Bluedark

I don't know where you are located but Blossoms Montessori on St Dunstan's Road (close to Peckham Rye park) might have spaces (it is a term time nursery with a big intake in September but could have ad hoc spaces through the year). My two daughters went there and I can't recommend them highly enough. Happy to provide more information, if you are interested, please pm me.

I have signed up to Bikes4Work scheme and my employer has an agreement with Halfords. Do you have any recommendations as to which Halfords to go to for a good selection of bikes and helpful advice? Thanks in advance.

Hello ED families. I am looking to buy Bobbin Brambles mainly to ferry my 3 year old to and from nursery. I like the ride of the bike myself but I don't have a chance to ride it with a 13kg child at the back. Does anyone have any first hand experience they can share. Thanks in advance.

Hi there. I had my lessons with Leon from Walkers4u. He was the best instructor I had by far! Very confident, reliable, knows the area well. I am over 35, failed my practical test twice (over 5 years ago) and only after having lessons with Leon that I have finally had confidence in myself. He is brilliant. Although it is a personal fit thing but I think he is very good at his job. I didn't have intensive lessons but if you speak to walkers4u they may be able to help. I found them very helpful whenever I spoke to them. Good luck. It is horrible when driving schools just let people down.

Just to say a massive thanks to everyone for the suggestions. The day has been saved by C&M and the poundland (opposite boots on rye lane). The children enjoyed using an abundance of glitter foam shapes and gems on their Christmas decorations...thanks again...

I went to cowling and Wilcox (which was great, thanks everyone!) but still looking for stick on gems! Which poundland (or old whsmiths) please? In Sydenham? If I can get there this morning that would be fab. Thanks for all your help everyone!

Thank you all, much appreciated. I couldn't find anything at Toysrus today. Will start with hobbycraft and see how it goes. Great suggestions, thanks for taking the time.

Hi - I am having a little hiccup with my baker Ross order of self adhesive gems, foam shapes etc. I urgently need to get craft supplies for a Christmas fair that is running on Wednesday. Is there a shop in the area that I can get these from? I can drive. Your help is much appreciated. Thanks all!

I am all for supporting local businesses, so long as I get a good service. It appears that I am not alone thinking that the service could be a little temperamental. A lot of people rate Little Clippers very highly, so I thought it must be me, but maybe not! And last time I went there, for a back to school haircut, I did feel like a 5 minute job of cutting 1cm max of my daughter's hair (she has short hair) really should not cost ?15! She did not even finish one episode of the Peppa that was on TV..I am watching this thread with interest for alternatives, I am sorry Little Clippers. Oh also, you might want to have a chat with your employees about the loyalty card stamps; I forgot to get a stamp after the cut and went back for one 5 minutes later. The lady wasn't impressed! I don't know why I bother really...

Hi there hello sailor. Our daughter did this when she was just over 3.5 years old. Until we realised the extent of it (mainly at night time, just before falling asleep) she did end up with a bald-ish spot. I wasn't overly keen about talking to her or pointing to her but my husband was adamant that she should really not do it...we never got to the bottom of what caused it but I believe it is nervousness around leaving nursery and all the talk about starting reception. Our daughter ducked all direct and subtle questions about why she is pulling her hair. I believe she really didn't realise what she was doing. We have talked to her gently, and asked her to put a sock on her hand (she always used her left hand). She agreed with that, and wore her sock every day. And she stopped pulling her hair (couldn't with the sock!) and after roughly 2 months on we don't put the sock on anymore. She has a comforter that she cuddles with at bed time too. So I am afraid I can't shed much light to the causes but we chose a practical route (as it 90% of the time happened before or during sleep) and it worked for us. Good luck...

We are very happy with Blossoms Montessori, not hugely convenient for you but it is just opposite the Peckham rye park on dunstans grove. It is a term time only nursery, between 9aam-4pm so would suit a non-working parent (without worrying about wrap around care for full days, holidays). I can't rate them highly enough, it is a proper Montessori nursery, calm and content, with excellent staff. My daughter is flourishing there...You can get in touch with Julie, its owner to ask for spaces as depending on which days you want there might be availability. Can't promise though.

Great suggestions - thanks all. I have put the saline spray in of pocket for night time emergencies...will definitely look into vaporiser too. Much appreciated...

Dear parents With an older sister in nursery, my 10mo old seem to have colds very regularly. We obviously seek medical advice if needed (fever, coughs etc by following her closely); however my question is how I can help her when she has a very stuffed nose. When she is like that she drinks so little from her bottle as she tries to drink and breathe through her mouth at the same time. She also has very disturbed nights when she is so blocked up. I tried saline drops and spray but she screams the house down. I tried to use that sucky thing to get mucus out from her nose, she wriggles herself away from me pretty vigorously that I achieved nothing. At the moment I rub vapour rub on her chest when she goes to bed, but it doesnt do anything. Any tips?

My daughter (3yo) is at Blossoms and she is very happy there. It is a proper Montessori nursery, calm and a huge variety of activities with really enthusiastic staff. You will need to consider your 'bridging' childcare options as it is 9-4 and also closed for school holidays (so it is term time only). When both parents are working it could be a challenge to cover after 4pm (if needed) and holiday childcare. Happy to talk privately about blossoms if you want to - just pm me.

I don't believe anyone has a problem for them to hang around at a playground if that is what they want to - so long as they respect other adults and children using that public space. I have come across them and the language they use is absolutely not appropriate for children (and for adults for that matter!). I did consider having a word with them as I heard lots of f words and like near my toddler but I was sure that I will be called all sorts of names as another poster experienced. Shame really that you can't have a reasonable conversation with them....and shame really that these kids (soon to be teenagers and adults) just cruise through the life without necessarily giving a damn about people around them...