craigy

i did nothing to try and start things off and delivered on my due date (to be honest, the one day when i least expected that i would be having a baby) and that was my first baby... i say take it easy, relax, sleep, enjoy the quiet time and be patient as there is one guarentee in this world and that is that that baby has to come out at some point and then peace and quiet is a rare thing....

my little man is a shepherd and i was presented with a letter requesting a costume and bought it in sainsburys with 25% this week.... i felt really guilty and lazy as i thought that he will be there in his shop bought costume amongst all of those with sewing competent mothers and their home made costumes (like in our day) but when i spoke to the staff they said that almost all the kids had shop bought costumes.....

just wanted to add something regarding all the chat about St Thomas' closing its doors when it is full and turning women away. As I understand it when they get to the point that they feel the unit is unsafe (and remember this is a huge unit with a very high risk referrals) then they will shut the unit for a period of time until it is deemed safe to reopen and this can be from a couple of hours to the whole day but this is not a decision that is taken lightly and all other options will be explored first. Then they will have to ring around other London maternity unit to see who will take their women and it is not always kings as they too are busy with their own women and the ambulance service will then be informed of this. If women phone up in labour they will be advised of the changes and asked not to come, community midwives will be sent out to assess and care for women at home if need be but if women pitch up in labour without calling first them they will not turn them away if they are in active labour. I know I would rather labour in a unit that was considering itself to be safe at that time with the appropriate amount of women to staff rather than in a broom cupboard hoping and praying that someone remembered that I was there... I think what Molly says is very true (and I do not think you sound anti hospital at all) that it is not about where you are but who you are with that is the important thing and also remember that it is one day of your life (hopefully) and that it is the outcome that is the important part and not the how....

i bought curtains recently and he was fine and very nice to my son and have been in a few times previous purchases of less than ?20 and found him polite and helpful and even, dare i say it, chatty to the point that i could tell you how many kids he has, how old they are and how long he and his wife have been together.....

st johns and goose green are closer than heber and goodrich schoolwise... and adrian lester moved out about 3 years ago...

I too live on Ferris Road and this is a very quiet little corner of ED as Oakhurst Grove really reduces the traffic flow through this pocket...

my son's was fine initially, then after 3 months got a head on it which kept bursting in the bath usually on and off for about 3 months and them healed into the usual BCG type scab- i think it is pretty normal..

i'd say a must is lip balm. all the hoofing and puffing really dries the lips out and don;t over pack because your not too far from home if you have to stay in longer than planned and don't have something you then feel is vital...

i wonder what help kanga thought SCSB79 could be with 4 fire engines and water flowing.. am sure it is a better idea to let the firefighters do there job and stay out of the way

it is recommended that you have continuous fetal monitoring in labour if you have had a previous section but you can make an informed choice not to usually with the obstetric team and have intermittent listening in to the heartbeat every 15 mins when in established labour and many women make this decision and go on to have natural, low intervention births.. generally the risk with a vaginal birth after caesarean is more to the mother who is a risk of a ruptured uterus rather that the baby..

my little man is 2 yrs and 5 months and toying with the idea of giving up the nap (i am not ready mainly as i have a exam in 5 weeks and this time is my revision time) and goes through these stages every so often- we are currently in one of these phases... it may be something that passes with time.. i too run him ragged in a morning and if not awake will not let him sleep beyond 7.30 in the morning... also if he doesn't go to sleep i do not go to him until 3.. i know some children who dropped the nap early but it is doubtful that yours would be one if she normally enjoys a long 2 hour nap... how does she cope for the rest of the day without sleep and can she manage more than a couple of days without one??? that would be the clue as to whether she needs it or not...

i have absolutely nothing to add to this thread so sorry to interrupt but i read it (am a cat lover with 2 of my own) and just wanted to say that they are such lovely posts and i hope that the 2 of you come to some sort of arrangement.... thats it really.. xx

I too am wondering why people are driving to all the primary schools when the catchment area can be as little as 500m from the school and they are so over subscribed by the local population..... When my child goes to school all I really want is a school I can walk him too...

