canela

I got this with No1 and the advice from the BF group was to firmly say "No" and remove from the breast each time they do it. let them have it back, but remove again and each time they bite until they get the message.

I think it depends a lot on how old the kids are and how far you are going and for how long. If I was just going out for a quick drink at the end of the road and could be home in 5 minutes, I'd be happy using a teenager on a casual basis - and hope to be doing more of this as the kids get older! but whilst they are still small if I ever (unlikely - sigh!) get to go out a bit further afield I would use someone with experience. There are childminders who babysit for ?8 an hour. I remember babysitting as a teenager and just not having a clue what to do if the little one woke up crying - as they sometimes did. I think it's unfair to put someone in that situation.

I can still remember being a pre-school kid and having a battlefield at mealtimes. my mum was of the "if you don't eat it for lunch you can have it for tea" school of thought. i used to dread the dinner table as so often it was something i hated and no amount of threats made me want to eat it. i just wanted to throw up. it made me really hate family mealtimes until well into late childhood - i think until i could properly talk with my mum and we could come to some agreement on a few staple meals. didn't make any difference. i am still a fussy eater - the only difference being now i have to cook for myself.

my son often used to say after starting school, "I can't be good anymore. I've been good all day". I really think there's something in it. i.e., they know they really have to behave at school, so sometimes at home they can go the other way

we were always late a while ago, and we ended up sorting it in two ways: first, was a family agreement that if we had all got to school on time for the whole week, we would have cake after school on a Friday and the kids got to choose the cake. second, we have alarms set on the phone and everyone knows what they are for. We have a first alarm for getting up (kids and me mostly are up before, but this is to make sure my hubby - who takes them to school - gets up), then an alarm for when everyone needs to get ready (ie, stop whatever you're doing, clothes, teeth, shoes etc), then an alarm for leaving the house. it may sound regimented but the kids actually love the alarm. they choose the ring tone, and they always do what it says. maybe it is easier as it is not me asking them to do something, but instead the alarm is for everyone. the idea is to make getting ready and out of the house all of our responsability. and it works. have never been late again, and the cake has fallen by the wayside as no longer needed as an incentive. in fact it works so well my son actually suggested yesterday having an alarm for him to go to sleep - as he always resists but does understand he needs his sleep. we are a family controlled by a phone! but on top of that I do always have everything ready the night before - lunches, bags etc - mine and theirs. 15 mins the night before can save an hour in the morning! I even get the coffee pot ready so all I have to do is turn the gas on. sounds like a good idea to get up earlier and get your cup of tea and head in gear before you face the day.

as far as I'm aware, you can't register your child for a state school until the applications process begins - which is usually the year before they would start reception. they start reception in the school year they turn 5. so still few years to wait. I know school is a stressful subject, but i also agree that pretty much all the schools round here are good.

bluesuperted, you may want to have a chat with the teacher as you might get a nice surprise. What school is it, btw? My son's teachers in Year 1 and Year 2 were very open about homework, and always said not to do it if it caused any stress. They gave very light homework over the weekend, and stressed that the child shouldn't be spending more than 10 minutes on it unless it was something they really got into, ie doing a picture. They encouraged daily reading, and some help with spelling as my son was quite behind. But really, they were far more relaxed about it than most of the parents. Interestingly, they said their main reason for giving homework was just to provide some home-school link rather than any academic justification. They also preferred the child to do it on their own to see how they got on independently, as they said they could always tell when parents had helped to make it perfect! to be honest, in most schools the teacher doesn't even look at the homework. It is the TA's job and they just flag up anything that needs attention to the teacher. I know exactly how you feel about resisting homework as I was the same - but I was also very pleasantly surprised by the response of the school when I asked them about it.

Hi My daughter?s 4th birthday is coming up and I?m worrying our painting and decorating won?t be finished and so we can?t really have it at home. It?s only for family and a few friends, so if it was nice we could go to the park - but it will be end of October so can?t guarantee the weather! any suggestions of alternative venues? it could even be a pub/cafe with a separate room? We just a few hours to do pass the parcel and have a cake.

There are a number of cooking classes around you could go to - but most regular classes tend to be during the week. You might have to get a bit inventive, i.e. get a scrapbook and spend Saturday morning or whatever going to a different kind of food shop where he takes photos, prints them out, do recipes together etc.....you get the general drift!

hope this goes well - I'm in for future weeks so please keep us posted!

