so can't watch... (mad idea to drive 6 hrs back to London from north Yorkshire in the night with baby so we get more sleep time out of him as he hates the car... So far he's slept for one hour and is now wide awake and only calmed by wielding an empty plastic bottle, the irony for a staunchly booby boy!!). Anyway I digress, I'll be watching this thread to live vicariously through you sofa dwellers...

Was about to suggest the Ergo too; have seen it work really well but haven't actually tried it myself. Keeping baby low is key with the ergo too I think. Will be studying avidly though next time round as realise how handy a skill it must be when you have two or more...

There are lots of deals online and my husband used to spend hundreds a year on contacts and glasses so it's probably just about paid for itself now.

My husband had it done in 2008. He's thrilled with the results. Same recovery as above and he was very unlucky and they caught a nerve (OUCH!!) but despite that, and some serious pain for about an hour, he was fine after 11pm - he had the procedure at 5pm I think. He had his done on the Finchley Road and I chaperoned him home on the tube etc - they insisted you had someone with you (Optimax). I vividly remember negotiating the wheelie bins and lampposts of Melbourne Grove. An insight into being blind for sure...

Poor viral-stricken bubs.... oh well, misery shared is misery halved: our last night was 8-8 with, I kid you not, a maximum consecutive sleep from baby of 40 mins. Weirdly he's napped well today (but of course I couldn't sleep) so I don't know if that means things will be worse tonight. Please god no, to two weeks of this, I feel demented after 2 nights! Wishing something mad, like a 4 hour block of sleep, to one and all! x

Hey Ruth, sounds like the virus that E has (confirmed by docs last night). I thought it was teething too (now think that's just a concurrent added extra!) but apparently not - lots and lots and LOTS of clear snot and barking cough. Slightly better in the day but all in bed now and gearing up for another long night of coughing and pained crying (as you said on fb, soooo hard to listen to, I can't take it!!!!). Cuddles generally seem to help but in the night only mine which is sad for daddy E! May be worth a call to Seldoc if breathing becomes laboured, hugs to all the family xx

It was great to meet those who could make it today despite my little one being super snotty! Shall we make a date for Weds 27th April as that worked for most people and also plan something for in between too - Hilly Fields and Ladywell sound lovely and always up for exploring new spots. Will post same message to Facebook group too - is everyone likely to join that? x?

Cool will keep his paws away from other babies! Am running late and won't stay long but looking forward to it x

Oh bum, my poor little baby has developed a horrible cold and cough virus overnight (thought his snotty nose was just due to teething). Totally up to you guys, really disappointed not to meet up and if he seemed up to it I'd be happy to bring him briefly in the sling to say hi but won't do that if you are at all worried about the potential germs.

Saw this yesterday and loved it!

See everyone tomorrow at 10! Thanks for setting the group up, I'm a member now, sleeping baby is my profile picture :)

Oh no poor you Sophie!! I don't have any practical advice as have so far not suffered from mastitis but do remember something about getting baby to feed in whatever position helps massage affected areas (bit hard with 10mo I imagine though). However am posting mainly to bump this thread and also suggest ringing Seldoc on 0208 693 9066 as they may be able to see you tonight (Dulwich hospital) or phone you through a prescription for first thing tomorrow morning. Big hugs to you get well soon, let me know if you need anythng tomorrow xxx

Good point, I'm short and have shoulder length straight dark brown hair and will be carrying my chunky boy in either a beige Ergo or a black/grey carrier. If it's cold I'll have a black jacket with fur trim hood. Shall we aim to sit near the front for ease of recognising each other?

Love that cafe! Yup see you 10am on Thursday :)

Love that cafe! Yup see you 10am on Thursday :)

Second thoughts, ignore me re crawling friendly I don't think anywhere is (including my lounge!). Happy to meet any of the above - you guys pick I'm being indecisive this am.

Sounds good - shall we do next Thursday as planned (location still tbc? Are any options crawling friendly?) and then put Weds after Easter hols 27th April in the diary?

Oh and thank you for the link Leah, I will check it out when not on my phone as it doesn't take me to the page!

I'm good for next week any location fine as only me and a seven month old. Sophiechristophy can't make Thursdays though so maybe the next meet could be a different day given it was her post originally?

Either of those work for me :)

I missed the January meet and realise it's now March - are any other get togethers in the pipeline? It would be great to put one in the diary.

