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Another shout out for Fede. Lovely guy, very talented and full of great advice!

You may already have what you need by now, but I've got an all in one navy blue snowsuit which my son wore skiing when he was 3 and 4 years old. It's very stylish, in perfect nick, unisex, very warm, and super easy to get on and off. I'd sell it for ?20 I also have some navy blue snow boots, size 2. Might be too big for your son but might fit your daughter? ?5 for those... Let me know if either are of interest. Photos attached

yes... mine was done last night. Police coming round in the morning. I will show them this thread.

Yes, this has happened to me a few times too... most recently last night. Have had the tax disc stolen before too. It is incredibly annoying. Have also reported it to the police. Most infuriating is how the tank then leaks after they've ripped it apart and costs more than the petrol that was in it to have fixed! Perhaps we could all keep logging these occurrences with the police in the hope that sooner or later someone will catch one of them.

Thank you very much - I really appreciate all your input!

Looks absolutely lovely but unfortunately not available the dates we are looking at. Thanks so much anyway! Any other commendations from anyone?

Can anyone recommend a child-friendly chateau, hotel or B & B with a pool in the Loire Valley or Central region of France? Any ideas gratefully received. Thanks!

Same here. Goodrich and Heber

You are welcome to borrow my Maxi Cosi Priori XP for a week and see how you like it....

Thanks guys, that's kind of what I thought.... Don't think I'll bother with the seat. x

I'm about to fly long haul and Virgin have offered me a toddler seat for my three year old. They say it's like a car seat and will be more comfortable for him. However they also say that if I take up the option I will not be able to remove the seat if it doesn't work out. As we are flying at night, I'm imagining he will be sleeping for good portion of the flight, and worry that he would be less comfortable in a car seat for 11 hours than he would be laying half in his seat with his head on my lap as I used to when flying long haul as a child. I of course hope that there will be plenty of spare seats in the middle rows of four, so we can spread out a bit, but our pre-assigned seat formation is 2 seats together, window and aisle.... Does anyone have any experience of these toddler seats? Can you offer any suggestions?

Asda sell a kit with about 30 balloons, a helium tank, and ribbon for ?20 as opposed to the ?30 most places charge

I think what we did will sound insane but he had exactly the same problem with our son, and nothing else seemed to get him past that dreaded 30 min sleep at unpredictable times. It was involved and certainly won't be to everyone's taste, but it did work! We decided to get the timings the same every day first, and then transition to sleeping in the cot at those same times. Morning nap was in the buggy. Every morning, at the same time, hubby would take him out for a walk, first to Lordship Lane/North Cross Rd so he could see something interesting going on, then around very quiet streets with no distractions. At that point he would give him a bottle (he was bf until that point so it had to be dad doing the walking), and pretty soon he would drift off to sleep. That nap we would keep to somewhere between 30-45 minutes (I think it started off the longer end, and we gradually learned to make it shorter and shorter). The lunchtime nap was always in the car, as we realized he would sleep deeper with the humming engine. Again, it had to be quiet streets with a bottle, same time everyday. Gradually I could turn the car off (after he'd been asleep at least 10 minutes (but no more than 20 or he'd wake up - god knows why!) and park outside the house where I'd sit reading the paper, and he'd stay asleep. Occasionally he would rouse at the second sleep cycle and I'd start the car and drive around again. Soon I was able to carry him in to his bed once I got him in a deep sleep and he would stay asleep. Once he got the hang of the cues and the timings, the transition to going to sleep in his own bed was actually relatively easy.... Good luck!

Gosh, so sorry, I had never heard of the oh snap, so I'm afraid I misread. I have a babyhawk mai tai, not an oh snap, otherwise I would have been more than happy to show it to you! Sorry again.

I've got a Babyhawk which I absolutely loved and would be willing to sell for ?40 ono. If you PM me I can email you a picture. I've also got a khaki coloured Huggababy sling for sale for ?20

You can apparently recycle batteries at any library - Dulwich and Grove Vale both definitely have this facility. I know you're not specifically asking but printer cartridges can be recycled in the shop located in the church right near the top end of Barry Road, near the corner opposite Dulwich Library and The Plough, just behind the florist (sorry, I can't remember the name.

