damzel

I'm interested too. Especially weekend or fri afternoon

I was looking for some a while ago as an alternative to tights when potty training during the cold weather and couldn't find any locally. Pickle offered me some but they were too short (my daughter is tall) - she might still have them, just a thought. I ended up buying cheap knee length socks sized for a 6 year old which reached half way up my little girls thighs, which were perfect for that purpose. (although that's probably not what you want them for... just noticed you're asking for "baby" leg warmers, sorry :-$)

Okay, so not just about toddlers but a book I was recommended to read which I have found really useful and will always keep close to hand is "The Secret of Happy Children" by Steve Biddulph. The advice is so darn obvious AFTER you've read it. It should be handed to every parent by the stork.

Having had an incredibly stressful potty training experience with my daughter and dealing with all the trouble that it brings when introduced too soon - with-holding, constipation, fear of elimination (no, there are no answers on the internet) etc. I would suggest you consider stopping before you have a bigger problem on your hands and try again in a few months time. Use the potty at bathtime, have nappy off time when feasible to have accidents, but use the (unfortunately expensive) pull-up trainer nappies so he can feel the wetness (even better if you can use real nappies) in order to learn in his own time and maybe come around to the idea himself. We tried, too soon, too fast and paid a very heavy price. It really wasn't worth it. It's true, withstanding special needs, they can all do it before they go to school and "delayed" toilet training is not at all related to intelligence. Good luck and keep smiling :o)

My 3.5 year old also goes to Dulwich Ballet School at Grafton Hall and is taught by Miss Jo. She started last term and absolutely loves it. She doesn't understand why she's not been going recently however - when does the term start again??

Yup, I definitely want my daughter to be immunised against CP. I've heard some horrible stories lately about how bad it can be. Couple that with a working family (one which doesn't get paid for time off and a child minder who still does!) I'm all for it. Trouble is, I've been pondering so long she'll probably get CP before I get around to researching where to get the jab. I shall be following this thread closely for clues... Is there anywhere nearer than Victoria that does it? Edited to add that I believe the reason it's not offered on the NHS is because of the concern of an outbreak of shingles in adults which apparently is much worse (and you're protected from if you have CP but not from the jab). Feel free to correct me here as I'm blabbering from a vague memory of something I read in the dim and distant past.

I have a BIG 3 wheeler buggy that we just used for festivals. It's really long and the front wheel doesn't turn but it's really good for all-terrain. I got it from someone on the forum in exchange for some baby clothes I think, a couple of years ago. You're welcome to have come and have a look if you're around this weekend. I doubt we'll use it again so I wouldn't want it back. Wine would be nice though :o) We bought a rain cover and new tyres so it's good to go.

Sad to say that I drive to Brixton as I can't guarantee to get home at a reasonable hour (important to relieve babysitter) when relying on 37. Too infrequent and no guarantee of when it's actually likely to arrive.

My daughter was also a late starter - she only had about 30 words this time last year at 27 months, but by Christmas she had finally got the hang of it. It was clear that everything had been going in as she understood everything and when she finally started speaking, she immediately used pronouns/plurals and other complexities of speech, straightaway. It was almost like she just wasn't ready or confident enough to converse. We went to a S&L course which really helped. The best thing we learnt was how to talk to her to encourage speech i.e. when she's playing, talk to her about what she is doing rather than the next step. Probably haven't explained that very well so here's a scenario - say she's playing tea parties with her dolls, prior to the course we used to say "Do you think that Dilly Dolly would like some tea? Why don't you give Teddy some cake?" "What colour is that plate?" always pushing her for the next step. We were advised to just tell her what she is doing rather than what she might do "Oh, you're pouring some tea for Dilly Dolly" "I bet Teddy will enjoy that cake" "what a lovely blue plate" etc. It was a real turning point for us, really made a big difference. The other thing that was emphasised was that learning language and how to converse is more important than the correct pronounciation of words, so don't worry too much about that yet.

Hmm food for thought, thanks to both of you. Her constipation isn't chronic but she has had a weird habit since 9 months old where she brings her knees to her chest and tenses up. Can go on for hours/days. She's only recently been able to describe it - like a lizard going round in her tummy. She's had all the general tests at St Toms a while back and everything is working as it should apparently, although I have no detail about exactly what they were testing for (assume the biggies). Typical she's never doing it when we see a doctor (apart from our appt last week but the doctor just wasn't interested). We've not really looked at diet until now. I have a feeling that it's now just something that she does for multiple reasons, tummy ache/hunger/stress/constipation/wind, rather than just one thing. It started before she was on cows milk, and after I had stopped BF. I'm not a fan of cutting anything out of the diet completely, unless we absolutely have to, regardless of whether it's actually needed or not. A little of everything an'all that.

No, I'm not sure that she is lactose intolerant and I'm not really suggesting that she is, just making a change that might help her digestion. How did you discover that your son had a protein allergy? I don't think my daughter has an allergy as we probably would have seen some more serious symptoms by now. I'm just trying to assist digestion in order to ease constipation. I'm groping around in the dark after getting no help at all last week at the GPs (when asking questions about constipation and what accounts for "normal" poos, she said "oh it's not my expertise and I'm not a mother so you really are asking the wrong person"!!)