I am sure this question has been answered on other threads so apologies if this is repetition but regarding St John's- if it is not a community school and but it is your nearest how are the places there allocated? I am aware that they have 35 faith places and 25 non faith so how are the non faith places allocated then?

i think it depends what borough you live in. Southwark tend to vaccinate at around 9 months, Lewisham within a few weeks of birth and Lambeth somewhere inbetween (well that is the experience of me and my friends when we had our babies.. The HV fills in the form at her first visit then hands it in to a bigger clinic and the appts come from them.. I am at Dulwich Medical Centre and had it done at Townley Road when my little boy was 9 months old. You probably got blank looks at theother injections because they are done by the practice nurses. If you need to travel to an at risk area before the vaccine is given then you can call the health visitors and they should be able to bump you up the list.. Hope this helps

My little boy has always been a good sleeper and slept through 12 hours from 7 weeks old (also weighed about 14lbs at this stage which I think had a great deal to do with it and would breastfeed every hour and a half throughout the day) so I do not have a great deal to add on problem solving really. My main issue was daytime sleep which never happened until he was 5 months old. I bought a book called Healthy sleep habit, happy child by Dr Marc Weissbluth (?sp could be a rather than u) He is an american pead that has studied sleep in children for over 30 years. Admittedly he advocates extinction crying (different to controlled in that you do not go back to them until 1 hour) but he also says nurse them to sleep if need be, rock, pat etc- whatever works... It is interesting as it talks about the physiology of sleep in children and what is expected when- I cannot remember the ins and outs if it as it is 2 years since I read it.. We had a few issues at night time during weaning when he started feeding in the night again and I remember going to him one night and he breast fed for about 2 minutes and then it became clear he wasn't hungry- he just wanted comfort. We then did the leave to cry thing for the next 2 nights. It was hard, really really hard and took some resolve not to go back in there but after about 45 mins the first night and 20 the next he went back to sleep and normal service resumed... Leaving them to cry is not for everyone and I felt ok with it as I knew that he was capable of settling himself and going back to sleep and wasn't hungry.. Personally, and this is just my personal view.. all babies are different and some will be better sleepers than others just the same as with adults but i think with babies it becomes habit to wake and feed after a while.. I think that before a certain weight babies do not have the capacity to take on enough calories to last them the night and the later they get to that size the more chance they have had of forming the pattern of night time feeding and waking.. There is no answer to this question really other that you know your baby best and you should do what is comfortable and suits your baby.. Good luck.. x

thats interesting. what is the criteria for 4 & 5. i know this has been posted before but cannot find it when i do a search... thanks

hi, sorry to crash your thread but are all these dentists that you are talking about nhs dentists and if so are they easy to register children with.... i am a little niave where dentists and the system are concerned..

My little man has been in his own room since 6 weeks and it was entirely by accident. He was in a moses basket in the room with us from the beginning (snuffling around) and from about 6 weeks started to fall asleep at 7 ish in the evening till about 1 so we would put him in his big cot in his room then bring him back into our room from 1 onwards. Ment we could go to bed and not have to do the creeping around to get into bed... Then over the next few weeks his waking gradually got later and later and then not at all till 7 in the morning... It was entirely luck and to be honest I think we all slept a little better in our own rooms... Not to say that I wasn't paranoid for the whole first 6 months.. You should do whatever comes naturally and suits you and your relationship/ living arrangement best as it is your baby and you know best... All the very best.. x

is a muslin not just a large hankie anyway..

I'm with you all on the eating dropped food- we work on more of a 3 minute rule.... not like a few germs (or rabbit droppings) ever hurt anyone, just builds the immune system.. also known to wipe a nose with my fingers then maybe wipe it on my pjs or something.. and spit for cleaning- you can't beat it...

exactly, postcode and house prices are irrelevant... london has a gun crime problem and it can happen anywhere

have just been by and saw upland taped off... sounds nasty

i thought his description of the contents of the nappy to be very imaginative....

i did not misinterpret your breast feeding comment as you did quantify it well and i know what you mean.... the lady like comment just amused me.... i am all for public breastfeeding if you want a life as well as a baby but also feel that it can be taken to the extremes... i remember sitting in a pub and one of the people i was with breast fed by sitting the baby on her knee upright and letting it feed so the entire breast, bra, stomach and everything was on show including winding with the boob still out.... and just for the record, no i did not say anything to her...... still don't think it is very polite to change a nappy in public....