anna_r

I got a Phil and Teds Metro (old version) second hand on this forum and have found it really good. http://www.philandteds.com/upload/index.php/carry/62 Granted we haven't done a whole load of hill walking (yet!) but 1 year old daughter always laughs a lot when she gets put in it (sometimes points to it and seems to say 'I want to go in there') and we have used it for trips to shops etc. Both my husband and I find it comfortable to wear. Quite expensive to buy new though I think. I've just lent it to some friends who've gone walking in the lakes with their baby of the same age so will be interested to see how they get on with it.

Ruth - I don't think you sound harsh and it sounds like you are doing an amazing job. I don't know how I would have coped without my husband to hand the baby over to for a break when he came home after work at 5.30. I've read a lot of your posts and I'm amazed you manage to be so funny and eloquent in your situation! When you are sleep deprived all that seems to matter is getting that one night of uninterrupted sleep. I didn't have one night like that until 10 months and was literally begging my daughter to sleep through. I don't really have any advice re: controlled crying in particular as I said but I know there are some people on this forum who have found it successful. One thing to consider though is that perhaps co-sleeping is not helping. Our daughter started sleeping a bit better a) when we put the moses basket in her own room at about 3 months and b) when we switched the monitor off so didn't wake up for every little peep. We also sometimes tried co-sleeping just to see if it would help and although it would occasionally give us a few more hours in the morning, it generally didn't help and none of us slept well, particularly when she was more than a couple of months old. Again though, co-sleeping is brilliant for some people, especially if breastfeeding. Do investigate the no cry book though. I have a copy you can borrow if you want, although I will want it back for number 2!!! When you are through this phase and getting good sleep you will appreciate it so much more than you ever thought possible! Literally I wake up beaming and am in a good mood all day after a good night :) you will get there.

I am a bit of a pramaholic - started with a bugaboo cameleon, which was fantastic in the beginning, baby slept great in it (perhaps too great - difficult to get her to sleep in a cot...) Then we started a nanny share so bought a phil and teds sport, although we still use the cameleon sometimes. And I got a second hand mclaren off the forum. If I were starting again I thnk I might just get the phil and teds. It is comfortable to push. I and husband have both occasionally used it for running. And we now have number two on the way (only 18 month gap) so will be used a lot then. Have bought the cocoon, so depending on how the baby sleeps in it, that may become the main newborn pram instead of the cameleon. I've also bought the carseat adaptors (also takes the maxicosi) which we found newborn slept really well in too on the cameleon. On the downside the P&T is quite heavy and difficult to fold. It is a sensible purchase though if you think you will do a nanny share or if you think you'll have a second before the first is out of the pram. The maclaren is essential for trips like going swimming and stays in the car. ?60 well spent.

My daughter didn't sleep through, waking up at least twice a night until 10 months...we considered controlled crying but could never go through with it. When she was about 8 months we started just giving her water instead of milk in the night and I would sit with her and rock her while she was a bit upset (sometimes for an hour at a time) for about a week, which did start to break the milk habit. However, in the end I think it was more a question of her being developmentally ready for sleeping through, and eating solids properly etc than much that we did. I also gave up breastfeeding at 7 months which may or may not have helped (although introducing a bottle of formula at bedtime from 6 months, which many people had said would help did nothing). Also getting her into a really good daytime nap routine. It was totally exhausting but looking back I'm really glad we did it that way and didn't go through the controlled crying route. Now she is 14 months she sleeps through from 7.30 to 6.30 four out of five nights. I'm planning on doing a similar thing with my second, due in July (although the baby may of course be totally different!!) The no-cry sleep solution has some good tips, but I didn't do the whole regime (too tired!!) My daughter's other big problem was self settling at bedtime (she needed to be rocked for ages) but getting a really strict bedtime routine with lots of sleep cues helped with this. She also seemed to need to do a little bit of crying each night almost just to shout the day out (she'd do this even if she was being held). We never let her cry alone for more than 10 minutes at a time, and then only 'shouty' type grumbling crying, not hysterical crying. I guess I'd agree that controlled crying is a big step at this age, and even though it seems like you cannot cope with the nights, things will get better, I promise. Most books do not recommend it until at least 6 months. Good luck

