amydown

I got some sports bra from M&S and they are really good. They also have a clip on the front so it's almost like a nursing bra (a bit more fiddly) but I normally have to feed baby when I get home from gym so it's quite handy. Tried posting link but hard to do on the phone! If you search for it on M&S website, it should come up.

Hilarious review on that link snowboarder! Laughing tears and everything here...

We sent our amazing midwifery team at the Lanes a hamper to share (had to be something they could share as the entire team bar one ended up coming out to look after me during my 48-hour labour!)

Can someone explain to me in simple terms how cranial osteopath works? Clare Kadvis also recommended it for our baby who had a tongue tie. I'm a bit sceptical about it though - perhaps because I don't know enough about it?

Katie Fisher came to our house in ED to do the diagnosis and referral as I couldn't travel to Crydon with c-section recovery. We than had the snip done privately by Dr Patel at King's but thankfully was covered by work medical insruance - worth just checking if your work provides family medical insurance? All in all, it took about a week from me suspecting a tongue tie to getting the snip done. Pretty swift!

Babington House is great, especially if you get one of the family rooms. Plenty of space and activities for kids, cowshed treatments for mums, great food. Thoroughly recommended. They only have limited availability for non-members but I have recently seen them available through Mr and Mrs Smith so worth giving them a call?

May I recommend our Diamond Dress? It's a gorgeous dress and is our best seller for breastfeeding mums going to weddings or special occasions. I also used to wear it to the office post-baby as it's a smlimming fit. We are based in East Dulwich so you are welcome to come and try it. Amy @ www.lushmummy.co.uk Lush Mummy - Diamond Dress

So glad to hear it kamath. If only they could just tell us what it is they want! Wouldn't be fun though then, would it ;)

Sounds similar to my 9-week old. I posted about suspected tongue tie and got bags of good advice here. Katie Fisher diagnosed it, we had the procedure done at King's and his windiness has got better but he still bobs on and off breast. He also sometimes latches on, gets frustrated and comes off but if I give him a dummy or my finger, sucks like mad. In the last few days, I have noticed that he does this when he is over tired and it isn't a sign of hunger so when this happens, I just put him in a sling, give him a dummy and walk round the house to try and get him to sleep. I also have a two year old so easier said than done, Could your little one be wanting to latch in because she is tired but not actually wanting any milk? I think as long as she is putting on weight (which she obviosuly is!) and pooing ok, try not to worry about whether she is getting enough milk. It's always hard to know with breast fed babies how much milk they are taking anyway. Hope things get a bit easier for you

Just wanted to add, you might want to factor in weekly kitty money, food costs for children and nanny's lunch plus car expenses if you need your nanny to do any driving. Despite the extra expense, a good nanny can make a huge difference to the quality of your life!!!! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Little bit of olive oil in pan, put the fish in and when it's slightly cooked, break it up and put cooked rice in. A teaspoon of curry powder in, and spring onions - white fish curry fried rice! A winning dish in our house.

Thank you Pripolla! Forgot to add, you can also go to the Queens House next door to see the beautiful paintings and of course, the Observatory. There is also a children's playground in the park as well as plenty of child-friendly restaurants nearby such as Pizza Express, Cafe Rouge, GBK, etc etc.

We went to the Maritime Museum in Greenwich today and it was really good for letting our toddler run around. I think a 4 year old would really enjoy it as it's quite interactive. There is a direct bus from Peckham to Greenwich I believe.

Our son started noticing really tiny things like this at about the same age. He wasn't distressed as such but really pointing them out all the time - things like hair and fluff. According to our nanny who used to be a nursery teacher, this is a normal development milestone. I shall ask her about it again on Monday!

The cost estimates do sound roughly right. You could also contact Simply Childcare or a nanny tac company (we use nanny PAYE and they are very helpful) for current market rates. We have been in a very happy share for over a year now and I would recommend a nanny share if you can find a good family and an experienced nanny that can handle the challenges that come with a share arrangement. It's really good for the children to be together and to share the attention of the carer I think. I would agree with Chantelle about bathing - our nanny gives the kids dinner (she cooks all the meals in our case), a bit of a wind down time and then we take it from there at 6.30pm for bath and bedtime.

