The Nappy Lady

Hmmm, I really like having Friday off and do feel as if more of my Mummy friends are around then.....but I'm sure you'd make some new Mummy friends if you decided on Monday. It's a tricky decision! Molly

.....just remembered it's a good time to cook up lots of lasagnes/cottage pies etc for the freezer, v useful once baby arrives. Farmers on lordship lane do foil dishes and lids. Molly

Jud, Reading your post I'm not sure if English is your first language, and if not maybe this has led to confusion with your midwifery team (apologies if I am wrong). I agree you need to get this clarified ASAP - if on the community midwife list I'd expect you to be given details of who to call when in labour, and a list of what to have at home ready for the birth. Could you get someone to go to an appointment with you as translator to help if need be? Really sorry if I've got this all wrong. Do hope you can get things sorted. Molly

Fuschia, I've always thought the same re natures way of making sure we rest post birth - plus those pesky hormones that make you sleepy when you breast feed. Such lovely times (provided the breastfeeding proves easy - I know not everyone is so lucky). I live that first week or two snuggled in at home with just the odd wander to the park. M

Hey congratulations (if not been said before!!). Molly

Also want to vote for Primark pants, much nicer. I bought San pads from Mothercare which had Aloe Vera in them to help with healing and they were good. Kamilosan nipple cream is lovely and can also be used as nappy cream and on minor skin grazes etc so easy to use up even if you end up not needing much for your nipples. Has anyone said socks? My feet were cold in labour - get cheap ones tho as they had to be binned after. Molly x

Hiya, first time around I worked near Blackfriars, so easy commute and was feeling fine but very happy to finish work at 36 weeks and spend a very warm June hanging out at Brockwell Lido - top tip for summer bumps, you can float on a lilo on your tummy even at 40 weeks which feels so good!! I was lucky that a best friend had taken voluntary redundancy and was waiting to start college so we hung out together a lot plus I really enjoyed the whole nesting thing. Baby was a week late and that was frustrating - I remember standing in the pristine nursey just looking at everything and desperate for her to arrive! Second time I worked no more than a mile from home, and part time (but admit to knocking 40). Before knowing I was pregnant we'd booked a holiday to Spain so I was there for three weeks and flew back at 36 weeks - that was fine, but returning to work until 39 weeks was very tough, and I remember thinking that if I went into labour I wouldn't have the energy to push her out. In fact she too was a week late, the first week of leave I just seemed to sleep like crazy, and then felt fine so had one lovely week before she came. With your first it is so hard to predict how you will feel, I'd say go for stopping at 36 or 37 weeks, but if you really want to try to go longer remember the 'law' is such that you can change your mind and go sooner if you find it too much. The last few weeks can be very tiring - someone once said to me pregnancy lasts 8 months and 1 year (as the last 4 weeks feel so hard). It is when back ache, pelvic problems etc can really strike (though not always, you may bloom to the end), good to be forewarned tho. Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy! Molly

Yes, tho nappy bit better for disposables than cloth. Very handy for the weaning stage with the food coolbag bit. Now at 18 months I've taken the two mini pods out and use that big section for my cloth nappies, coat/Cardigan etc and still plenty of space and other sections for my bits. Plus it has the straps to hang on the buggy. Of the bags I've tried or seen, Id say that and Skip Hop (Duo I think - the bigger one with the flap over) are the best two, though not tried masses and do love the look of some of the others I've seen. Molly

Skip hop dash very practical, or Pacapod if you want to be super organised - I don't use the inner pods now but love how roomy the bag is and plenty of compartments to keep my stuff separated. Happy shopping! X

My friend adopted a star for her godson and gave certificates to him along with a telescope. Could get port rather than wine to set aside for when he is 21? Molly

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, not quite sure where to put it... Going forward, I will be doing a cloth nappy drop in session on the 3rd Friday of every month, between 10 & 11am at the Ivydale Childrens Centre, entrance on Bellwood Road in Nunhead. So, the next one will be a week on Friday - 21st May 2010. Anyone interested in using cloth nappies, or needing help with a system they already have, advice on accessories or whatever - please feel free to come along. If thinking of switching to cloth you can get a detailed advice letter in advance by going to www.thenappylady.co.uk and completing a Tailored Advice Questionnaire, then when you come to my session I can show you the nappies you've been recommended (please bring a note of which ones you've had suggested with you). Best wishes, Molly

Ha - I had much the same thought re Sam in her heels - said to my hubby - "her feet must be killing her in those heels with that bump, and he's not likely to be there for the birth is he". I guess as it is their 4th she will be better placed to just get on with it, but even so...... Molly

Hmmm, well I know that a friend of a friend is over on Waveney Avenue - that road off Peckham Rye, near where the entrance to the car park is got a place, and that is quite a distance away - so if you were in Ivydale, or any of the roads off Ivydale I'd say you'd be fine, as things stand right now..... Come on over to Nunhead, life's good here, the sun is shining and the water is warm LOL!!! :))

Ah yes, "Bugman Jones"....our daughter keeps asking Daddy if she can have a snake now - he is less than impressed with the suggestion!

