Mathilda

I did the free nhs one and made friends there who I still see regularly. Also met people through the winter babies club on the forum.

My daughter has been in nursery 3 days / week since 9 months, she's very sociable and gets a lot out of being around other kids, and enjoys the structured day I think. I like that her carer has colleagues, so if not feeling 100% there are others to take up the slack, and they can share ideas and (I hope!) definitely get breaks during the day. Also, not sure why but I like knowing that she is in one place all day rather than out and about. I think it all comes down to your own priorities and your child's personality.

I agree Peckham Pulse is a good option, its very warm and lots of toys to play with. The Jelly Babies sessions are specifically for babies and get very busy, if you want to just turn up and swim you are more likely to get into a Little Rascals session (age 0-8) esp. at weekends.

Little Dish Cookbook has lots of easy recipes that you can make big batches of and freeze.

fapl I thought that too :)

We didn't bother much with sterilising bottles, just washed them thoroughly, ie separating all the bits and turning teats inside out. One of the books I had, What to Expect in the First Year, advises no need. Also gave tap water as a drink from quite young (although used freshly boiled water to make formula obviously).

Tues mornings works for me, its in the diary for next week!

Hi Mima - this is a great idea, would love to join in depending on what day you organise, I work Mon/Tues/Thurs.

I've been a freelancer since Feb and although it did take some adjustment, I enjoy it. It can be dull sitting at home sometimes but for me the positives (flexibility, no commute, not having to deal with difficult colleagues/office politics) outweigh any negatives. Although I am not in the house all the time as have meetings and site visits and sometimes work in larger companies' offices for a day or two.

There are lots of local networking groups around here - Portfolio Parents (Forest Hill), Mums in Business (ED) and Ladies Who Latte (Dulwich Village) are the ones I know about, though haven't tried them all yet. Also I'm getting back into attending training/networking events for my industry, which can be easy not to bother with as a freelancer but does make me feel more connected.

So I think, don't apply for a job just yet, give it some time.

Simone, my daughter has been at nursery from 9 months and loves it there. There are loads of good reasons to choose nursery, please don't worry.

Try My Favourite Nursery on Upland Rd, they are still relatively new so waiting list may be shorter. And it's lovely!

Hi, my daughter is 14 months, she has 100ml in the morning (3 1/2 oz), 100ml in the afternoon and 200ml at bedtime. She is at the same nursery as your LO I think and rarely eats much of her tea there so has tea later at home. Ideally I would prefer if she didn't have any milk in the afternoon and the balance was a little more towards food, but she loves her milk and does eat well. Could you just cut the afternoon one down? No advice really just wanted to say am thinking along the same lines.

My baby was still having a few night feeds at this age and I found it challenging! Imo its way more exhausting at this age because instead of spending your day on the sofa/in coffee shops/mum & baby cinema etc, the baby needs more entertainment and starting to get mobile. Anyway...I decided to cut night feeds at around 7 months, was confident they weren't needed, didn't leave to cry, picked up and held just delayed each feed. If you want to carry on, not sure what to advise but things that helped me were a strong coffee and some cake/chocolate at around 5pm to keep me going through to bedtime, trying to be in for one naptime in the day so I could nap too, and taking up all offers of help!

Are you feeling guilty because you think that the best thing for your son would be to be with you all week, and so childcare is second best? If so, is that really true? Can you think of things that your son gets from his childcare days which are different/extra from what he gets from the time with you? Also think of the extra money/stability for the future that you are providing.

Or is it more that just miss your son, if so give it time, as it does take time to adjust.

Beagle I look at my daughter's pic on my phone when at work too :)

Hi, this is a great idea, I would love to come along. Am new to freelancing so it would be good to get tips/advice from others! Can't make 14th but will look out for details of the next one.

Hi, at 1m my baby was taking 45mins-1hr for a breastfeed and around 20mins for a bottle feed, so yes it can be quicker. She did get much faster at breastfeeding over time, tho I can't remember exactly when this started to happen!

I loved the convenience of breastfeeding but did introduce a bottle per day (formula) at around 6 weeks just to give my body a little break each day, and it was great.

What I found worked was to feed the baby while she was lying down - in moses basket or buggy or on a blanket - rather than being held. Was a tip from someone else on the forum, can't remember who! Also making a loud shushing noise, no idea why. Good luck - bottle wars are no fun.

Tereasa's cakes are great:

tereasa's cakes

Great to catch up with the curry clubbers, and the food was lovely. Have just realised I can't make the next one, even though Jaflong was my idea!! So will look forward to April one :)

Tracy - come along would be lovely to meet you!

I'm in too! If don't make it to Franklins will see you all in the restaurant x

Personally I have always given my now 1 year old wholemeal bread - she is fine on it. She has around one slice a day so I couldn't see how that would be too much. Maybe someone else knows more!

Hi - its at the Dulwich Constitutional Hall on East Dulwich Grove, but you have to go around to the side door on the right hand side. Sometimes we have to shut the door to stop the toddlers escaping :) so maybe give a loud knock? At the moment it is ?5 per session.

Loren - hope you can come along this week to the Weds pm group, its great fun!

Hi, I have cut down my daughter's milk from around 550-600 to 450ml, HV advice was it should be around 400 (14oz) so might try to cut it down a bit more.

She has 3 bottles a day - I reduced the morning feed (this resulted in her eating loads more breakfast, yay), and the afternoon one, I haven't dared touch the evening one, the biggest, in case it affects sleep!

I tried giving the afternoon feed in a cup but it was not well received so leaving it for now...

Hi, there is already the fab Classics for my Baby held at St. Barnabas church once a month on a Friday, so probably better not to clash with that.