ClareC

I'm glad I am not alone in this! Thought maybe I was being irrational, emotional or /and hormonal due to lack of sleep (baby just cut first tooth and has had a cold / chesty cough for what feels like months), pregnancy and a recent grandparental visit!! They are lovely people and do think the world of our daughter......but!! nylonmeals, your post sounds very familiar! My mum is exactly the same, fortunately I knew what to expect, she would never commit to a set day a week for my sister (who lives near her) but was happy to be "emergency nana" ie look after kids when ill and not allowed to nursery, provided of coure she didn't have plans that day. I am still at home with number one and given my parents are 30 miles away (yep not far really but she doesnt like driving in London?!?!) I don't think this arrangement will extend to us and apply when I do eventally go back to work. littleEDfamily, I agree with you about the cultural aspect to it all, certain cultures certainly do seem to have more of a "wider family" involvement than others. Also agree with Moos, I am sure there are involved/not so involved in every culture. Moos, can your mother adopt me please ;-) Lochie, the not wanting to tread on toes aspect to it all is a good point, it had crossed my mind too - unsubtle hints routesounds a plan! Womanof dulwich, I will keep my fingers crossed it is an age thing! You never know :-) I feel mean feeling this way, both sets are extremely generous in many ways, it would just be nice if house guests all week meant childfree time to do all those jobs you never get round to doing rather than more mouths to feed, more cooking and clearing up to do and yet more washing and ironing! Not to mention that you can't go to bed at 9pm if you fancy it (and you have not had a full nights sleep in weeks) because your "being social" and anything earlier than 11ish feels rude!

And you can get from Clapham to Wimbledon pretty quick (15 mins) using the road that runs parallel with the A3 / South circular, cant remember the road number but you turn right at Clapham South tube :-)

No idea what the Arethusa trip is............... perhaps it would be worth putting a small amount of money aside each month for anticipated trips such as this and then you could avoid being at the mercy of the school payment requirements. Not sure what you are looking to achieve from this thread but agree speaking with the relevant school officials would be the appropriate course to take, although suspect the school have contractual payment obligations to meet and your payments have been set to ensure these can be achieved.

What is the norm? I realise most people don't live near their parents these days but I wonder what is usual in terms of help. I have a couple of friend's who have mentioned that their parents do any necessary getting up in the night when they visit or are being visited. Neither mine or my partners parents have ever offered to do this (although mine did have our daughter overnight once), they don't even change nappies!?!?! That said, both sets dote on our daughter and love seeing her, just don't seem to do anything with her that helps us at all, although would always babysit if asked. Am I expecting to much to think a bit of unasked for help (for us) is the norm and would be nice? It's not a problem as we are pretty self sufficient in that we don't have family nearby so are used to relyig on ourselves, just feeling a bit resentful at the moment that grandparental visiting / visits seem to mean more rather than less work for us :-(

We had both sides to us last year, 6 people Christmas day and 10 on boxing day. I was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time. It was really hard work, not at all relaxing and very expensive. Didn't help that we ended up sleeping on an airbed on boxing day night and getting little sleep - surprisingly comfortable but really cold!! (Top tip, put a quilt and sheet to lay on rather than just sheet! I was relieved when we had the house to ourselves again a few days after Christmas! I ended up with a newborn baby and a huge pile of bedding / tablecloths etc to iron just after Christmas, bad combination! Think it got done about September ;-) This year we decided we would like to have christmas home alone just the three of us, thought that would be really controversial but my parents didn't invite us (although said we were welome, they didn't want to jump in front of my partner's parents as for them it's their first grandchild's first christmas), and my partners parents didn't invite us anyway! Bit surprised but works well for us doing what we actually want to do! I think you should just decide what you want to do and with whom and do it! You may be pleasantly surprised at the (lack of) reaction you get!

This kid sounds more than badly behaved.... Sounds like she had serious issues and needs help! Did you report the incident? Must have been really upsetting, hope your ok.

That sounds pretty reasonable, thanks for that :-)

What is the monthly fee with ADT? Thx Clare

My daughter is 10 mths and when I did the BF workshop at Kings last December, the two midwives that ran it said that you would need to drink the equivalent of 2 bottles of wine for your breastmilk to be effected!! Seemed rather excessive and I couldn't drink that at the best of times but it was a nice fact! I spoke to a GP friend about it, she hadn't heard the 2 bottles statistic (and thought it excessive), her advice was it's fine in moderation, not to BF if feel tipsy. Seemed sensible advice to me and far more realistic than the 1-2 units 1-2 times a week!

Anyone researched this recently and know what the options are for this/ best deals available re where to invest these? I've been really bad and done nothing :-( need to sort it soon before it becomes invalid!!

