Fuschia

I used the have the wonderweeks book and it had ideas for activities you could so at each stage to help them adjust to the big leaps in brain devt..I can't recall what is going on with them at 6m but if you know that you can maybe help... library has the book.

I think anything up to a year is reasonable really, after that it's probably not necessary but can be nice for comfort, esp if you're breastfeeding... If she hasn't been having milk at night and the waking is new, it may not be hunger though but a developmnental leap/brain development making her restless. It could be a growth spurt, too. http://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2006/02/qa_what_are_sle.html

Horniman has busybees

Also: http://www.teachers.org.uk/files/maternity-matters-april10.doc#_4.5_MATERNITY_ALLOWANCE

Yes, I think you'll be entitled to MA (which isn't taxable) depending on your self employed earnings http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Expectingorbringingupchildren/DG_10018869

What do people think of this? http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23855842-fortress-nursery-scans-parents-fingerprints-when-they-pick-up-their-children.do

That's good news ED. And yes that's cluster feeding. Do you know what, re the empty boobs... that's when they get the good stuff! The milk that collects in your boobs loses fat back into the body amd ends up watery thirst quenching foremilk... once that's gone they get the hindmilk (which you produce as they feed) Some mums will offer both breasts, some find that's too much foremilk and just sticking to one side reduces windiness and increases weight gain. Keep emptying your breasts as often as possible (8+ times a day, possibly 10-12) and you will both be benefitting.

new mother Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Jaundice is not the main issue here. A tendency to > jaundice could be exacerbated by a poor feeder > failing to flush out liver toxins resulting in the > yellow colour. THe real danger is when a baby > might go hypoglycaemic as aresult of his/her low > blood sugar levels. But a few posts ago you said you think that is rot?

Sanne Panne Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Second baby: 1 hour from established labour to > birth Congratulations! x

Thing is, if the baby isn't feeding often enough (tiny tummy after all and might need waking to get the feeds in) then it will lose weight and become a bit weak and feeble, jaundiced and struggle to feed... my twin II was not a good latcher and had to have milk syringed down her throat every few hours as I couldn't get her to feed unless the MWs were there to help. I'm sure if we'd let her sleep she would have been back in hospital. Her weight was borderline at 10 days old (11% down on birthweight) and I know it was on its way up by then. I think the term "feeding on demand" is a bit misleading as when you're new to it, you assume the baby will ask....

Hmm, if we count it from being at 4cm, T was probably born in about an hour! There was a 5 year gap between my 1st and 2nd/3rd... but labour was very fast both times.

new mother Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Everyone banged on to us about not leaving them > longer than 3 hours especially overnight. THe > reason cited was that the baby's blood sugar level > could tip them into hypoglycaemia which is > obviosly v dangerous. > > I now think it's rot personally and would allow > longer than 3 hours and ESPECIALLY o/n. I don't really agree. A sleepy baby that is reluctant to feed will tend to sleep longer and longer and feed less and less, lose weight and in a very small newborn, you can be facing rehospitalisation before you know it. I think you do have to ensure the baby is getting enough milk, esp for the first 2-3w.

1st baby 3 3/4h 2nd baby from first cx to birth approx 2h

Princess, are you using pressure fit gates? I think most doorframes would be OK with an old fashioned screw fix gate, esp if you strengthened it with a batten.

If you post something for sale, it's gone from the front page within a couple of hours, pushed off by childcare posts..

I think you're right she may be sleeping a bit too long. The huge infrequent feed isn't cluster feeding (that's lots of small feeds in a short period) Cluster feeding is a good thing because it encourages your milk supply and the baby feeding from empty breasts also gives them a lot of the high fat hindmilk. Wwaiting till you're engorged idn't so good for many reasons, you risk mastitis, it doesn't stimulate milk production (in fact, the opposite) and the baby gets a bellyfull of the sugary milk that has reduced in fact content while it stands in the breast (= green poo, windy tummy, as you say0 i think trying to get in 5 day time feeds approx 3 hours apart ending with one at about 11pm then letting her have her longer period of sleep if she wants to, is the way to go. Good luck! My twin II was a sleepy feeder and had to be woken. Going too long can also leave them a bit jaundiced.

See, here's a study into a specific intervention programme delivered by TAs: http://www.gtce.org.uk/teachers/rft/sen_inc1105/sen_inc1105cs/casestudy2/ " At the end of the nine-week intervention, the researchers? statistical analysis showed: ... the children in the intervention groups showed significantly greater improvements in phonological awareness, decoding and letter-sound knowledge than the control group children"

Is yours sleeping too much you think, or not enough?

BB100 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It has a lot to do with a research report which > suggested the more time a child spent with a T/A > the less they learnt. > http://www.education.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfi > les/DCSF-RB148.pdf > > But they only visited 18 schools and seem to have > ignored all the good things the report says about > T/As. > I think it's certainly true that the levels of training/education of TAs vary hugely, that in some schools there is insufficient time for joint planning and preparation with teachers. I think also that there is a huge tendency, in schools overburdened with pupils who in the past wouldn't have been in the mainstream, for TAs to be used to "neutralise" those pupils to allow the teacher to get on with teaching the others in the class. (And this role will be welcomed by the teacherm the other pupils and their parents!) I'm afraid I am rather cynical about the massive wholesale integration there has been and the closure of special schools. I don't see that the pupils necessarily receive an appropriate education. TAs are holding the fort you could say. But that's one specific TA function, they are used in many different ways. There are other studies (and much local monitoring of intervention) showing that the deployment of TAs to support a specific cohort does have a beneficial effect on pupil progress. Certainly, any school spending a considerable amount on TAs (or other forms of intervention) should be evaluating effectiveness and value for money.

new mother Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Understood Fuschia and I agree that Dulwich is an > atypical London area but we are talking about ch > who have had 6 or 7 years in a school and cannot > read. It beggars belief. Many of the pupils won't have been in school for 6/7 years, and certainly not one school throughout. Many of the families who do speak English at home don't have any books!

new mother Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I wish someone would outlaw the teaching of the > existence of exclamation marks till pupils are > deemed old enough to know when to use them. > > I read your note with rising incredulity Nicole. > If all this child specific targetted learning is > going on, why does one third of our children leave > primary school - ie aged 11 ish - unable to attain > basic standards of literacy? In the school I work at, approx 80% don't speak English at home and a large proportion are recent immigrants to the UK from Eastern Europe. The challenge is very much to get these pupils up to speed because without a good standard of English they won't pass good GCSEs... TAs and targeted intervention is part of the solution to this sort of problem. It's not fair to scapegoat the TAs (as the tabloid press probably will if there are wholesale job losses) Remember ED is something of a privileged enclave and the school population here is wholly untypical of maany schoold, rsp in London and other big cities.

Vickster Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > No worries, let me know if you need it. > > My other suggestion, although very old so you have > probably read it, is Life of Pi. Loved that book > and still have a copy if you wanted to borrow as > well. I prob would like to borrow both if poss! I am good at giving books back, btw

So is this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Other-Impossible-Pursuits-Ayelet-Waldman/dp/0552772925/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/203-8977762-9719937?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189964461&sr=8-1 and anything by Lolly Winston

By the way, I recommend this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Other-Hand-Chris-Cleave/dp/0340963425/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279118957&sr=8-1

Vickster Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have finished with my copy, so you are very > welcome to borrow if it is not in the library. Ooh, yes please! I will sit myself down and see what they have in stock I can order. I just love reading when I get the chance.... and no internet where we're going so I will get loads read in the evenings. I usually manage to get through a book in a few hours, so I will need a big pile to last two weeks!