Does anyone know if ED is in a smoke free zone? couldn't find the info on the council website. And am I right in thinking you can still have a wood burning stove even if it is - as it seems to say on Defra pages that several brands are authorised?

BUDS does 9 - 1 for 2-4 year olds. tho I presume you could pick up 12 if you wished.

Hi there can anyone recommend a good pilates class that might be able to help? Goodliz, do you run classes anywhere or would you be able to run one if we could sort out a venue? Do you do private classes with some exercises I could take away to practice? was v inspired by this thread to tackle this and want to get going!

I've breastfed just about everywhere and anywhere and honestly never had a bad experience. Once you get the hang of it you can do it so discretely most people won't notice. I often used a shawl, or the same clothes combinations other posters have recommended. I've only ever had positive comments from people, so don't think just because someone is looking at you that they are disapproving. I often find myself watching a woman breastfeed because it is so nice, and then I worry that she might think I am being nosy or disapproving!

I used cloth for both, but with no2 i wimped out and had disposables for night time. i used the cheaper foldable squares, but if I did it again I would definately spend a bit more and get some really good quality, all-in-ones like my sister did - I was a bit jealous of hers! they are such a good idea - you save so much money, don't use up loads of landfill, plus they are really cute.

there is a long discuission on this nursery in a previous thread, which you can search for.

could you not get involved in one of the forest schools or the home schooling network? I had a similar situation with my son as I didn't want him to start until he really had to, ie age 5, and it was very difficult to find things to do. We ended up going to loads of museums - Greenwich maritime, horniman etc etc and making our own activities.

how old is your child? BUDS pre-school have places for 2 plus.

there's nothing wrong with her saying that she misses you and doesn't want you to go away. she's just being honest. but that doesn't mean that her sadness is anything other than normal. yes, she will miss mummy but Grandma will have lots of other fun things to do and she can have special Grandma-time. and she will be pleased to see you when you get back. just check there is nothing specific that she worries about. for example, my son worries about what to do in the morning at Grandma's house as she gets up later than I do .... so we agreed a set time he could go into her room, and also put some toys and books in his room with a carton of milk for the morning so that he could occupy himself for a bit. there might be differences to the routine that she just wants to talk about. i agree that phone calls and Skype make it worse. she should hopefully be having so much fun she forgets about you. and yes, treats when you pick them up etc etc. and yes - a babysitter now and then!

Heber only do September.

i started reading this thread with interest....and then suddenly it dawned on me that I don't need one because - joy oh joy - my kids now sleep in until 7, 7:30 and even sometimes 8! In fact, most mornings I am up before them to get ready for work. Suppose I suddenly realised that I have passed through the early-waking phase...and am now firmly on the other side. So just wanted to share with others.....I feel your pain, but it WILL end!!!

Belle, if you find any instructor/class then let us know - I would definately be up for coming along. my mum is a physio and she says the prognosis is not good, ie will not suddenly snap into a washboard tummy again - but can be improved and at least you can make sure you aren't going to make it any worse with tummy crunches.

if you look around you will find varying prices. We pay ?45 day or ?7.50 an hour.

to be honest i find during the week that we just stick to firm favourites. we pretty much eat a variation on the same meals each week, and fingers crossed at the weekend i'll try something a bit different. as long as what they get is healthy i don't think it needs to be that varied (or i am just lazy...). firm faves in our house are: lentil stew and rice bean stew and rice/tortillas/nachos omlette pasta and pesto spaghetti bolognese meatballs and home-made chips chicken soup humous all with veg sticks on the side. I tend to cook last thing at night once the kids are in bed, so we just re-heat when needed the next day. i make the lentils and beans very bland for the kids, and then spice them up for the adults. sounds like there's lots of ideas on this thread though, so I might branch out. will try the pizza, i think.

I agree. I think it's also about how comfortable the parents feel as the whole family should be able to feel part of the community. I would never consider moving out of London if my non-British partner would not feel comfortable in the new location. This does mean there are some places we might really think about before moving to and obviously London is great in this aspect. But nowhere is perfect and it's about overall quality of life too.