crystal7

No! Wake up call at 6 every morning. Sometimes she thoughtfully brings books into our room for us to read to her, sometimes we can persuade her to read them to herself first! Tricky though as baby often awake at 5.30 which perhaps wakes her.

We were allowed in with full baby cup of water, we forgot and were prepared to get rid but it was fine.

We went to the athletics in the Olympic Park with 3.5yr old and 10 month old. We took them mainly because it was in the evening and we were hoping kids would sleep. There's lots of sudden noise that might wake up or scare a baby but not sure if it's ear damaging? Anyway baby slept in sling for a few hours with ear defenders on. He wasn't keen on keeping them on whilst awake though. I've lent mine to somebody or I'd offer them. Have fun!

My crawling, cruising baby boy wears little leather pram shoe type things as mentioned by Carbonara. They're unstructured and hard to get off. I found clarks crawling shoes a bit of a rip off plus my daughter would just kick them off.

How are all our fussy eaters getting on?! Does anyone else despair that their child may never eat a normal meal, with protein and veg? With cutlery?? Daughter still only eats a small range of food, hardly any proper meals e.g fish pie, meatballs etc, only wants plain pasta or sausages. She has extended the range of veg she'll eat but I feel her diet lacks substance. Potatoes, sauces, meat (apart from sausages), fish are still a no no. She attends nursery 3 days a week where she eats a bit more than she would at home bit still very picky. Don't have the courage to insist she eats what's there or there's nothing else approach. She is very small for her age and although perfectly healthy I don't think she can afford to loose weight. Also I don't think it would work- she's stubborn! What have others done? How long do I carry on making 3 different meals? Baby boy is 10 months and eats absolutely anything-for now! He is huge too. Just hope his big sister's ways don't rub off on him...

I love this place! Best place for a coffee with slightly feral 3year old and 10month old. Lovely food and friendly staff. Great selection of toys too and only 5 min from P Rye Park playground. If only it had opened at the beginning of my maternity leave rather than the end!

We had a chameleon for first child and loved it. So easy to push, baby really comfy, lots of storage. Took it on buses a lot, always fine although never tried it in really busy periods. We did buy a Maclaren when baby was about a year as the Cameleon takes up a lot of boot space. Maclaren much harder to push whilst holdiing toddler's hand plus no storage. The Bee looks fab though, really small and nippy plus cosy. Think if I were to do it again I'd get one as prob no need for Maclaren?? The adjustable handle is great as mentioned apobove, stops it sticking out on the bus.

Tricky! Holidays with children are hard to get used to...We've stayed in a hotel, all in the same room, for weekends and its ok but definitely wouldn't do it for longer than that! In the past we have done self catering and put daughter to bed and then eaten later. I've always tried to get places where we can outside so it al least feels a bit like a holiday. Agree though it is annoying having to cook for fussy toddler still. Going with friends and their kids is good for reciprocal babysitting can happen. Recently we've kept our 3.5 year old up (olympics and a wedding) and she's surprised us by coping well. We just let her have a sleep after lunch. It might be worth a try? Our 10 month old wasn't so flexible though...

I love Uniqlo, their jeans fit better than some of my expensive ones plus as mentioned above they take them up for free (though why they do 33inch as standard is a mystery). Plus the heat tech stuff is great, especially the leggings. French Connection and Joules have some nice bits though I only really buy in the sale. John Lewis is a good place to start...

I have a friend who stopped night feeding her 1 year old using Dr Jay Gordon's tips and continued to breastfeed in the day or another year too.

I'm with Forest Hill Road and mostly happy. There are a few nice HVs although the baby clinic gets busy- arrive early! Most of the GPs I've seen have been helpful. It can take a while to get an appointment but I have always managed to either see or speak to a GP on the same day when one of my children has been ill.

Ruth that sounds absolutely awful, poor you. My 3.5 year old has never been a great sleeper either. Up every 3 hours until 12 months then gradually less but with 5am starts. Things have improved a bit as she's got older as we can reason with her a bit more. Her trick at the moment is to sneak into our room at night and climb in between us...sometimes it's a shock to see her there in the morning thing is baby is part time co sleeping too due to not great sleep and 4 in a bed (Kingsize but still)...just not comfortable! I have explained to her that now she's such a big girl she needs to stay in bed as it makes mummy and daddy feel tired the next day etc. etc. This little talk didn't hae much impact but I coud see her thining about it so who knows... Plus baby wakes up at 5am these days and wakes her up too...urgh. Sympathise with the desire to have children in their own beds and adults in theirs, I am fed up with all the bed hopping antics! Obviously I don't have much advice but agree with alieh, maybe let DH cosleep with S until 12 hours per night become the norm then in phases start to get him back into his own bed. Failing that pay for a sleep consultant, maybe go back to the clinic, ask to see someone else?? And rest/sleep when you can, call in baby sitting favours etc. Good luck!

