Fidgetsmum

Simon Turgoose at the Vale Practice. Excellent.

Brierley Midwives who are A-MAZ-ING.

Ina May Gaskin book (as recommended above) - but I took a few of the chapters with a pinch of salt.

Hypnobirthing (and I also had hypnotherapy after a challenging first birth in hospital)

Epi-No use to psychologically and physically prepare me for the crowning and birthing.

And belief - lots of belief - your body is meant to birth. That doesn't mean it's easy - but belief, the epi-no, the amazing Brierley and the hypnotherapy played a large part in my homebirth with number 2. 3 hours labour from first twinge to birth - no gas and air etc. Just breathing and focus. 9lb 14oz boy with his hand up by his head (little sod). No damage and I'm a little 5'2".

It's a lovely thing to aim for - I would have been happy wherever I was needed to be. If there'd been a medical reason to be in hospital, I wouldn't have hesitated to get myself there. But I knew that fundamentally, at home, on the floor, next to my bed, was where I thought I'd be relaxed enough to birth well without the damage of number 1.

Wishing you the best of luck. I'm done with my two but am ridiculously broody!

Only posting this as I hate the idea that the elderly fall for this rubbish.

Bellenden Road - A guy knocks on the door with a clipboard and a fluorescent jacket saying he's from Groundclose Ltd (or Ground something) and that they're calling on all owners of old property asking if I'm the home owner. I immediately said I couldn't talk as I was in the middle of lunch with two children and he was very very pushy. He was one step away from putting his foot in the door and was still talking at me when I shut the door in the end as he wouldn't get the hint.

If you've got any vulnerable/elderly people on your street, it'd be good to warn them.

Lots of bugs going around at the moment - fluey and/or sicky things - we're all just starting to recover from two weeks of it. If I were you, I'd presume it's that.

But if it is travel sickness, in the long run when you come to change your car, you want one with a firmer ride, less sloping into the corners and cushioning by the suspension.

Princess - my friend's looking for an au pair - how did you find her?

Peckham Library one was brilliant when I had troubles with my second baby. Hang in there - it's a tough old slog for some weeks yet, but perseverance pays off. Claire Kedves at Kings is also BRILLIANT. Just ring their switchboard number.

The Peckham library lot can check for tongue tie etc, which might be the problem. Both mine took a good 10 weeks to settle and me to stop thinking that feeding was worse than labour. Some women breeze through it and feel no pain, and the baby's just seem to get the hang, and then others (like me) get all sorts of silliness to add an extra challenge or two to the whole motherhood thing. I should mention, neither of mine had any medical issues, it was all down to me not getting the positioning right, and just being unlucky with boobs more prone to hurting (a LOT). It's just the luck of the draw.

p.s. she's clearly got your support which is ESSENTIAL for her to get through this bit.

For first baby, I did get a lactation consultant (who was part based at the Portland). Expensive option, but then I was completely desperate. She was excellent - on her recommendation, I bought a MyBrestFriend feeding pillow which is more solid than other feeding pillows or your bedroom pillows or sofa cushions etc. Helped get my daughter into a much better position. If you end up thinking you want one, I'm done with mine and happy to sell! No pressure though, clearly!

Also, the more your wife can go and breastfeed where other women are breastfeeding the better - I picked up some really good tips from the other mums at the breastfeeding cafe, as well as the Health Visitor. It's what we're missing in our society is familiarisation from an early age as to how to do it all, so a bf cafe where other mums are doing it is our next best thing.

Good luck - I feel for you both (Fidgetsdad found it terribly hard that he couldn't do more to help me in my 'moments' of exasperation). Hope it all goes to plan in the end.

BRILLIANT!!!!!!! Many hours over the years wasted ringing (and never getting through) to classes to try to find out when they're on.

I Love it! Thank you so much.

I found I didn't have time to follow diets or do 'exercise' and certainly not DVDs as I always ended up being disturbed in the middle by one child or another. But I did do the following and am now size 10 (I started as a size 14). It took 3 months in total, but I haven't put any of it back on :

1) When serving up my food, I'd just serve up a slightly smaller portion - not so much that I'd think 'God, that's never going to fill me up' but enough to know it was a tiny bit less than I had been eating before. It works accumulatively.

2) EVERY time I thought oooh I could just have a biscuit, cake, finish that mouthful off my kids' plates, etc, I'd down a tumbler of water - that a) makes your tummy think it's got something and b) keeps you nicely hydrated - amazing how often we think we're hungry and in fact, we're just thirsty - particularly relevant when breastfeeding. My brain then forgot after a week or so that it thought it wanted food, and started to tell me I was thirsty instead - effectively I tried to retrain my brain, and it worked.

3) Every time I was walking anywhere, I just walked faster. Literally, rushed as if I was late. No running, no power plate-ing, no gym. Just walking fast - with buggy, or baby in sling or whatever.

4) As much as I could remember, I held my core muscles nice and firm whatever I was doing. My muscles were shot to pieces after second baby, so I knew that tightening up my core was important. But no sit ups or anything, just a constant tightness for a good hour or so throughout the day (did at the same time as pelvic floors!) generally when washing up, waiting for dd to have a wee, on the phone, etc

I found prior to doing the above, that the more complicated I made it for myself, the less likely I was to do it. Hence not doing diets etc. I Wrote on the fridge:

More Water

Less Food

Pelvic Floor

And that was enough to remind me of the above.

Good luck - it's great when it's done!