Because she loves it and there are benefits to drinking milk

We switched my 3yo from cows to lactose free milk a week ago (she has about a pint a day) in order to alleviate constipation issues. It doesn't seem to have helped in that area yet (still early days?) but her eczema has improved massively. She has still had some cows milk in food (fish pie etc.) and a little cheese, I really don't want to ban it completely as she loves loves loves cheese! She's been vomiting last night and today however, most likely it's a tummy bug but as she is rarely sick, I can't help wondering if the switch has made her a bit sensitive? Does anyone have any thoughts? Also, how long before we should expect to see an improvement with the constipation? I don't know how long to give it before trying a different tact.

Fuschia Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > And there's even an iPhone app and video! > > http://www.pottytrainingtoddlers.co.uk/potty-train > ing-advice/i-love-potty-training-iphone-ipad-app-e > -book-video-by-joy-berry > > > Right ... Night! I downloaded that app a few months ago and played it to my potty training kid, who then suddenly became scared about falling in the loo! Which was the ONLY thing she wasn't worried about before.... oh my She's no longer afraid of the dryer now though. Absolutely loves it. Fickle aren't they..!

Thanks, you've both helped me make up my mind, I'm ditching the full fat! I know she won't notice, as long as it's white and milky. I'll keep adding and increasing the water too. Yes, 6-8 cups seems an impossible target for us. Although it's based on 150/180ml so childs sized cup rather than adults.

My 3yo daughter is quite susceptable to constipation so I am looking at her diet and in particular her dairy intake as it's her favourite food group. I'm also trying to up her liquids as she has nowhere near the recommended 6 to 8 cups a day. She generally has about a pint of full fat milk a day, plus more on her breakfast cereal. I have recently been giving her half milk, half water in her cup and she hasn't noticed. I'm wondering if I should swap to semi-skimmed milk though - does anyone know which would be the better approach?

sanity girl Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The Guardian does a good beauty series by Sali > Hughes which recently covered concealer pens like > touche eclat (different from concealers - I never > realised!) - watch the video here. I've become a > big fan of the series and have been using lots of > her tips! Wow, thanks for that! I've had a touche eclat for ages but hardly used it as I couldn't work out how to put it on properly! Now I can see exactly what I was doing wrong, no more bags for me tomorrow, woohoo!

We are just starting out on this minefield. Have seen 3 loft companies so far and are "on hold" waiting to see how other peoples appeals work out first rather than throw another one on top. One of the loft companies told me that they won't even bother quoting for the rear dormer as they know that Southwark are refusing them. Another has one on appeal currently and the last one said that you don't actually need a cert of lawfulness, you just need to ensure the loft extension is inside of the guidelines. If it is built and undisputed for 4 years, it's automatically approved anyway. I'm not comfortable with this approach personanlly but there are at least 8 similar extensions on my street which do not appear in the Southwark planning search pages so must have taken this stance. One of them was refused twice last year, then built the thing and has made another application to get it approved retrospectively! News of that appeal being recommended for success is very good! Does this mean if we put ours in now, it will be approved or will we still need to jump through some hoops?

I'm trying to work out what the program achieved. Did it promote breast feeding or potentially scare people off. Did it make mums who didn't breast feed feel rubbish or good about their decision. I watched right to the end hoping to glean *something* which is unfortunately because that's 1 hour of my life I'm not getting back! What a load of tosh.

ClareC Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Is there a website that provides crow flies > distances? Google maps has a distance measuring tool but you have to enable it. Go to www.google.com and look in the top right hand corner and select New. It's the first option. It's not very precise but just found out we're 310m away from Heber as the crow flies. Fingers are tightly crossed for next year.

I'd forgotten all about home made smoothies, thanks Ramble66! I went straight up to Sainsburys and bought the "3 for a fiver" frozen fruits, some yoghurt and some granola, so thanks for tip. I'm looking forward to breakfast tomorrow now, yum. Took a while to track down the tahini (only small jars, near the tinned tomatoes) but my daughter and I made some hummous this afternoon - delicious! I used the recipe on Hatties Kitchen http://hattieskitchen.posterous.com/homemade-hommous

Yup - Maclaren Quest here too. Mine went into hers at 9 months but I regretted not buying it MUCH sooner!

I finally spoke to Sally of Dulwich Ballet School and she seems really nice and was fairly relaxed about everything. They have a uniform but she advised against buying it until they have attended at least 4 classes in case they don't want to continue. We're going to pop down for a trial class before signing up for next term.

No idea but you find the info on the radio stations website.

I started using cloth nappies part time (my CM didn't want to play ball) when my daughter was 9 months. They were great but I struggled to dry them as I don't have a dryer and obviously I didn't have enough. I eventually stopped using them a year later, not sure why, I just fell of the wagon. HOWEVER, if only I had perservered! Really regret it now as we are having problems with potty training and kiddies that learn from an early age what it feels like to wee and be wet, find the whole process much easier. Nappies that take all the moisture away aren't doing you any long term favours, and babies don't get nappy rash from wee anyway!