No advice at all but just wanted to say hope everything goes well. How horrific that your family has been involved in what I imagine to be a very stressful situation. My husband and kids being harmed or coming close to it is my biggest worry. Good luck with everything! X

Hi oimissus, Thank you for that post - yes, I had heard about it too and we always do take the milk off him before we leave the room. Trying to wean him off advent calender chocolates after Christmas wasn't as easy though. Ehem...

Hi Claire I'm from Korea and have often sent stuff by parcel from the UK - haven't had import duty issues. Alternatively, there is a website called G Market (a heaven for internet shopping) where you can shop in English and pay with a credit card. They have all sorts of things and you can get it delivered directly to your SIL's address in Korea? I do this for my parents' birthdays, etc. It's a bit like Amazon (i.e. sellers list stuff and ultimately care/ protection provided by the company. It's owned by eBay). Send me a PM if you need any help. Amy

Our toddler never took a bottle. When we started introducing cow's milk when he turned one, we used the non-spill "cow pattern" cups you can get from Sainsburys. He still has one cup of milk before bedtime and the cup really is spill proof so he can take it to bed with him if he wants to.

Thank you for all the tips. Went semi-solo for the first time today. Had everything ready upstairs whilst older one's watching tv, he then didn't want a bath so we put down the baby in his cotbed with the older one "helping" me by reading stories to baby. Baby eventually dropped off and the older one then wanted a bath. Bath and stories all went smoothly and I'm thinking "I can do this!!!". Oh boy. How wrong was I. After 4 stories, I say "night night" and all hell breaks loose. He got hysterical, not wanting me to leave. I sat by his bed for ages trying to calm him down, threaten, cuddles, bribes, you name it. Eventually, husband gets home and took over (he is more strong willed then me and our toddler totally knows it!). Still not easy with husband either and eventually, with husband sitting outside the room with door open, he fell asleep. I think that was around 10pm. Baby had been woken up by toddler crying too... Toddler had been a terrible sleeper until he was 18m - i went on a work trip for a couple of nights and weaned him off breast milk at the same time. This is when he started sleeping through the night and we thought we had cracked it. Since then, he had been happy to go to bed and I used get my evening back by 8pm ish, 8.30 at the latest. Obviously the baby's arrival has unsettled him and I have been giving him extra cuddles. So confused as to what to do. Don't want to be too strict with him as I think he needs the emotional cuddles right now but don't want to form bad habits either! Oh, and he has started waking up again during the night which he hadn't done for a long time. Give me strength!!! Edited to add, by the time I had come downstairs at 10pm, I was famished!!! Baby had has two big feeds by then, I was gasping for water and food (and wine).....

This is going to be rather controversial but even for high rate tax payers, the cut does make a difference. No tax credit, no child care subsidy, reduction in child care voucher limit, and now this. Sometimes it's hard not to feel penalised for working hard!

Helpful tips. Thank you everyone and the posts also made me smile which is an added bonus!!!

Flying solo after weeks of help from family now that the baby is 5 weeks old. Everything else is going ok but tonight's bath/ bedtime routine was horrid for our 2yr old. He normally has a bath, 3 stories and then "night night" but recently, he has wanted me to come to bed with him, etc etc. Understandable given the big change he is going through with the arrival of his baby brother but this made bath/ bedtime horrid tonight (and hubby was home early today to help - don't want to imagine how I would cope on my own!) What do people generally do in terms of routine, timing, when do you cook dinner, etc etc? Many thanks in advance.

Oooo, that sounds fab. Just tried googling it for more info but no luck - our 2.5 yr old would LOVE this! When is this running until, do you know? Many thanks

Watching this thread with interest as our son has just been offered a place to start in September when he will be just under 3 (having joined the waiting list when he was 4wks old!). If anyone else could also share their experience of the kindergarten, would be much appreciates.