LadyRuskin: You can hire quite a selection from Slumber Roo - Beco, Manduca, Moby, Babyhawk, Boba... there are other sites but I don't have personal experience of them. Slumber Roo has been excellent in my experience. I don't know its name but there is one site that donates money to SIDS charity in return for sling hire, might be worth googling that one too. Moi23, I'm surprised you've found the Ergo tricky to put on. For the front carry I do the following: clip on the waist band, adjusted to the correct tightness, pick up baby and straddle his legs froggy style around my waist (he's now 7 months, so he grips really well now, but have been doing this since circa 4 months). Then I hold baby in place with one arm and use the other arm to pull strap over each shoulder. Once they are in the right place I use one hand to clip the strap at the nape of my neck. You can then pull on the side straps (just under boobs) to tighten it further and pull baby nice and close to you. The back carry is something I haven't quite mastered on my own - but that's why I just bought a Beco Butterfly II as it has an internal harness which will hopefully make life easier when I start doing regular back carries on my own. Karter, here are 2 good links re: babywearing safety: http://babywearinginternational.org/articles.php?article=2 and http://babywearinginternational.org/pages/InfantSlingSafety.php. You may have heard about 'bag slings' in the press, these are not safe and shouldn't be confused with reputable sling designs. I actually feel safer carrying my LO in his carrier than in my arms now as I know he's comfortable, in a good position and nice and secure. For a newborn, many advise the stretchy wraps as the safest way of carrying baby, the Baby Bjorn style carriers put stress on the infants spine and are not recommended or comfy for carrier/carried long-term (I used one til 1 month old but won't bother with it next time and will start with a stretchy wrap such as a Moby and then progress to soft structured carrier when baby is old enough).

This is something I think about everyday... I love living in ED but financially, to really enjoy family life here it's kind of out of our reach. The recent threads on secondary school (and of course primary school!) have cemented this thought in my head. As two public sector workers who can in theory work anywhere in the country, I think we would be a little crazy to stay here for the long-term future... We plan to move out of London, properly out, in the next 3 or so years. We are considering Bristol, to be closer to family (but crap secondary schools in the City and not sure I can face moving back to my toytown home town just yet!), Bath/Somerset/Clevedon, Devon/Dorset, Yorkshire (Harrogate/Saltaire/Leeds environs) or very unlikely Brighton (too far from family to be a great move for us long-term). I'm starting to think it's like when I worked in advertising too - even the people who I was sure were in it for the long haul were actually toying with jacking it in; recently several of our London through and through friends have 'admitted' (haha) they don't plan on being here in 5 years time and harbour secret dreams of buying a barn conversion in the country...

I would firstly like to echo the support for jennyh - my first baby is nearly 7 months old and I can remember vividly the scary world of the first few weeks, filled with awe and terror in equal measure. But it does get better. And easier, and you actually manage to keep loving them MORE even when it doesn't seem possible! Carry on doing a great job and listen to yourself and your instincts above all others. ? ? ? Secondly though I think this is not the thread for a) bashing breastfeeding b) bashing ALL aspects of the NCT. Like Buggie my experiences of the NCT were all positive, and I had a c section (as did 4/6 of my class!) and a very supportive teacher thereafter. Re: breastfeeding, this is also not the thread to list its benefits but it is also unfair on all those women (many who struggle, some who get as far as they can but not as far as they'd like, and many lucky ones like me who don't have major problems but still work hard at it) to claim that a baby will be 'happier and sleep better on formula' - that is not tolerant of the choices of women who bf and also is anecdotal evidence at best, completely unsubstantiated at worst. My own 'evidence' is one deliciously happy and totally random sleeper (some nights good, some not so amazing) who I'm lucky to still be?breastfeeding and plan to continue for many months to come. ? ?? Also I totally feel for anyone who has to deal with the horror of cancer with a young family, very glad to hear it turned out ok in the end for you susyp, it must have been terrifying - but think your post could end up scaring quite a lot of bfing new mums out there at a very vulnerable time. I knew about the links between breastfeeding and breast cancer prevention that Anna_r mentioned but haven't heard of the increased risk immediately following pregnancy and will do some research myself on this asap. In the meantime I hope this thread doesn't make any mums give us breastfeeding before they are ready out of fear.?

Lol anna_r, some might say sling bore! Couldn't resist though.... Took my Gemini out for a spin today and so pretty (oh and comfy/functional... But SO pretty!). Forgot to say to OP, these are all versions of soft structured carriers by the way. There is also the woven wrap route (good for heavier babies) but I haven't researched those as much and IMO (although not really qualified as don't have ons yet!) the structured carriers would be easier to get a wriggly 1.5 yr old in...