The Nappy Lady

Hi Kate, I particularly love the idea of a fairly wild space where children can build dens & use their imagination whilst also working cooperatively with others they meet there. This is a great idea, and I think the vegetables etc would be good too as long as there is space to do it all well, rather than trying to cram it all in if that makes sense. Molly

SB, I bought a bottle of castor oil & had it on standby as a last resort because I wanted a second home birth so needed to avoid induction which only happens in hospital. In the end baby came at 41 plus 1 so didn't need it. I did a lot of reading & know someone that used it with success (& had a fast home birth), but have to say I was nervous about it as opinion seem to be very divided. You can have my bottle if you like, can't think why I've kept it really. I'd say keep as a very last resort & don't take too huge a dose. M Xx

I flew back from Mallorca at 1 day off 36 weeks pregnant! Last minute I know, but hols planned before pregnancy & all medical people involved were happy for me to fly based on my health & pregnancy. Was with Easyjet & needed a doctors note confirming how many weeks I was etc, though no one asked to see it! Do check travel insurance though - most will not cover you but there are a couple who do - Google to find them. I'd say go for it, we had a wonderful holiday & I felt so much more rested & ready to have the baby afterwards. Xx

Seriously - they charge you ?25 for the honour? Is is a so called 'admin fee'? Makes me furious. The Brierley give you a copy as standard, it can be such a lovely momento.

I like the old fashioned harness, if they stumble you can stop them going face down - it can mean they look a bit like a circus act whilst briefly suspended, but it's saved a lot of tears on the school run. You have to start quickly though, otherwise they will refuse to wear them!

Yes, Wednesday morning 9-11.30 - gets VERY busy these days though, I often leave around 10am because I can't cope with it once it gets too crowded :'( They sometimes put a sign up now once it is up to capacity.....

Goodness knows where we will need to be travelling to for help 10 years from now :-S

You poor thing, I'd have been really fed up (and probably in tears) too. There is a clinc in Peckham Pulse, I think it is on twice a week. Can't recall what days of the week, but I found out from the nurse at my Doctor's surgery because I had no idea where to go to sort out contraception post baby 2. I went between Christmas and New Year and was in and out within an hour....BUT I'm sure it is much busier at 'normal' times - I was told it is best to get there at the start of the session if possible. When you go into the reception you turn left and walk around the screens and there is a waiting area there with seats, and a big shell playing soothing wave sounds!! If you either google or phone up Peckham Pulse (assuming they answer) I think they would be able to tell you what days the clinic is on. Guess you are sorted for a while now though! Would think you'd only be able to book an appointment if you went private, and no doubt it would then cost ?100 just to walk though the doorway!

Chemist said Calomine rubs off in 2 hours & doesn't do much - Eurax better....but guess we all have our favourites!

I'm on 'CP watch' as youngest has been exposed via another child she goes to the same Childminder. Popped into my trusty chemist to make sure I was stocked up with the right stuff & he said: Allerief oral solution is like Piriton but more effective Eurax lotion is more effective than calomine lotion & stays on skin for up to 10 hours Calpol as always for any fever (can be used with above meds) There is a new medication - vira-something out which is supposed to be specifically for CP but he looked at the box & wasn't too impressed, felt the stuff in Eurax was better. Just thought I'd share! My kids are unbelievable, oldest caught CP a week before our first ever planned flight with her, ended up driving & ferrying to France. Now youngest may be about to come down with it when we are all (bar her) due to fly off to Africa for a safari for my hubby's 40th in 3 days time! Perfect....not. Thankfully family still happy to care for her so we can go away but just another thing for me to worry about when I'm already feeling bad about leaving her. :-((((

Thought the pool / eventually land birth was fantastic. Her Mum & partner did really well supporting her through the hard bits. Very interesting to see the change in women during transition.

Would second the UV all in one suits, they are really brilliant. We use all day & only let little one be in the sun without it at the start or end of the day for a brief period, with cream on of course. I like the Australian brand suncream the sell in Lloyds on Northcross Rd, White bottle with pink or orange label on. I got a big, pump action top bottle of F50 last year, really easy to apply, water resistant (coped with 6 year old in & out of pool 8-12 hours a day for 3 weeks & didn't upset her sensitive skin either, which many better known childrens brands do. Some of the creams are really thick & hard work to apply too.

My girls are in state school & got the eye test. Could it be a 'by borough' thing? We are in Southwark. My girls will def. be carriers with the x inherited from their Dad.

LOL, well luckily the shades I tend to wear are OK, but I once tried a new shade and he said "you look like you're dead..." then explained why...suffice to say I didn't wear that lipstick again!

Hi Belle, My hubby is colour blind.... Firt of all, I really wouldn't worry at the moment. All children get an eye test as standard in (as I recall) reception, so between age 4 and 5 more or less. You will get a letter/permission slip sent home in advance of the test, and if you are still worried at that point you can put a note to that effect to ensure they test thoroughly for it. I believe the gentics work like this..... My husband is colour blind, there is no history of it in my family. Our children will not be colour blind (boys or girls), but our daughters will carry the gene. Their sons are likely to be colour blind. Their daughters will only be colour blind if they have a child with a man who is also a carrier of the gene - this is why it is not common for girls to be colour blind. Interestingly my husband's sister is a carrier and has married a colour blind man...but they only had sons! The bit I'm hazy on is whether it we could have had a colour blind son, but I'm pretty sure the gene can only pass through girls. If I am right you would have to have colour blindness in your side of the family for your son to have it. It is fascinating isn't it, I love stuff like this. It is hilariouis when my hubby shops for clothes without me, he has to go up to an assistant and say "Does this tie go with this shirt" and they sometimes look at him like he is crazy until he explains why - because the match is so bad!! Also, sometimes when I get dressed up for a night out he will say "that's a lovely dress, what colour is it?" which kind of takes the edge of the compliment. Oh, and some shades of lipstick look blue to him rather than red/pink which is NOT a good look on a girl!! Molly

Phoenix Cards seller?

