sbarry

New England also have a cool built-in feature (which perhaps other companies do too?) called a "split tilt" which means you can have say, the slats in the bottom section of the shutter tilted closed for privacy and the top section open. The advantage is you don't have to split the whole shutter into two separate tiers which introduces a solid section and cuts out more light (and in the case of the NESC adding tiers adds more expense). I went to the showroom and fell for the more expensive Manhattan model (no visible rod) so beware! On the positive side they sent a guy out to measure up the next day which was very speedy indeed.

I went to the New England Shutter Company showroom today (@Wandsworth Common train station), excellent quality and lovely staff, no hard sell at all, their factory is in Dubai not China, expensive but I am impressed. I'd recommend trying to touch/feel before buying (from anyone) because I ended up liking one style way more than the rest, whereas on the website/photos I maybe wouldn't have made the right choice.

As the title says, looking for recommendations for companies who manufacture and install internal (white) wooden shutters. Thanks

I heartily recommend Harold George in Dulwich, I used to go to GMs for many years but got a bit fed up at having to go back more than once to have my colour redone the next day - unacceptable considering the very high prices they charge and I also found the colour product they changed to a year or so ago irritates my scalp(not their fault really I guess). Harold George is fantastic in my opinion, not trying to be trendy but very professional, lovely staff and prices are reasonable.

I have sent you a PM

Apologies I haven't read all replies but sticker chart and bribes I mean rewards worked well at that age to us. Or a "sleep fairy" who only came and left a chocolate button (just one!) for children who went to bed nicely. Once I clicks you can slowly reduce the treats to once a week then phase out. Or in reality use them for the next battle ;-)

Thanks all And I didn't know that about slugs!

My 4 year old is asking more and more questions about how babies get into tummies etc. I think there was a thread here some time ago recommending good books to aid discussion (I think I need help as I want to answer honestly and appropriately!). Thanks in advance :)

London Bridge or Balham are the nearest that I know of (Tooley street near Lon Bridge station i think).

Hello Does anyone know where we can donate toys? We have more soft toys than Hamleys (guessing, I've never actually been inside) and they are all pristine and have never been used, my little one isn't really into them but got loads of them ss presents. I'd like to donate them before Christmas so some children can enjoy them. Actually we have loads of other toys to donate as well, but the soft toys are way out of control. Anyway, please let me know if there is somewhere nearby that is suitable (I can always go to a charity shop with them but I'd quite like them to go directly to some children). Thanks

Thanks Pickle, yes i think our chances are nil. Incidentally I'm finding the schools finder on the directgov website to be quite good (everyone probably already knows about this, I'm a bit late to the game!) as it gives you your nearest schools by distance from your postcode plus links to Ofsted etc. http://schoolsfinder.direct.gov.uk/

There is a supplementary form for St Anthony's primary school, which is not surprising given it's a Catholic school. I'm trying to figure out if there is any point putting this school on my top list of 6 schools on the CAF, given I will not be ticking yes to any of the boxes relating to religion - except that one of the parents was raised as a catholic. Do St Anthony's ever admit children who are not being raised in a formal religion?

If he's 5m, he could be starting to teethe (6m is average for first tooth appearing i think, and it's growing below the surface for quite some time) so maybe he's not settling as well as before because of this. A dentist friend once described to me how the pain of teething feels (basically a horrible horrible headache/toothache) so if there is anything at all going on in his little jaws it will disturb him. He could also, as others have said, be hungry. He's almost at the weaning stage and I know lots of people who started their babies on solids at 4-5 months. Thinking back, my checklist was pain?/overtired?/hungry? and most problems fell into one or other category. Additionally, i think they sense when mummy is having a hard time(which is quite often!), so if there is any way at all you can organise some cover to allow you to catch up on sleep, it might really help. Good Luck!

I had the same/similar call a few weeks ago. They got really irate when I immediately said I wasn't interested in talking to them (I asked them to write to me instead - my standard response to cold callers, if it really is Virgin/Inland Revenue/Gas COmpany etc they will not mind having to write) and they called me back 3 times in a row, getting more and more aggressive each time. Finally when I threatened to report them they hung up and didn't ring again. Not sure WHO to report them to though! Anyway I went and set my preferences on the TPS website, and to be fair I haven't had a single cold-caller since (I used to get almost one a day): http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html

Gina - just wanted to add that breastfeeding is probably no different to dairy/formula*. I breastfed exclusively up to 1 year and my daughteer still had bad eczema. In fact it was probably at its worst at that stage :0 *Edited to add, purely in terms of dairy-related allergies/eczema (lest I start an unintentional discussion on breastfeeding vs formula )

> I've started my own allergy seeking measures. I've > cut out dairy from her diet over the last few > weeks, slowly weaning her off anything containing > cows milk and onto soy. We are now fully on soy > and she hasn't had any cow milk containing > products for 4 days now but the flare up is > worsening. I've heard about soy being a common > allergen and worsening eczema, yes. The eczema has > spread all over her body, shoulders, knicker line, > all down legs, inner thighs. It's usually on her > bum, inner elbow, backs of legs and calfs, also > hands and down sides of torso. The poor little thing. Our daughter had eczema when she was younger 0-3 years approx but (touch wood) it has all but disappeared. We finally replaced cow's milk with goat's milk, having tried various remedies and seen skin specialists and so on, and this more than anything else seemed to cure it. Perhaps you could try that for a while instead of Soya if you think Soya is adding the the problem? We also cut right back on baths, letting skin produce its own oils and just get a bit mucky generally seemed to help a bit - but the goat's milk switch was like magic for us. However, your daughter's case sounds much worse, so I'm sorry if this doesn't help.

North dulwich station to elephant and castle - through camberwell/walworth - is almost exactly 5k. Continue into the City and it's about another 2 or 3k, further into town/west end and you'll easily have 10k done. Not the prettiest route, but if you happen to work in central london it's a handy way of getting the miles in, and at 7.30am on a weekday it's very quiet but not too quiet so as to feel unsafe. I'll be interested to see some nice local routes on this thread too :) mapmyrun is a handy tool for measuring routes - but you probably already know that

Thanks, i'll take a look.

Hello Can anyone recommend a good family GP in or near Dulwich Village? We are with DMC as we used to live quite near the Crystal Palace road branch, but what with having moved further away and the difficulty actually getting appointments, I am looking to transfer the family to a new practice. Thanks in advacen.