Well said Molly, I agree we can all be distracted, and it's always exactly the wrong time, or maybe the Lo's know it and take advantage ;-) I don't think anyone has an issue with the momentarily distracted parents, it's the ones that just do not bother at all. Fortunately there are few of these, and there are some lovely kids about too :-)

3 days seems quite a short period. I used to have 6 tablets on day 1, 5 on day 2, 4 on 3 etc but then I was older, around 11, plus it was a few years ago now. Not sure what the current thinking is, ive not needed steroids\antibiotic combination for around 5 years now. I think it has already been said, but does make a massive difference, definitely minimise soft furnishings as much as possible. Carpets and curtains really do harbour dust etc which makes things worse. Also, once she is better would be worthwhile having her tested for allergies, my asthma was definitely triggered by allergies, once I knew what they were (I had a fair idea on some (cats) but others were a surprise (tree pollen), it did become much easier to manage. Funnily enough the only times I have needed the steroid/ antibiotic combo as an adult has been allergy triggered.

Was she given antibiotics and steroids? I always found the combination of antibiotics, and steroids (decreasing dose, v high at first, reducing each day) over about a 5 day period always sorted me out. It also helps to be propped as upright as possible when trying to sleep. Hope she makes some good progress soon X

I've noticed this too. There is one group I go to and the same (bigger) child, always with a nose like a tap, barges crawling babies out the way and muscles his way in on whatever they are playing on. Never has a parent/carer anywhere close. Very irritating! I'm all for allowing kids to have independence but that doesn't extend to upsetting and being rough with others, even more so when they are a lot smaller :-(

Fuschia, glad your feeling more positive, certainly sounds as though you have been going through a horrendous time these last few weeks. I think if I were you I would go for an an elective C section. I had an emergency c section first time round and it really was fine, I was walking within 12 hours and out of hospital in less than 48! My recovery was good, I was skiing within 11 weeks ;-) In all seriousness, you do need to take it easy immediately post op and getting in and out of bed is a roll movement but other than that, it really isnt bad at all and other than not being able to drive and avoiding housework it is pretty much life as normal! I have actually elected to have a C Section with number 2, Kings want me booked in between 38 and 39 weeks which fits in well with you being 38 weeks. Good luck in what you decide and if you want to chat about what it's like to have a section / tips etc pm me and we can meet for coffee. Clarex

Awful thing to happen! Hope your OK.

James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Good news about the improved timetable for those > living in the NW side of East Dulwich. > > Hi Nero, > Network Rail has stated that if a railway station > were opened at Camberwell they would close > loughborough Junction station as it would be so > close. You can imagine how popular that would be. > I actually believe extending the Bakerloo Line is > much more likely. Now that would be fantastic :-) would make a massive difference here!!

Excellent news! Will make a huge difference.

That's great news xxx

So much for Sainsbury's getting someone to patrol the car park and issue tickets! I went down there today at 4pm, no parent spaces (surprise surprise), as I drove up the next aisle I saw a lady with her childen coming back to the car. Went round the block to go to the space and a car immediately ahead of me indicated to get the parent space. Woman in her 40's on her own!!! The car park was about 1/3 full there was no excuse at all! I parked up, took the number plate and make etc and in the absence of there being anyone patrolling the carpark, as has been suggested, reported her to the security guard, who sent me to Customer Service who did a big fat NOTHING!!! Eventually they put out a call out asking her to come to CS so they could tell her she shouldnt park there ?!??!?! That will deter her next time.......... NOT I asked to speak with the duty manager who after 3 calls did not materialise, a supervisor(?)then came over to say he didn't know where the DM was but could he help. He was a nice chap and agreed CS should have done more but doesn't solve the problem and would seem that despite what Sainsbury's have written in their correspondence there is clearly no action backing it! I parked like an idiot across two spaces further away from the store! Embarrasing to park like that but at least you manage to get a baby in and out a baby seat without bashing the car next door! That said there were no baby trolleys grrrrr

Another vote for Ocado, you can't beat them! Very rare to get substitutions, one hour delivery slots which they stick too, friendly helpful delivery drivers. Loads of items are price matched to Tesco and they have good offers which are easy to find, the iphone App works really well too :-) I spent more when I went to Sainsbury's and did it myself!

Sounds like a good decision!! I have a friend who has to go there for work, she hates it!! They have armed guards to take them to / from the hotel, even the hotel with its armed guards is not safe - one of her colleagues was robbed in reception, seemed the armed guards on the door were corrupt!! Needless to say no one saw anything!! Tough decision is money life changing but for "OK" money forget it!

Ooh thankyou :-)

Whilst researching double buggies I noticed a second version of the Vibe has recently been released. Anyone bought one? Doesn't appear to be significantly different to the Vibe 1, wondered if anyone tried and compared the two?

We had a private scan at 16 weeks to find out the sex, the clinic that did the scan also sell 4 d scans, they switched on the 4d images and gave us lots of 4d piccies, far better quality that the usual grainy ones and nice to have. The sonographer at Kings then gave us 4d pictures at the 23 week scan - I understand there is a window that is the best time to have it done, before the baby is too big but late enough that it actually looks like them - think its early 30's in weeks! The baby Bond website details the timing recommendation :-)