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During the day it's easy to get in - they just need to use the maintenance button . . .

Penis and if he asks about me, vulva. My mom was a nurse - only grammatically correct terms allowed when I was growing up. I was the only kid at school who insisted that a baby is not in a woman's belly, it's in her [/i]uterus! -A

Hi again jennyh, Absolutely you need to listen to your daughter! Would never suggest anything less, but Saffron has made the point for me regarding soft/squishy/puree foods. They are much trickier for babies to manipulate in their mouths and my son had a much harder time with these than solids in the beginning. Eventually I gave up on all soft things like yoghurt and then tried months later when he was a more experienced eater and was more successful at that time. Also, I would consider not giving any water to wash things down until all food is free and clear. If she needs to bring things up perhaps trying to wash it down is contradictory and could be exacerbating the issue? Hope all gets easier soon! -A

I also did baby led weaning and think it's important to note that choking and gagging are two very different things. Gagging is normal when they are learning to control what's in their mouths. My son gagged all the time for the first few months of weaning. It was hard for some people to watch becuase folks get nervous when babies gag and people think it will lead to choking. According to the book, it's actually safer for babies to start with finger food because the gag reflex is further forward in the mouth and moves back as they get older. Seems to have worked for us - my son is now 2 and had never choked. -A

OK. Ta.

Hi Ruth, Second FAO Schwarz (puts Hamley's to shame)and the Natural History Museum (lots of big dinosaur skeletons). If your son likes things that move, I also highly recommend the Intrepid Air and Space museum: http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/ Haven't been to the science museum since I was a kid, but it has lots of hands on stuff: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ Don't think Ellis Island would be than interesting for little ones, but he'll probably enjoy the ferry ride and the stop at Liberty Island to see the Statue up close. Had a quick look to see if anything good is playing at Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately Sesame Street is playing in Dec but this is on in Oct: Yo Habba Gabba http://www.thegarden.com/family-shows/index.html Of course, go to the top of the Empire State Bldg! If you want to do a proper full zoo day the Bronx Zoo is the one to see. I haven't been since I was a kid either, but my family in NY have and they say it's really good. I mean, they have a monorail! http://www.bronxzoo.com/ As for restaurants, most places are child friendly and will have high chairs. Definitely try a diner - there will be something for everyone and if you're lucky you'll find one with paper placemats and crayons for the kids. If your toddler is adventurous go to Chinatown during the day and have a dim sum lunch. They serve it on carts that whizz around and you can peek in all the dishes and choose what you want to eat. Definitely go to a Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. It's an experience. There's one on 42nd Street so you would have to work to avoid it if you're staying in Times Sq.: http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/google/stores/store_locator.aspx?q=New+york -A

Hi Ruth, Why do you say "blasted p&t." I've got one due in Oct and have a 2 year old so was thinking about getting one - more for the cocoon phase than anything else. -A

Nappy lady website sells super-duper boosters, that you can fold over many times, but you may need a bigger wrap to fit them and the little lamb nappy. Our son also went through a phase like this though I can't recall at what age. There was a lot of laundry until it subsided . . . -A

On the picking prevention front - see if you can get her to wear gloves. I remember that's what my mom did when my little sister had them. Especially useful at night when you scratch in your sleep. -A

Hi Folks, Completely dropped updating this when I went back to work, but if anyone out their wants to take it up - I'd love an updated one when I start maternity leave again come Oct! :) -A

Thanks for this post and reminding me that I should get my son vaccinated! Not sure I buy the theory that the NHS don't offer it due to risk to adults - at least, this didn't prevent it from becoming a standard vaccination in the US. Suspect it has more to do with cost benefit. -A

Cuppa Tea - locking kids in their rooms at night is dangerous for a whole host of reasons. Perhaps you could suggest to them to put a stairgate in the doorway instead?

I miss the days of travelling to the States with mine when he was a baby. Once he became mobile it became much harder to keep him entertained. Bring as many favorite toys as you can lots of snacks. I've found that the attitude of the flight attendants makes a big difference. If the child is travelling on your lap and they won't the kid sit/play on the floor it's quite a difficult journey. Having your parents to help will be great! I saw a travel activity case thing at the big Sainbury's on Dog Kennel Hill I'm tempted to get for our flight to NY in 2 weeks, but I think it might be for slightly older children. Really not looking forward to it to be honest, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

My son is nearly 2. I don't know whether he understands right or wrong, but I think he definitely knows what behaviour is acceptable or not acceptable. If he bites, piches, scratches etc. one of 2 things will happen: 1. I will tell him that that behaviour hurts and isn't nice. Then I will ask him if he has something to say to which he usually replies "sorry biting" or whatever the behaviour was. If he just says sorry then I ask what for and he usually will reply with the correct answer, which tells me he remembers exactly what he did. I then get a kiss on my "injured" body part, we have a cuddle and all is forgiven . . . until the next incident. 2. If he's already been warned and does it again I sit him down for a time out. He will ususally immediately start to say sorry. I tell him thank you, I know you're sorry but you were warned and you kept biting anyway. Now you must site for 2 minutes. Sometimes he take it on the chin, sometimes this results in some whining or crying. After 2 min I ask if he has something to say etc. If someone else is the object of the biting etc. then he has to apologise directly to that person/child and give them a cuddle. He almost always does this without hesitation. On days that he is with his childminder, if he has pushed or done something to someone he will usually tell me at home. If ask if he hurt anyone today and he'll tell me "[child's name] sorry" meaning that he had to say sorry to someone. Of course, I wish I could prevent it happening in the first place, but I'm not about to feel bad when it does since he's not old enough to be intentionally malicious and I do everything I can to correct it. -A