Finally watched this episode on 4OD. My observations; Totally agree that the first, curly haired midwife appeared to lack compassion and bedside manner. I felt she was making the right medical decisions, based on the stage of labour the lady was at, and 100% agree with the comments regarding the editing of the programme affecting our perception of what is going on. To be a truly brilliant midwife takes way more than simply outstanding medical knowledge and I find it surprising that there are as many 'emotionally cold' women in the role as there are. Thankfully I believe there are plenty more who have both the medical AND the emotional skill to do the job amazingly. Sillywoman, I too found the image of her ambling down the corridoor after they couple pressed the button surprising and distressing. Regarding 'pain in labour'. I can only speak for myself and a couple of friends I have discussed this subject with, but we agreed that the pain you experience cannot be equated to pain you feel when you are injured - e.g. a broken leg, migrane or whatever. My Mum always said it is 'Pain with a Purpose' and I found having the knowledge of what the pain was doing - i.e. dilation, or pushing the baby out was enough to help me embrace and deal with what I was feeling without pain relief - once I was pushing the baby out I vividly remember urging the contractions on as I wanted to meet my baby. I would say I have a low pain threshold in general, and yet I had two home births without any pain relief, not because I am brave, or for a badge of honour, but because I was lucky to have great births (primarily) and also I'm sure because I believed in myself and let my body do what it needed to do. Personally a C-Section would be my worst nightmare, I can't imagine having that kind of major surgery by choice, I'd hate the 6 week (or more) recovery period, the scar it leaves, and the damage to my tummy muscles. I'm talking about elective C-sections here, not emergency ones, which of course have to be done - a totally different subject. The moment in this episode that really made me cry was when the Back to Back labour lady said "Am I allowed to say I'm proud of myself?". I reckon in the end giving birth to that baby naturally will be one of the most memorable moments of her life - she even said in the interview afterwards about how special this baby was because she gave birth to her all on her own. If you are lucky enough to give birth that way it can be one of the most amazing, empowering experiences of your life - for me it was my version of climbing Mount Everest!

I too have the Lakeland stuff, it's good!

I have this internal 'tussle' with myself...part of me thinks I should love the fact the children are really expressing themselves, using their imagination and combining assorted toys into one HUGE mess....errr sorry I mean game....BUT then the other, boring, sensible, grumpy, OCD half always seems to kick in and I find myself walking around muttering whilst trying to carry far too many items back to their orginal place. Most days all the upstairs stuff seems to end up downstairs and vice versa. I do find on the odd Friday night once I've had a large glass of wine I suddenly develop 'toy blindness' however, this is an excellent thing!

Keef, wait until she starts playing with (read losing) bits of Play People, or Polly Pocket or Lego etc. It drives me to distraction, I have realised I am very OCD about trying to keep toys intact. Eeeeeek.

I think with a four month old I'd just keep baby in the shade, buggy with a shade a babe cover on it, or under a sun umbrella etc and also the Jo-Jo Mamon type wide brim hats with a bit to cover their neck too are good. I know sum is potentially damaging, but at the same time babies have grown up in sunny countries for a very long time without wearing sun glasses & I haven't heard of there being a record of profound damage to eyes of children from those countries. Personally I think it is once they are older & in & out the pool / running around all day in the heat playing etc that you need to really worry about sunglasses, can't tell you how many pairs our 6 year old has lost (sigh). Have a lovely holiday!

But...on the other hand...we said no children at our wedding, then waived it for my best friend who was coming all the way from the Midlands down to Kent...I just agreed with them that if children started to play up during the ceremony they would take them straight out of the church (and they were very good and did so when their then 2/3 year old got bored). I think it depends on your relationship with the couple getting married, but if I had a friend who was breastfeeding exclusively I would expect them to bring their baby along. If you can show some compromise and agree the older child will be with a hotel sitter, but baby with you, maybe they would agree to that?

Yeah, great news - big congratulations & enjoy the babymoon. Xx

I think as long as you're happy I'd just 'go with the flow' for a bit longer...it sounds like he is moving towards going to bed at 7ish for the night, just not quite there yet. My first was doing more or less 7-7 by 3 months old, sometimes waking in the nigth but mostly going through...my 2nd - ha! Took a lot longer to go all night (15 months and then only because we enforced it). I think I was also more laid back about getting her into a routine, though as best I can recall probably did start to go to bed at 7/8pm ish from around the 3 month mark. Are you doing a 'bedtime routine' yet? I think it really helps them if you implement some really key signals, we did; 20 mins nappy off time in warm room on a towel (bathroom for us whilst running the bath so hot and a bit steamy) - helps to wear them out having a good kick about. Then a busy bath time. Then cuddles and a feed in a dimly lit room with a special CD playing 'sound asleep' music that is supposed to send baby off to sleep. I really think most tiny babies take a while to settle into a true routine and personally don't see much point in trying to enforce it too soon unless you are unhappy to go with the flow. Those baby days go so fast, I liked to relax and make the most of them whilst I could! Good luck with it all!

Pickle, your post reminded me of O, who at 4 and a bit years older than C refers to herself as C's "Little Mummy"! Informed me she needs to start drinking tea in the morning as she is a little mummy the other day!