My daughter is at Gumboots and they provide a cooked lunch. O suppose it depends on the type of nurseries/pre schools you're looking at. Some are based in church halls and may not have the facilities to cook lunch. State nurseries attatched to schools mostly have an am and pm session so lunch is not provided. My daughter is super fussy and not keen on the meal provided more often than not but I keep hoping this will change. Really want her to have school lunches when she starts reception as I hate making packed lunches!

No tips I'm afraid but we have a similar situation! My 9.5 month old has always been an erratic sleeper, we've had periods of quite good sleep e.g. 1 quick wake up and even a few 10 hour stretches but at the moment it's awful. 4 teeth so far and 2 more about to break through. E doesn't wake to feed a lot but will wake up and be awake (i.e. crawling around bed, talking, shouting etc) for ages. I'm breastfeeding too but E isn't bothered about feeding in the night, in fact now I avoid it as it seems to wake him up even more (maybe he thinks it's morning??). He has also been waking at 5/5.30 every morning then drifting off again just when I need to get up with toddler. Urgh! I'm going back to work next month so really hoping it just resolves itself. At the moment we cope by co sleeping half of the night/bed hopping! I hope someone else has some tips! If you fancy sharing a (jug of) coffee and comparing notes give me a shout!

Urgh lots of sympathy because it's a total nightmare! We haven't got space for a playpen but like yours my baby is very active and into everything! Daughter was the same. We've got stairgates and try to keep small bits (daughters toys!) off the floor. We've put the coffee table in front of the fire place though he does sometimes squeeze past it hinders him a bit! I've found after the millionth time of pulling away from the plants/sockets/wires etc he stops bothering. In the kitchen I've locked the cupboard doors with cleaning stuff in but made the others safe enough for him to explore with pans and stuff. I have a shower in the evening when he's in bed and just take him from room to room with me otherwise. Hard work but it does get easier when they start walking as they can't see all those delicious bits of lego and fluff to eat!

I potty trained my daughter when I was pregnant and it wasn't ideal! Squashing US both into tiny public loos, bending down to sort pottette out, cleaning up after accidents etc. However daughter was always asking to use potty, would usually sit on it when asked and really wanted to wear pants so it felt cruel to ignore that. She was 2y 4m. Unfortunately she did go through a short phase of wetting herself after baby was born. I don't think there's any harm in having a potty around and encouraging her to sit on it first and last thing or asking her if she would like to have a go when you go. You never know she may just decide she doesn't want to wear a nappy with that sort of input. Good luck!

Princess Diana payground- fab but a bit of a mssion to get there?? Coram's fields near Russell Square- brilliant! Battersea Park, really nice playground, Telegraph Hill park's nice too.

Burgess Park has some fountains outside the cafe. They were on last week. Planning on going to paddling pool at Brockwell if this weather holds!

Very interesting Ju*Ni thanks. Lots of the characteristics of Montessori education are also present in the EYFS. I have looked around 2 Montessori nurseries in the area and neither adhered to all of those principals stated above. Worth thinking about.

Great!

It's a fab little group that I only discovered with my 2nd. Definitely better for smaller babies but depends on the nature of your toddler I suppose! Has been a real life saver for my crawling monster on wet mornings. Sadly I won't be able to go back as my 3 year old's nursery days have changed so I need to find something for both of them on a Monday morning.

This sounds fab Nanny Penny! We'll be there if it's on a Tuesday.

I'm sure I've read (on the EDF probably) that the name Montessori is not trademarked so basically any school or nursery can call itself Montessori regardless of whether or not the staff have had specific training, it should be 'Montessori Accredited' (??) I am no expert but a friend of mine is a Montessori teacher and she was quite surprised when I mentioned how a Montessori nursery I'd looked around insisted all children were potty trained before starting. Sorry I've not answered your question really! I'm sure someone who knows more will enlighten us...

I'd love to be involved. Have a 3.5 yr old who will be with me Mondays and Tuesdays from the beginning of August. I know those days don't fit with everyone else's but we could alternate. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to find things to do that work with toddler and v active 9 month old. Might start diddi dance but forsee problems with baby trying to escape etc. Daughter is shy initially but enjoys park visits etc so much more when it's not just me and her brother there.

Ooh love a bit of property porn thanks rebeccaben! Rightmove app is addictive...