Layla's Mum

I have always found this dental practice to be excellent. Whatever is going on, I am sure they will be wanting to get back up and running as soon as possible.

I would have thought this question has been asked so many times but I can't find the answer on the EDF search engine. Please could someone recommend a nanny agency in the SE23 area? I know it can be better to do it yourself on the forum and other places but I am struggling with finding the time to put into that. So if anyone has had a good experience of a nanny agency in SE23, please please let me know. Many thanks.

Just to complete the circle on this thread, our beloved cats were rehomed to a lovely couple in East Dulwich in the New Year. They are settling in really well and seem really happy there. We have been to visit a couple of times and even fed the cats for them while they went on holiday so we're really happy we are able to keep in touch with them. As for the baby, following a serious top to bottom clean of the house including carpet and upholstery cleaning, wiping the walls and ceilings and all hard surfaces and washing every item of clothing in the house (it was epic!), it took approximately 3 days for his allergy symptoms to disappear. After the agony of not knowing if removing the cats would make any difference to his symptoms (following the consultants warning that it might take up to a year to improve) it was almost instant and we are so relieved to have this immediate confirmation that we made the right decision. It is a pleasure to know that we have a happier healthier boy as a result of the sacrifice of rehoming our gorgeous pets. Thanks to all the supportive messages and thanks to the forum for finding the lovely couple who have taken them on!

Ooh, I think I'm the friend Knomester is talking about! Yes, you can use normal toddler reins instead of the pricey alternative. Get them in Mothercare or online for a couple of quid. I didn't need anything for my daughter who never tried to get out of the chair but my son was an early escape artist! He's grown out of it at 14 months so I don't need to use the reins any more. So all in all, don't bother with the expensive straps!

Yes, because of the VAT registration. I feel that other agencies manage to absorb this cost so this one should do so too, but wanted to make sure I was justified in saying that before saying something.

Could anyone tell me what the going rate for cleaners is generally? I have been paying ?10 per hour through a small agency and they just increased the rate to ?12 per hour. I think that sounds pretty steep. Could anyone share their experience of this?

I am sorry if this thread already exists but I couldn't find it... I am about to apply for a primary place in Lewisham for September 2011 start. Do you have to put down six choices? What are the potential consequences of just putting two choices down? Our closest two school are (we reckon) the best choices in the area. If, by some chance, we don't get a place at either of those, I wouldn't particularly want my daughter to go to any of the others! What happens if she doesn't get into either of the first two choices and there are no other choices on the form? How do they decide where she goes?

For those of you who followed our recent thread about the problem of our baby who is allergic to our cats, this is just to let you know that we have put them up for adoption, having tried all other remedies. We are using Celia Hammond to help us rehome them (www.celiahammond.org) and have also posted on the EDF (http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?9,585336) As you will see from the forum post, these wonderful cats are so gentle and tolerant around young children and babies so if your family or anyone you know is looking for some gorgeous loving pets, please do let me know. Many thanks. Layla's Mum

Millpond have written a book which totally saved me. I followed it and got instant results. I'm sure you'll find it if you google it or amazon it. Good luck with getting a good night's sleep. I truly truly feel your pain. You are totally doing the right thing getting it sorted. The answers are out there for you, its just so hard to know what to do when you are in it and totally exhausted. All the best.

Seedlings in Honor Oak is pretty good. My daughter has moved on to school now but lots of other local Mums I know have their kids there and seem very happy with it.

If you need to know whether they are bound to pay you the amount stated in the letter, this will depend on what the letter says. Most likely if it is stated to be an 'estimate' then they will be entitled to amend it if it is calculated incorrectly. If you post the wording of the letter, I could confirm this.

Thank you everyone for your comments. If this was an easy decision it wouldn't have elicited so many different opinions! My husband and I have found it really useful getting all these views. And we have taken a few weeks to think through the issues and do a bit of research. I have to say we have been in agony about it and swing from one position to another depending on who we are speaking to at the time! After a lot of agonising, we have decided to tell all our friends about our problem as, if we have to rehome the cats it would be great if we knew where they were going and be able to visit. Unfortunately so far this hasn't elicited any response. So our next step is to try Petal Cleanse for a few weeks and if this doesn't improve things we have arranged for the Celia Hammond cat rescue centre to assist in rehoming the cats. We are feeling dreadfully sad about the whole situation but we of course realise that our baby's health has to take precedence. Thanks again for your comments.

Where do you work? Have you thought of running to work? I run to work from Honor Oak Park to the City twice a week. It takes about an hour and is brilliant because it combines getting to work and exercise so you don't have to find extra time in your day to do it. You have to be pretty organised though, bringing your work clothes into the office the day before and having a shower when you get there (assuming you have that facility?) It works for me. Good luck!

Help! I need advice from other parents. My 10 month old baby boy who is the most delightful happy contented little thing ever has just had a skin prick test on the NHS which showed that he is allergic to our cats. We have two wonderful, gentle, loving cats, a brother and sister aged 5 years. Our little boy has had a constantly streaming nose since birth which cleared up on a holiday earlier in the year, which aroused our suspicions of an allergy. The consultant at St Thomas' Hospital said that cat allergies in babies is very rare indeed (just our luck!) but that once it has been activated (like this has) there is an 80% chance he will develop asthma. If he gets asthma, having the cats in the house will exacerbate it. Another key point he made is that getting rid of the cats now will not decrease the chance of him getting asthma, he is already preconditioned with the 80% chance whether or not he is around cats from now on. My first instinct was to rehouse the cats. But the consultant said that getting rid of the cats now would not immediately solve the problem as it takes up to a year for all of the cat allergen to disappear. He said we could give him a daily antihystamine but we are not keen on medicating our baby on a daily basis just because we are not keen to give away our cats. The other problem we have is our lovely fantastic childminder who has our boy three days per week also has a cat! His symptoms are just the snotty nose. He does have the occasional cough but then most babies do so I'm not sure if that is related to the cats. So our dilemma is this. Do we rehouse the cats now or wait to see if he develops asthma? Is it okay to leave your baby with a dribbly nose when he otherwise is a very happy boy and doesn't have any trouble sleeping etc? As a parent, would you get rid of the cats? I guess you also have to be an animal lover to answer this one as people who have never had a pet will not understand why we are not taking the cats down to the Cat Protection League today! I would appreciate any thoughts on this. Thanks so much in advance.

