lorraineliyanage

Kate - I've only met one other step-mother other than you so far :)

I was very keen to send my daughter to a Montessori nursery as I am a teacher and I like the structured approach of the Montessori day. However, I found the price of Montessori nurseries in Dulwich prohibitive, so have sent her to a non-Montessori nursery which she loves. I don't mind spending lots of time at home with her doing Montessori-style activities. You can find lots of information about the teaching methods online.

anything involving lots of cuddles sounds good! i'll try that, thanks citrovie - thanks for the foodie tips, i think i've heard something about oatmeal. will google the other tips! MyFamilyDoula Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Lorraine, > If you've got a couple of days to spare, loads of > skin-to-skin cuddles and encouraging her to suck > could help with increasing milk supply. If work > and stuff get in the way of this during the day, > perhaps a couple of nights with her sleeping in > the bed with you skin-to-skin could be an > alternative. The body is quiter capable of > producing more milk, with the right type of > encouragement. As long as she's happy to suckle, > encourage her as much as possible to keep at it. > Goodluck.

we're off to south asia (and australia too!) next year for a couple of months to see our family, and the only type of milk that is readily available is UHT cartons which i wouldn't want to give her, plus i like to travel light, so carting around tins of formula takes up too much space. i have an idea in my head that i can backpack with a baby - it might be possible!

hi everyone, thanks for the feedback. yes fuschia i'd love to borrow the pump. i have a single electric pump, but i only get about 50 mls out of it. your pump might help get the other boob flowing again. there is a miniscule amount of milk there so it's still working (just about). am also fed up of being really lopsided! when i got back from holiday last week, she did a couple of long feeds in the night and was sucking away but it wasn't filling her up, i had to end up making formula in the middle of the night as she was feeding for an hour which is unlike her, so i just presumed there wasn't any milk coming out for her as she never feeds for more than ten minutes. maybe it was just because we were both jetlagged so our body clocks are messed up. perhaps the engorgement days are over. molly - i know what you mean about the saggy boobs, mine are like fried eggs now! womanofdulwich - as we do lots of travelling, i can't be bothered with the hassle of bottles, breastfeeding is just so much easier on the go, so i'm planning on feeding for another year or so as we've still got plenty of travelling to do. also, i'm finding formula quite expensive so would prefer to give her expressed milk for nursery feeds. as for contraception, my periods came back at 2 months after giving birth unfortunately!! i'll also try and brave the fennel tea, i had heard that works, although i hate the taste of it - blah!

I have a Milton sterilising unit that uses cold water and tablets that you can have for free, plus a few bottles as well. These are the sterilisers that they use in hospitals, nothing fancy but does the job!

My daughter is nearly one and has recently started at nursery, as well as sleeping through the night (hooray!). As a result of this, I'm breastfeeding her less as she has formula when she's at nursery, and we've dropped the nighttime feeds, so this means that I'm hardly producing any milk now. As it is, she only feeds from one boob, so the right boob dried up months ago, but now the left one seems to be following suit. Any tips on how to keep the milk supply up as I wasn't planning on stopping breastfeeding anytime soon? Is it worth getting a double electric pump? Thanks

Have you tried giving her expressed milk whilst she is asleep? My 11 month old daughter goes to sleep around 7.30, and I give her a bottle around 10pm, and if i'm awake around midnight another one then, not much, about 60 mls at each feed and it keeps her going till 8 or 9am. She only has one nap before midday.

All sounds like teething symptoms. My daughter also had slightly runny nappies that went an odd colour, plus her face got a little bit spotty around the mouth from dribbling so much. She also did the ear pulling thing :)

BT 150 onitors are great, I bought mine from the BT shop for about ?60 including delivery

The 177 would definitely take an hour or more in traffic. I used to regularly do that route to Woolwich and it was an hour and a half door to door from ED via Peckham (2 busses)

yes, 10.30 session on wednesday sounds good

How about Dulwich Nursery in Sainsbury's car park? They tend to have spaces come free over Summer so you might be in luck for next year?

Has anyone mentioned nipple tweaking, it worked for my baby when I was 2 weeks overdue. Verona Hall (a local midwife) recommended this and it sent me into labour about 2 hours later. I had previously had no Braxton hicks or any signs of anything rumbling down below! Here's some info I found on google: Nipple Stimulation to Self-induce This is a practice often recommended by midwives when a woman is long past due or when labor is stalled. Nipple stimulation causes the release of oxytocin, the same hormone that causes uterine contractions. Many women report, however, that the contractions produced from this method are much stronger and more painful than natural labor, but are not any more effective. Please note: In order to use this method for induction, you must stimulate the nipples for long periods of time. The usual recommendation is 15 minutes of continual stimulation on each nipple each hour for several hours. So, the amount of stimulation you may experience during intimacy, while nursing an older child, or while pumping your breasts while pregnant will not cause you to go into labor. The general recommendation on these activities is to abstain from them when your condition warrants doctor recommended pelvic rest. Please check with your practitioner before trying this.

BT 150 monitor is great, about ?60 from the BT shop and it has a good resale value on ebay when you no longer need it.

I really like the Tots Bots Bamboozles, although they probably will take quite a while to dry when it's not sunny (I've only started using them since this Summer from a trial pack and I use in combination with disposables as I find the whole thing a bit daunting too!). I am sure Molly (The Nappy Lady) will have a better idea of which set to keep.

How about a donation to her bank account? My daughter has about 4 money boxes from her Christening and lots of duplicate presents of things that she doesn't really need.

I looked into this a couple of months ago and this is, indeed, the going rate. In fact, I had several quotes that were much more than this. Instead of hiring an entertainer, I've roped in some friends to do face painting, story-telling and balloon modelling which only costs a few pounds plus a few hours spent watching youtube videos on how to model a balloon dog!

I use Direct Health in Eltham http://www.dh2uk.com/

My daughter is starting at Dulwich Nursery in September and I've taken her there for a few short sessions to get used to the nursery before she starts full-time. The staff are really lovely and she's been really happy being left there. I am sure your son will like it there. It seems like a lovely nursery and not too many children there, so not too overwhelming.

i totally agree, each stage just keeps getting better than the one before! Fuschia Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Am I a creep.. I always think the best stage is > now...

Having had some serious orthodontic treatment when younger, I do remember that they need to start it early, mine started around age 11 and was finished by 15, which is quite a long stretch as my teeth were very problematic. It is preferable to get the braces on early and then get them taken off when not in your older teens I think. It's a tough one - I am sure if your son doesn't have braces now, he will wish he had done so when he's in his twenties, but then orthodontic treatment will be a lot more expensive. Isn't it part-subsidised at least for children, or is that not the case anymore? (It was completely free on the NHS when I had mine but I know that's not the case anymore!)

hi clarec, i put my daughter's name down for a place the Bright Horizons when she was born in October 2008 and have just been contacted about a place there. Worth doing as early as possible, they may possible take registrations before the babies are born. I had no idea how many days I needed either but just sorted that out with them after going on a tour of the place this week.

hi nymom, yep come along, we'll be in the cafe around 11.15 too

Horniman have scrapped the Friday storytime and it's now on Wednesdays, combining an arts and crafts session. I think there are still 2 sessions on Wednesdays and they might last a bit longer.