chantelle

thanks, the ones in the pound shops on Rye Lane are a bit atrocious but will try Sainsbury perhaps.

bluesuperted - wonder if that was the one I sold? ;) i never used the bjorn seat when we had it, having also gotten a hideous fisher price jungle thing that vibrated and played music and which my son really loved. it looked nice though.

sorry for the seemingly stupid question but where can i get (empty, and nice) party bags for a child's birthday? thanks!

i had a woman at the door fitting that description from Talk Talk last night, around 7:00pm - she wanted to come in but I said no. i did think it odd she didn't have a brochure to give me, though she stressed they weren't taking any money (as if I'd ever hand over cash or a card to some random person!)

we have a kiddy guardian pro for our 3 year old that has an excellent performance in safety tests and can be used until they are 12.

maybe, but they push back even on nursery hours - i.e., you must take up the full 15 hours on five days for three hours a day, and not opt of Fridays for example.

i think you'll have trouble getting a school to agree with this and they would see it as a persistent absence. i don't think most schools formally offer half days either. good luck though! My son will have just turned 4 for 2012 (late July birthday) but I don't really see a better option than just getting him in with the rest of his class that year.

i don't really know the layout of the olay area in question, but this sort of issue - at what age is safe to play out - always seems to be very controversial. like many adults today, i grew up playing out on my own in my neighbourhood from around 5 or 6 so I'm not so immediately shocked by the idea of a four year old probably within sight of his flat. there are lots of dangers out there but the chances of a child falling foul of any of them are extremely slim. unfortunately our fear mentality these days means children have fewer opportunities to play outside at all (since there isn't always someone available to supervise) and to assert their independence. i'm not saying it was wrong to call the police, it was probably very wise, but just commenting that there's not always a black and white answer to these questions and concerns.

quite. i also take issue with the gender sterotyping involved in these "harmless" activities!

i agree the food is rubbish. I've only had the simplest things, like eggs on toast (hard to mess up, but they do, and i've tried at least 3x so not a one-off) and cakes (none of them very nice). i've had ok service, not great. I think they benefit solely from their location and the comfy vibe. I

ok, somewhat off topic but why on earth do we glorify pirates - effectively thieves who ransom and kill people? this pirate thing drives me nuts. and "princesses and pirates" parties - outrageous! i don't know what i will do when my son (3) starts being invited to them.

interested to hear more on this closure - but why would they be renovating the outside space if they are just going to shut it? i have seen the workmen there several times - most recently on Friday they were doing something with a digger.

i had one - okay, two actually - monitors in my last pregnancy, after having had two miscarriages and being super paranoid. They were a nightmare though - always struggled to find the hb and found it really nerve wracking. I've still got one but haven't dug it out yet this time around. I'm around 15-16 weeks and definitely have the odd worry but I figure my uterus is clearly moving up and bumping out for a reason. :)

it's a right pain to get there is all i have to say! from where i am, near Peckham High Street, you can get the 436 bus all the way there. But not sure how you'd link up from Forest Hill (171??). As I recall, there are steps from Jubilee to Bakerloo at Waterloo (in the final furlough). Try the TFL journey planner with the steps free option and also look at any advisories on lifts out of commission because often the reality is different if works are going on.

hi, i'm curious about this because my son (also 3 next month) has started repeating phrases at the starts of his sentences. (e.g., "i want i want i want you i want you to open the door.") is this what your daughter does, or is it the more classic stuttering on each word? sorry no help, but will watch any comments with interest!

i've seen the pruning too and don't know anything about it, except to point out that there have been an awful lot of big branches on the ground after every bout of windy weather this year - so maybe this is pre-emptive on branches seen as vulnerable to those conditions.

i went back for a 4-day week and I love it. Frankly I'm dreading going on mat leave again when number 2 comes along in December!

i cut down to two (morning and evening) feeds at around 12 months, then just to the one evening feed a few weeks after that. Went on with that until 17 months and saw no effect after the dropped feed or final stop of BFing. by the end the feed lasted about 60 seconds, and there were no complaints when it stopped for good.

i took my son to one, but only once so have no idea if it would have worked or not. (he had bad reflux) Maybe you should see how your son adjusts to the bottles before making an appointment. Mine slept much better once we moved to just a quick breastfeed before bed. In my opinion, any waking by a healthy child after one year or so can be as much about habit as anything else. Maybe try offering water or half milk - half water and gradually diluting until he realises there's no good reason to get up in the night. On your initial description though - 8 months is early in my book to sleep through. My son didn't even come close until 11 months or so.

there are quite a lot of nice period houses (and squares) around Elephant. I have faith it will eventually come into its own.

benmorg - you've got to be kidding. Deptford may not be some top destination but it has definitely had massive development and new build flats are going at similar prices to nicer areas.

ok, the US system has lots of issues and for sure is not so-woman centred. However, there are more and more places that offer midwife care and natural birth options so please don't think one hospital is representative of every American woman's birth experience! Many of my friends there have had 100 percent natural births, water births, etc. Meanwhile, I was ignored by midwives here for five hours, was never offered gas and air, had to beg for the epidural and only got it when my son was found to be in distress and I needed to be rushed to operating theatre. And I'd personally give a lot for that posh room after the horrendous ward at St Thomas'. Nearly everyone I know in the UK has a horror story about birth - mine finally involved episiotomy and forceps and I was prepped for a C section. Also worth noting that the UK and US have similar rates of C sections - only thing is they plan more while ours are done in emergency = riskier. Just saying.

transport depends where you are. Peckham Rye has fantastic links, perhaps the best in South London, and it's going to get even better with the Overground coming.

don't forget good schools on the list. also plenty of bankers and other City types in ED and environs ... shhhh.

It is a wonderful thing to do and you could make the difference between tragedy and joy in people's lives. As someone who has gone through every fertility treatment known to man, multiple times, I can say from my own experience that the process of injecting drugs to stimulate your ovaries (and the actual egg collection) is really straightforward and pain free. I didn't even have any side effects, though many women do. There is no real evidence it will have any effect on your fertility either, and there's no reason it should. (I think there have been some minor studies showing minor elevation of certain health risks but I don't think the medical establishment has accepted there are any conclusive risks at all. correct me if I'm wrong.) best wishes.