Thanks Ratty - bloody horrible process though. I'd heard there were thoughts that the siblings would be high this year at DKH but I couldn't remember where I heard it from and therefore whether it was just hearsay or not.

Anyway, it's in the lap of the Gods (or rather Southwark) now. Best of luck to you too.

My daughter's been there since she was 2.5 and has absolutely thrived. She completely loves it. And my son is down on the waiting list too (he's 1 at the moment). The staff are incredibly warm and attentive and loving, but there is also great discipline and learning. The kids all seem to care about each other. Most importantly their staff turnover is very very low indeed and I think this has led to their success. I couldn't care less if it's in a church hall vs purpose built building. The children couldn't give a stuff about the building, but the teaching would affect them, and I have to say that that aspect has been exemplary.

Does the school have full time music or art teachers?

Hello all

I've got in touch with the OP but no response yet and time is running out.

We're in exactly the same position and location I think. My husband and I can't decide - one of us likes GG the other likes DKH. Would any of you mind resending your original PM's to me? I'd really appreciate some other opinions. Our other options are St Johns, Bellenden, Lyndhurst and we can't find a 6th we'd be happy with... so worried all round.

Thank very much in advance

Contact Environmental Health immediately and report suspicious liquids being dumped. They should be all over it asap. Doesn't matter if it ends up being harmless, but it should be reported and checked. If it was something like lucozade or something equally harmless, why is the person not just pouring it down the drain and recycling the bottles?

Environmental Health are the guys for the job I think.

I haven't done ours yet, but I think I'll be sticking it in a cold wash with some napisan, vanish, or something similar and seeing how it goes. By cold, I mean literally cold. If that doesn't work, I'd try it at a 30 degree. I stress, I haven't actually done it yet, but this is my plan.

Good luck - let me know how it goes!

Yes! There's a fault on the line for anyone else wanting to get through to them. BT are on their way.

I need to contact Half Moon (my daughter's there) but I can't get through on the phone. I've always managed to get through before for the last 1.5years ... does anyone know if there's a fault on their line? Or have they changed there number (and I didn't notice!). Thanks

Please please please get a referral to see a specialist at Kings. My daughter was terribly ill after any ingestion of anything dairy and it took the GP many many 'diagnoses' and associated 'treatments/prescriptions' before we persuaded them to give us a referral. At which point, the specialist at Kings almost immediately confirmed exactly what it definitely was (not what it might or probably was) and we could then work from there with a treatment and a regular slot with the amazing dietician at Kings. At just before 2yrs old, she went for her Milk Challenge Day at Kings, and the allergy had passed, thank God.

Please, see a specialist. GP's are great at 'general' practitioning, but this from my experience, requires the knowledge that only a specialist can bring.

Good luck.

Slightly off the scheduling topic, but...

If you ever wonder about measles and the effect it could have on your child (and I mean could, it might not of course) then read this by Roald Dahl.

Roald Dahl - measles

There is NOT a link between the MMR jab and autism - no peer reviewed research suggests there is. Andrew Wakefield is a fraud:

Andrew Wakefield

and note his 'abuse of developmentally challenged children' in his 'research' and the link between his future business venture and the paper he was fraudulently creating. The guy had applied for a 'single vaccination patent' just before embarking on this 'research'.

Measles is a terrible illness that our brilliant society had nearly managed to wipe out. Also, the second dose is not a booster; it is a dose to produce immunity in the small number of persons (2?5%) who fail to develop measles immunity after the first dose.

Personally, although I absolutely hate my children having the MMR, I wouldn't have them NOT have it. I know too many people with small babies for a start... imagine my daughter caught it then passed it on to a small baby pre-immunisation, with all the potential implications? I couldn't bare it.

It's not an easy decision at all. Good luck.

Nitty gritty comb is excellent. Best advice I was given is comb comb comb as often as you can. I also used the standard lyclear. But I literally spent over an hour every night combing her hair. They were gone within a fortnight.

SO horrible though. I also used the 'electric' comb from boots... makes a satisfying buzzing sound when it gets one!

You're not supposed to use it before 37weeks - I can't remember why, but I remember thinking 'oh, yes, of course, that makes sense' for whatever their reason is.

By the way, it's not a new thing. In Switzerland, a high majority of women planning home births use it - my midwife was Swiss and thinks it's crazy that more women over here don't use it. I read somewhere that in more primitive and ancient communities, women used gourds for the precise same purpose. Makes sense.

YES YES YES YES YESSSSSS. It will not only prepare you physically, but psychologically, I believe it stops you panicking as the baby crowns as you 'know' the feeling from 'birthing' the epi-no in practice. It's absolutely worth every penny.

But DO practice as much as you can. I did it every night (bar two or three) in the 3 weeks leading up to my second birth (first birth I was damaged badly - this birth, no tear, 9lb14 baby with 38cm head).

Very good luck. x

Well. I'm in to week two and wanted to thank you so much for all your advice. I'm so far enjoying the opportunity of drinking a cup of tea. And I'm missing the kids terribly but making the most of the glancing moments at breakfast or before bedtime. And BOY do I want to make the most of weekends now - but that's great - never a moment wasted which can only be a good thing.

Thanks again Ladies of EDF. I salute you.

Thanks for the responses so far on PM... any more opinions?

We live on Bellenden Road so a bit of a black hole and we're struggling to find a 6th school to apply to. Anyone like to PM me with their opinions? Thanks

Ha ha!