Agree with the last post. If the children are very young 10 minutes is much longer than the time out technique calls for. Additionally, if your instincts tell you that something is not quite right, as someone said in a previous post - better to be safet than sorry. Please take advantage of the contact info for help given in previous posts! -A

Didn't meant to hijack threat into a conversation about bus etiquett and pregnant ladies. I'm sure that one has been done before. However, to clarify, I had no issue with the man who got up. If I had really wanted the seat I could have asked but I knew it would clear out in a couple of stops. And yes, while at 25 weeks it can still be questionable whether some women are pregnant, I am fairly petite and was looking quite pregnant that day due to a maternity blouse that really accentuates the bump. Anyway, my point was really about audacity of the selfish young woman. Then again, credit to her I suppose - you don't get if you don't ask! I just found the whole situation amusing - felt like something from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Fuschia's situation was clearly not [amusing].

Hi Supergolden, On the BLW front, when you offer finger foods, don't worry too much about how much actually goes down. From things like meat they do get nutrition just fron sucking on the juices etc. and then spitting it out. As your son wasn't fed lots of finger foods right from the start, I'm guessing it might also take him a little time to practice chewing and manipulating the various food textures in his mouth. As for the coughing, my son also had lots of continuous "coughs" and "colds" for months on end, with particular coughing fits during the night and naptimes, esp after waking up. While they don't diagnose asthma at that age, he was referred to the Kings pediatric respiratory clinic where he was prescribed an inhaler. I really didn't like the idea at such a young age, but it finally did the trick. If you've run through a full course of antibiotics and are still having problems I would go back to the GP and ask for such a referral. Also, I find that when he has lots of phlegm it can be nominally helpful at night to put a pillow under his mattress so he is sleeping at an angle. Good luck and hope it clears up!

Funny that I should see this thread today. On my way home from work, the bus was quite crowded. I'm quite obviously pregnany at 25 weeks. No one offered me a seat - but I actually found what happened next quite humourous. There was a group of young men, early 20s on the bus, one of whom was sitting in one of the front seats. Standing next to me was a perfectly able-bodied (as far as I could see) young woman in her 20s talking on her phone. She paused from her conversation, and asked the man to giver her his seat because she had "all this," indicating her handbag and 2 small plastic gocercy bags with shopping in them! I might add that she was standing directly across from the luggage area in which there was adequate space for her 2 bags. The man immediately got up for her. I just smiled and practically laughed out loud of the audacity of it while standing there, pregnant as could be . . . Anyway Fuschia, as some others have commented, I probably wouldn't have said anything at the time, but regretted it afterward and lay in bed that night thinking about lots of great one-liners I could have thrown at him.

I haven't tried this on my cats (which also jump on our table) but just had an idea: You know those food umbrella thingys meant to keep insects off your food when outside? Perhaps try one of those if you need to leave things out. I've seen them in AJ Farmer's In LL. In theory, it should have the same effect as a cat net . . . -A

Another vote for Aloe. Keep the tube in the fridge so it's nice an cold when it goes on!

Don't know about Lanes but you can now self-refer to Brierly. However, I believe, as Fidgetsmum said, they only take on non-home births for cases involving mothers with any mental health issues.

When I read the link from the original post I must admit that I was sceptical that the entire story was being told as it was quite obvious that they only published report excerpts that support the petition cause, however I decided to sign the petition anyway for the following reasons: 1. Regardless of other evidence that may have been in the report, breastfeeding on demand, baby-led weaning, and co-sleeping should not have been cited in a medical report as evidence of a mother's incompetance. This in itself needs to be addressed even if there were other issues at play. 2. Due legal process was not followed (admittedly, I took this on faith as presented in the article) 3. Unless there was imminent danger to the child, removing a breatfeeding child without proper weaning must have been extremely traumatic to the child. I'm glad to hear the child was returned to her mother - and I hope that if the mother is involved in an abusive relationship or has real mental health issues that social services there monitor the situation and intervene to protect both mother and child. -A

Signed and shared on FB. Outrageous. I hope Alma and her mother are reunited immediatly.

Mine bit too at that age - including other children so he had to be watched closely at play groups. He's now 23 months and it seem like ages ago that he stopped. Agree with all the comments above. In essence, I think its how they express themselves when they don't yet have the words. As his language developed, the biting naturally subsided. -A

Thanks again for all the comments. All is now moot. We decided to put an offer forward in the end - but it wasn't accepted. Back to the drawing board . . .