My son was breast fed til 13 months, and co-sleeps half the night with us. I think my ability to wean him did hinge in part on the fact that he liked to drink water from a bottle (we had got him accustomed to that on a hot holiday when he was 7 months). The first part of the weaning started much earlier when I had replaced the first feed of the day on waking with a bottle of water because he would never eat any breakfast and I thought he was just too full from the milk. Other than that, he did really like to breast feed. From 11 months he just kept increasing the night feeds until I just couldn't bear the lack of sleep anymore. I had lost a stone in weight, I was exhausted all the time and one day I burst into tears at Bumps & Babes. A lovely lady who was helping out (used to be a midwife) said that I should try just talking to him about it (obviously in really simple terms). She said he was old enough to understand and that he may not like it but he would follow my lead. The next day I told him all day that I wouldn't be feeding him after I went to bed any more. I would still feed him at 10/11pm ( I was still worried he was waking because he was hungry) before I went to bed, but that was it. That night as I lay him in his cot, I explained again what would happen. I fed him at his first wake, but then when he woke crying again at 1am, I knelt by the side of his cot and explained again. He actually looked right at me quietly and listened. He really looked like he understood. He then protested, of course, but actually only cried for about 3 or 4 minutes while I held his hand. He seemed to know I was serious, and then laid himself down and went back to sleep. Then whereas he would normally have woken another 4 or 5 times, he only woke twice more, and only cried once when I said no. It was so weird. To wean him during the day, it was slower. I gradually got him to understand that he could only breastfeed for naps (he had two at that age) and at bed time. Then I started getting my husband to take him out at the same time every morning in the pushchair (9ish) with a bottle of milk and he would fall asleep, and I would transfer him to his bed. That was nap number 1. Once that was established, after lunch I started taking him for a drive with a blanket, his monkey and a bottle of milk which would kick off nap number 2. After a few weeks of keeping to these strict times, we just put him straight in his bed for naps with the same cues, and he obliged. The bed time feed was the last to go, and again, I just prepared him all day the day before for his last bed time feed, and then the next day he had a bottle. He cried a little but really not all that much. I so thought it would be horrendous, but it just wasn't. They really do understand at that age, and as long as you seem serious, they do seem to follow. It was all very gentle. I should say, in case it matters to you, that while he drinks very well from a cup the rest of the day, at 2 1/2 he still has two bottles of milk a day, at nap and at bed. I am not hurrying him to stop. He brushes his teeth after the night time one, but he still often falls asleep drinking at nap time. This bottle will go easily when he stops napping, if not before, and that day doesn't feel very far off. And I will eventually broach the getting rid of the bed time one in the same way as I weaned him off all the others, if he doesn't do it himself. Best of luck to you!! x

I have been really fortunate. After losing my job during my pregnancy, I wasn't really sure what my next step would be. I was lucky enough to spend the first 17 months of my son's life as a stay at home mum, and then was approached by another local mum for a job share position. She also had a one year old at home, was supposed to be doing 3 1/2 days in the office and 1 1/2 days at home, but it was really stressing her out and she decided to try to convince her company to consider a job-share for her role. She now does three days, I do two. We both have Blackberrys (yuk), and we speak on the phone regularly. It's been an ideal solution for both of us. Neither of us loves our job, but it gets us earning money, the hours are reasonable, we can cover for each other in emergencies or for holidays (getting extra pay!), we share the responsibility across the board and have someone to complain to when work or home life is hard, unfair, boring, as well as when things are going well... the company gets more out of the two of us than they would with one person in the job... we're all winners. On a personal level, I also felt it would be good to stay in the job market, even if it's only part-time. I don't know what I'll being doing when my son gets older, but I did worry that if I didn't work at all I would feel to rusty and old to start again after too long a break. On the home front, while I know my husband makes most of the money and puts in more hours, we are all very happy with how things are at home. We have a much more balanced life, and our son gets to see us both a lot - together and separately. The set up won't work with every company, or for every job, and I would say the job-share scenario is totally dependent on striking a good partnership with your colleague, but for us it has been great.

Ha ha! We've got the dry cereal thing going on here too! It's amazing that however different they are, they all seem to have acquired these same little quirks... :)

Saturdays are not any different from Wednesdays or Thursdays - I do early morning, then Dad takes him for an hour or so, then the rest of the day/night is with me. Unfortunately the meltdowns don't seem to be site specific, they're just over anything and everything...

Thanks for responding - always nice to hear you're not alone...!

So, there may well be a thread about this sort of thing already (I kind of hope so), but I'm new to this and can't find it if it's there.... so please feel free to redirect me! My 2 1/2 year old has been going to nursery two days a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, for the past 4 months. For the 9 months prior to that that he went to a child minder on Fridays only. Although he is always very keen to go and always seems to have had a fun time, wanting to talk about it all the time, etc, etc, pretty much since the beginning he has been really hard to deal with on Saturdays - after a good night's sleep, waking in a good mood and staying that way for the first 2 hours or so, by 9am he turns grumpy and demanding, always on edge and ready to throw a tantrum at the drop of a hat. We try to strike a balance of giving him loads of positive attention and redirecting some of his negativity and frustration, but it's incredibly tiring and more than a little disconcerting. My husband and I thought maybe it had to do with how tired he gets with other children all day, and he used to not nap at the childminder's, but he does nap well at nursery, and we can't work out is why he doesn't also behave like this on Wednesdays. The rest of the week he is up and down like any good toddler his age. Has anyone else experienced anything like this and have any tips?