No you don't have to be a member. Just turn up and it's ?8.50 a session

I'm five months too, with my second, due July 29 and would be very keen to meet others due around the same time! I currently work mon-wed and Thursdays are generally best for me as I have childcare for #1 but I swap days occasionally so hopefully i'll be able to meet up at some point, particularly as the due date gets closer. Wishing everyone the best with their pregnancy and hoping you are all enjoying the blooming second trimester :) By the way, there is a good pregnancy exercise class at jags every Monday night 7pm that I usually go to if anyone is interested. Can't make tonight but will be there next week x

Thanks so much for organising Sophie! It was really fun to meet some other mums and mums to be...unfortunately I can't make April 16th (going to a spa with my girlfriends to celebrate my birthday woohoo!!) but would definitely like to make another one. See you all soon, I hope! Anna x

We love it here. Good range of shops, close to park, nice sense of community in the road with a wide range of different types of people. There was a street party last year attended by most of the people on the road, with old photos of the street, lots of food, band, face painting, prizes for oldest and youngest resident etc. The plan is to do the same each year. Lots of children on our road go to St Anthonys. Happy to hear that we are in the catchment for Fairlawn too as we'll be thinking about schools in a couple of years. Extending the 63 bus route would be a big advantage.

I would like to come along too! I had my first birth at Kings 13 months ago but am planning a home birth with the Brierley for my second at the end of July. See you then, Anna

I was also underwhelmed with midwifery care at the Gardens hence why for my second baby I registered with the Brierley midwives as soon as I found out I was pregnant. For example: I was not happy with how they dealt with me going very overdue last time round (kept referring the decision for sweeps back and forward between GP and Kings MAU). I was also never once measured for Fundal height, so when everyone was talking about their measures I was completely in the dark. Several times Stella was fully booked so I had to see a GP, which was fine, but when it happened at 38 weeks I would have preferred to have been seen by a midwife. It has been quite a different experience so far with the Brierley. The appointments are not rushed (at the last appointment they asked about how I was feeling emotionally! never even asked first time round!), they are made at a time that suits me, I get to meet all the team of midwives so hopefully should know the midwives who will be there at the birth. I am very happy with the Gardens as a GP surgery so have stayed registered there and simply have my midwifery care with the Brierley community team. Having said all that, The Gardens midwifery is not bad and if you are with them and can not change I do not think it is the end of the world. I ended up having my baby at Kings with a team of midwives who were all (bar one) lovely (although I had not met any of them before), but when you talk to other mums about their experiences you realise there are a number of wonderful options available in this area that you didn't even know about - e.g. Lanes, Oakwood, Brierley.

We just had our 12 month ones (actually a month late due to illness) and they told us to make another appointment in four weeks for the 13 month ones. I'm happier with the gap, and my daughter has had no adverse reaction to the first set. Fingers crossed the same is the case for next lot.

I've never actually eaten in The Sea Cow and while I have always thought it looked good, although am a bit put off by the bench seating which is stylish but doesn't look very comfy. Is the food good? Living close to Anatolia am very interested in what happens to it. It would be great if something also happened to the corner off licence too. That could be a fab, independent, early opening coffee shop (we like 2050 but the 9.30 opening time is no use if you want a coffee on the way to work). Or perhaps a green and blue style wine bar in keeping with the original theme??? Wishful thinking :)

Thank you so much to everyone for your advice. I took her to Lewisham A&E this evening, who were great, and after a number of tests (and a lot of waiting for 2 urine samples) found that she does have a UTI. So thank you again. Have just got back from Sainsburys pharmacy armed with antibiotics so hopefully they will start to kick in soon. To be fair, the GP yesterday sent me home with a sample pot which she said we should send off 'just to be safe' although given my past lack of success several months ago attempting to get a non contaminated urine sample from daughter (took three separate results which came back inconclusive before we were sent to Kings A&E who gave us a negative UTI result in the end), together with the time for results to come back, it could have been several more days of high fever before we found out on this occasion. I even mentioned to the doctor yesterday though about Fuschia's 'five day rule' for fever in baby (having read the Seldoc thread yesterday!) and she said that it didn't apply if you got them checked out during that time. I'm not going to accept that in future. Thank you so much again everyone. Hope everyone else's bugs clear up quickly and that you have a good journey Pickle! Sorry for hijacking your thread :)

