Yak

David Mitchell's books are great for holiday reading- Cloud Atlas and One Thousand Days of Jacob de Zoot are all very readable but a nice good length. I thought The Help and One Day were good, too. I love reading Kazuro Isiguro on holiday too - his prose is beautifully sparse and it's lovely to savour when you have the time. A bit different but The Suspicions of Mr Whitcher (about a real life murder mystery in 19th century middle class provincial England) gets you thinking. Slightly trashy but real page turners are the millennium series (the girl who kicked the hornet's nest) by Stig Larsson.

Thanks everyone for the really helpful comments. To summarise, it seems to me that BLW isn't just the same as offering finger foods - I had assumed they were one and the same thing. Sophiechristophy - I've no particular reason for mentioning baby rice - it's just what I saw another mum offer as a first try for solids. And the more I think about it, iInstinctively I've a slight aversion to things with "baby" in the title as I very cynically suspect its more marketing than substance.I like the idea of oatibix dipped in milk, yoghurts, etc. I will be going back to work FT when the Yaklet is 8 months old and Mr Yak is becoming a stay at home dad for 3 - 6 months before we use a nursery / childminder. So another factor I'll have to add into the mix is Mr Yak's faff tolerance threshold, so we may end up BLW as much as accident as by design!

Ooh if you go to Lanzarote you could hop over to the island of La Palma (NOT to be confused with Las Palmas which is on Gran Canaria). La Palma is a tiny island and full of loads of fauna and flora and as far off the beaten track as you can get in the Canaries. I think you may be able to get flights from Lanzarote and / or a boat in high season, if that's still when you are thinking of going. We had an amazing holiday booked there but due to the Great Snow of 2008 (or was it 2009?) we never made it. This website will give you some ideas http://holiday.islalapalma.com/

Can I further hijack this thread? BLW experts, is it possible to combine BLW with more traditional weaning? For instance, could you give baby rice alongside chunks of pear / sweet potato? Or would this just confuse them even more? I really like the idea of BLW but am also keen to try out baby rice etc when the time comes (which is not for ages, thankfully!) Cheers.

>:D I love all the geeky stuff about how we reach decisions & why. Really fascinating stuff.

We lost an entire pack of bacon, still in its packaging, once to our cat-cum-dog. He didn't even have the decency to be sick afterwards. I don't think there are any magic solutions (aside from a water pistol!) but if I'm in a hurry I stash possible items of interest in the microwave, on top of the freezer, in the top oven etc. The challenge then is to remember you've left butter out to soften etc & where you've hidden it! The pram footmuff is a definite favourite. The baby gym is yet another soft & interesting place to explore. And the 5am night feed means that they get breakfast early...if I lock them out if our room they just whine & scratch at our bedroom door which is just beside the yaklet's room. So if the yaklet does start to sleep through we'll have to sleep train the buggers. Sigh. Do we need a family room cattery?!

We'll be around in the afternoon - could make 3.30 / 4 ish x x

I had 4. The first two didn't do much (my cervix was too far posterior, apparently). The third was very, um, through, and I had a show the next morning. Had the 4th the next day and went into labour 2 hours later @ 41+3. The post-dates clinic isn't that bad; the mws will check your bp, have a quick scan to check positioning of the baby, and offer you a sweep. Aside from the possibility of bringing on labour, a sweep should enable the mw to tell you how far you are dilated & effaced (which may be helpful to know if you need to have childcare plans in place etc). Try to get an appt as early as possible because theycan overrun on timings. I think it runs on a Mon, Wed & Fri. Good luck!

We can't do tomorrow but can do Thursday. A few of us last week fancied checking out the South London Gallery cafe- apparently it has great food & a nice enclosed garden. Anyone else up for that?

We're free. Could make from 3.30pm if I persuade yaklet to have an early nap. Electrical cafe works fine for us but not so toddler friendly if we're being joined by mobile ones. Any other suggestions?

Think I need to change my route! Will try m4ing it out of London next time :)

Def a303 rather than a35 but watch out for stonehenge! In terms of stop-offs, there's the hawk conservancy near Andover if you want / need entertainment. The solstice services just before stonehenge have baby changing facilities in the co-op shop. Further down the services at Exeter where the a30 joins the m5 are alright. I drove down last Monday with an 8 wk old to just beyond Exeter. I left at 10, did feed & nappy change at solstice services from 12 til 1, and arrived just before 3. I think you'd be looking at a couple more hours from Exeter to Liskeard. But once you hit the m5/ a38 at Exeter you avoid the worst of the bottlenecks.

I can't make tues morning (need to stay in for engineer - Grr!) but could make tues, Weds or Thursday in the afternoon. Think the weather next week should be particularly good so if toddlers are in tow we could try for a park meet up?

ClareC, they were so prompt they sent out a search party on the 4th floor to find me as I had forgotten where to go and was 5 mins late! I was done and dusted in 10 minutes. And they phoned to check a few days before the appt that it was still convenient for me. Hopefully you will have a similarly smooth experience.

F, do we need to lend you a superhungry baby?!? Poor you, hope it gets better soon.

Another shameless bump for this thread (although FRM please look kindly on it, given that it's breastfeeding awareness week!). Kings are down to only 10 donors at present from a high of about 65 a couple of years ago. So if you are fortunate enough to have a surplus of milk, please please do consider donating. Some of the babies in the SCBU I saw this morning were so unbelievably tiny and vulnerable, it almost broke my heart.

Poor you, sounds like could be reflux? Def worth checking with gp. I have a baby reflux wedge for propping babies up in bed you are welcome to borrow- it's still in its packaging as we've not needed it yet. Pm me if you'd like to borrow it. Good luck!

You've fed the cats so early that they expect their tea at 4pm!

Ask your midwife for an urgent referral. I was seen by kings within 2 wks if I remember correctly. Good luck getting it sorted - it is really horrible!

Ugh, feel for you Mrs f. Maybe doing the swaddle up progressively more loosely would help? There's also the miracle blanket - yaklet (who is a complete houdini) stays swaddled all night in it, INCLUDING nappy changes. You're welcome to come round & try it out! More generally (and apologies for the hijacking) when did people stop swaddling?

I have to say that I recommend Bad Science (along with Risk, by Gardner) to friends who are expecting over any baby book. You're so vulnerable as a parent to the latest health revelation / miracle cure reported in the press.

Will this thread change decisions people have made - for whatever reason- in the past? Probably not. Could it make them feel bad about those decisions they've made? Probably yes. Let's all relax. http://c1.planetsave.com/files/2011/01/someone-is-wrong.jpg

I just peel them, wrap in clingfilm & shove in freezer. Perfect banana ice cream lollies for kids and adults of all ages!

Sitaram at Kings do yoga classes on wed and thur evenings and sat mornings. Amy at the Dulwich Touch (aloued is her forum name) is a fantastic local and very reasonably priced masseuse. I had SPD from about 20 weeks onwards and the combination of yoga, massage and generally keeping mobile as much as possible while at work really helped. Oh, as did a yoga ball for sitting and watching TV! How long have you got til you start maternity leave? I found once I left my job and stopped being tethered to a desk for more hours a day than I care to admit the aches and pains did receed......

So is the consensus that Tuesday mornings work for some but not others? How about sticking to Tuesday mornings in general but adding in the wooden circle outdoor playground on Thursday afternoons when that's on? Would everyone able to make one, other or both of those? We're not around next week, and have the dreaded jabs the following Tuesday, but looking forward to seeing you all in a couple of weeks time.