I recommend Honor Oak Park. Within really easy distance of East Dulwich but you get a lot more space for your cash. We moved from a two bed place on Melbourne Grove to a much large 1930s 3 bed for less money than the ED property. Schools around here are generally excellent, especially Stillness Infants which gets an outstanding Ofsted and the parents rave about it. Downsides are that you just dont get the conveniences you get in ED which means you end up in the car more. I miss all the lovely shops in ED. The community spirit round here is very strong though, especially when your kids start at a local school and you get to know almost everyone around you. Blythe Hill Fields has a fabulous play area. As does Hilly Fields Park. There are lots of kiddies stuff going on. Having said that, the Horniman area is also supposed to be lovely. My friend's daughter is at Horniman School which is supposed to be brilliant. Good luck with your search.

This is digressing slightly but I have a good tip for stopping duvets getting kicked off when they are little. A friend suggested it and it works brilliantly. Put the duvet widthways across the bed and tuck both ends under the mattress. Also stops them falling out of the bed in the early days. On topic, I would agree with others that its best to go for a light tog. In the summer, we just take the duvet out and they sleep with just the duvet cover. In the winter, a blanket on top works. Have fun shopping.

Many thanks all for your helpful suggestions. We plumped for The Florence and overall it was perfect. Great location, very spacious, excellent playroom, good service and the roasts were large and delicious. Only one little piece of feedback for any Florence management reading this: I was a little disappointed to get a negative response from the staff when I asked for peas with the kids fish fingers and chips. As they didn't have peas I suggested brocoli as an alternative (as that was being served with other dishes). I was told (a little begrudgingly I thought) that we could have one floret of brocoli otherwise we would have to pay for a side portion of vegetables. In the end they brought the meal with three florets of brocoli which was perfect, which just makes the slightly grumpy attitude a bit of a shame! As a mum, it is good when the kids restaurant meals have things like peas on them as most kids will eat peas and its good to get some vegetables into them along with the chips and ketchup. But other than that, thanks for the recommendation people because I would definitely go back.

I am looking to take my 4 year old and 9 month old out for Sunday lunch with my Mum tomorrow and wondered where is good to go with kids. The weather is not looking great although the rain might hold off. I have been to The Herne Tavern in the past and always come away feeling the food isn't what it should be for the price. I've also been to The Rye and love the place but want to try something different. Any other tips for places to go?

I am looking for a party venue for my daughter's 4th birthday. I want somewhere where the kids can be kept busy with toys or activities. Can anyone suggest anywhere good in the East Dulwich / Honor Oak Park area or surrounding regions? Many thanks in advance.

I would second the Groclock recommendation. Totally did the trick with my daughter. Coupled with the Sleep Fairy (I read about her in a sleep clinic book I bought in desparation). The Sleep Fairy visits the parents room every night and leaves a very cheap toy or sticker or lolly or whatever in a bag by the bed when the child complies with the rules (i.e. staying in bed and not calling out until the Groclock says its morning). The child comes into the parents room and collects the sleep fairy gift in the morning or the bag is empty depending on whether the child follows the rules. My daughter totally went with this and once she understood that failure meant no present she started following the rules every night. After about a month of her getting it right every night we phased it out (this was terrifying as we thought she would go back to her old ways! but she didn't!) by leaving the bag empty one night in three saying the fairy must have been busy and eventually leaving a note from the sleep fairy saying "Well done, you have done so well. I am now going to help some other children to get better at sleeping. I will tell the tooth fairy all about you and she will visit you soon." She totally went with it. Now she is older we say no television the following day if she comes in to us early but its a rare occasion now. Makes me look back at the endless sleepless nights and wonder why I put up with it for so long! By the way, in the beginning we also had to use the 'supernanny' technique of rapid return along with these other techniques but that only lasted a few nights once we had decided we were going to be super strict about the rules. Hope this helps.

It is my daughter's 4th birthday soon and I would like to buy her a bike. Can anyone recommend a good first bike (with pedals) for her? She is looking longingly at the bright pink ones with tassles which I hate but I'm not sure where to start myself so thought I'd ask for some advice from the EDF seasoned experts! Many thanks in advance.

Sing and Sign is brilliant. Your little one will love it. Unfortunately I can't go with my son because the start time is 11am and I need to be able to pick my older child up from preschool at midday. Gutted. I will look into Caterpillar Music. Any other ideas anyone?

I am looking for a baby class to go to on Monday mornings with my son who will be 9 months old in September. Can anyone recommend a good class in the East Dulwich / Honor Oak Park / Forest Hill area? Many thanks.

Me too! My 6 month old is in just a nappy and a 1 tog sleeping bag. Reading these posts I was starting to worry I'd under dressed him but I think he's probably just fine up there as its darn hot!