My 13 month old daughter has been vomiting and had a high fever since Friday. Spoke to NHS direct at the weekend and took her to the GP yesterday who said it was most likely to be one of the vomiting viruses going around. She's drinking plenty of water (although we have to do sips as she throws it up if she has a lot) and was having milk ok until last night when she decided she didn't want that anymore. She's very sleepy but not too upset in herself until she's sick. I'm hoping it will start to clear up soon as more than anything I'm worried about her not eating. I've tried offering all sorts of different things to her and she doesn't want any of it, or diaralyte or juice. The dr said she wasn't dehydrated though and luckily she's quite a chunky little thing so hopefully has some spare reserves. Its horrible seeing them so ill. My husband and I have both managed to escape so far. It sounds like the same thing is going around East Dulwich!

Thank you for all the advice about breastfeeding second time around x

Just want to reiterate along with everyone else how hard I found breastfeeding at the beginning, but how once I had pushed through those terrible first few weeks/months it got a lot better and I continued until my daughter was 7 months, by which time I really enjoyed it and was really happy I had pushed through. I remember getting out of the shower and wincing in pain every time the towel or any other clothing touched the boob, and spending a lot of the time in tears feeling guilty that I wasn't enjoying the newborn time with my daughter because I was in so much pain from breastfeeding :( Glad things seem to be getting easier and that you have found someone helpful. A breakthrough for me was understanding you really had to hold the baby behind the head and shove them in to your boob, rather than bring the boob to meet them...and also the realisation that it gets a lot easier one they are able to support their own body a bit and hold themselves in a straight line rather than just slump into the pillow. The 'my brest friend' (such a dumb name) pillow was really good for me. As a slight aside, can anyone tell me whether I can expect the same level of difficulty and pain in future? Now pregnant with my second and to be honest, the pain from breastfeeding in the beginning scares me more than the labour at this point. Is it easier second time round, or just as hard since the baby needs to learn how to do it? Obviously there are going to be differences between different babies, and potential complications such as tongue tie, but the thought of the bleeding nipples and waking in the night from the throbbing pain is really daunting....although I am definitely hoping to breastfeed again and am aiming to push through if needs be...

And if you are with the gardens and have a hospital birth you won't have met any of your birth midwives beforehand, which I believe is different for practices such as the lanes? I had three different midwives due to shift changes, none of whom I had ever met. They were all lovely though so it wasn't a big deal.

Stella does do postnatal visits at home after as part of the east team...she did one out of four of mine. I believe Stella does do homebirths too as part of the east team.

Great thanks! I will definitely give the JAGS class on Mondays a go.

Do you have to have a monthly membership to do any of those classes at JAGS? It seems so from the website. Does anyone know of any other antenatal exercise classes you don't have to have a gym membership for and can do on more of a drop in basis? Thanks

My due date last year was 9th jan and daughter didn't turn up until 24th despite trying everything so you may have plenty of time :) hopefully not as long as that though. good luck with both events

I went back to work 2 months ago when my baby was 8 months old. I work three days a week, doing a job I love, and I am lucky in that my company are really understanding about hours and lifestyle etc. I work 8.30-4.30 so am back in time for dinner/bath/bed. I am loving being back, and also love my days off with my daughter.

When I went into that vale chemist they had mam bottles but not the ultivent type with the special silk teat...just in case someone buys those and baby doesn't accept them you might want to try the other type

When I went into that vale chemist they had mam bottles but not the ultivent type with the special silk teat...just in case someone buys those and baby doesn't accept them you might want to try the other type

I searched for them all over dulwich with no luck. I believe I found them in mothercare in Peckham or online from mambabyshop.com