Great news Tor - thought those two streets away would be ok after shake down. Toast - Ivydale is lovely, my daughter is in Year 1 there and thriving/very happy. Molly

Jalape?o, not attacking any of the individuals or posts, as I said attacks do happen, but the OP was about whether dogs are prone to attack babies in pushchairs. Im sorry for what happened to you, it sounds very scary. Thankfully the attacks that do happen are still relatively rare - not that it means it is OK, I just don't think we should all start panicking every time a dog approaches us or our children. As I said before, if adults are scared children often pick up on it, and if they then run away or scream a vicious dog is more likely to attack. Molly

CJC, Just want to say how pleased I am that they have found the cause of your problems. Do keep us all posted on progress. Hope the next few days are easier, and less painful, if only because you know the 'solution' is in sight. Molly x

Well said Huggers - lived here 15 years, had dogs for 11 and kids for nearly 6 and never seen or heard of an attack locally. Not saying it doesn't happen, but really don't feel comfortable with the thought of people getting paranoid about this. As Buggie posted earlier, even having worked in paeds Emergency Dept for 8 years she's never seen a child that's been attacked whilst in the pushchair, and I think that says a lot. Agree that there are some scary looking dogs, and negligent owners around here, but if you think of how many people (i.e. children and dogs) use the park every day, if there was a really BIG issue with this, or dog attacks of any kind we would all be hearing about it in the press, and on this forum. If as parents we get to frightened, the children will pick up on it, and so potentially will the dogs, and that can only be a bad thing. Molly

Hi Bishberro, Our daughter had armbands, but we used to always give her some time with them off and doing what you are doing - hands under the tummy etc. so she didn't become to reliant on them. We are lucky that we get to spend 3 weeks in Spain every year staying with friends, so she gets daily exposure to a swimming pool and spends most of the day in it with other children. At 4 we got her swimming without them, and last August at 5 she didn't even think to ask for them once, and was very confident in the water. Of course weekly swimming is good, but seeing her progress each year in Spain has really driven home to me how worthwhile daily exposure to a pool is - I know some of the local swimming classes run holiday classes daily for a week and I'd really encourage people to sign up to those once your children are old enough, if you can afford them. She achieved more in 3 weeks in Spain than she did in 6 months of weekly lessons in the UK. On the armband front, I think like most parenting it is a case of 'all things in moderation'. Incidentally, the suits with the floats in - we found seemed to hold her at the wrong angle in the water so we never bothered with those, but maybe it was just the one we had, which was passed on to us from someone. They may have better versions around now. Molly

Hmmm, so got asked today...'what does the Tooth Fairy do with the teeth?' hadn't thought around that one so suggested she asks Daddy later. Any thoughts?

Tee hee, that sounds like you Snowboarder!

Hmmm, but personally I think nurserys are better for toddlers than babies. One of the nursery nurses at my daughters school used to work in nurseries and said she moved to school because she couldn't bear the rules re not picking up and cuddling the babies. Each to their own but for little ones I truly believe the 'home from home' Childminder environment is kinder/more gentle for them and most will then adapt to nursery well later as they are already used to being left and have developed into confident little people. BUT all this with the caveat that each child/family & work circumstances are different and of course we are all making the best choices we can. Molly

Certainly keeping this one, not sure I will keep all of them! M

Ahhh, don't you just love the internet - I can confirm; The '5 year molars' are her first permanent molars, and normally appear in actual fact between 6-7 years old, she's 2 months off 6 so about right)....They look so strange when they come through as the 4 points of the tooth appear first and the gum almost looks like it has been 'poured' over the tooth where it still covers the middle until the tooth fully breaks through.....strange. Then front middle top and bottom come next, so we are just getting started on that. Then the others working around sequentially each side of the front ones, right round to, and including the 2 molars they have from babyhood, plus another new set of molars that come up behind the 5 year ones (these should be the last at about 12-13 years old), other than wisdom teeth at around 17-21 years. So, 20 baby teeth eventually become 32 grown up teeth........ So - now you know, 5 year molars are the first of the 'permanent' teeth, as a rule! Better ramp that brushing up even more - eek. Molly

Hmmm, now I don't know about molars, thought I remembered losing mine, but may have it mixed up with having a wisdom tooth removed later on...does anyone know for sure (just curious now). Did you know you get '5 year molars'? It seems most parents don't know about them, but my daughter just got her first one - wasn't too painful or anything so don't all cringe at the thought of MORE teeth coming through....getting them at 5 would suggest they stay for life, but her molars don't look as big as mine??? If she is supposed to keep them for life I will most certainly not be rewarding her for any that drop out!!! M