KatsuQueen

Gillandjoe, where is this "state subsidised child care for working mums"? I need it! Serious question, not being sarcastic..if you know where to get it...please tell me. (apologies to op, off topic!)

Further to SingingWilks comment above, maybe you should consider the area in between Peckham Rye and ED stations? You would still be very close to ED Lordship Lane etc but also within easy reach of Peckham Rye station (which has a better service than ED station). You'd be in SE15 but arguably closer to ED's main shops/pubs etc than mamny parts of SE22.

Name and shame! (Or report to Southwark Council??)

I think Minikatsu would love this, what time is it on? Do you just turn up? Will give Bernie a call tomorrow but would be glad of any info.

I've just flown on a long haul flight out of Heathrow and had to open half of the food I had with me, which was mainly Ella's pouches and milk in cartons. It was a total pain as we were struggling with two very grumpy kids and all their associated kit! At least with the Ella's pouches you can screw the lids back on after tasting a bit. The officer at Heathrow made me open 3 precious cartons of Aptamil (precious as we can't buy it where we were going). We had to try and rip them open as we didn't have any scissors (not allowed to bring through, we thought) and pour them into our sterilised bottles. The officer saw how we were struggling and "helped" by unscrewing the lids of the bottles for us, unfortunately she then put the bottle lids with teats on the filthy counter. I couldn't bear to use the bottles when I saw that there were hairs stuck to the bottle screwtops. yuck. Luckily I had also brought some disposable sterile bottles with me as a final worst case backup. But then spent flight anxious about whether I had enough bottles.... To be honest I may be making a bit of a drama about it but at the time it was a total nightmare! My littlest is 5 months so sterilising is not the biggest worry compared to a newborn say, but still... Aarrghhh.

I'm sure my neighbour had 3 under 4 at one point, and they have their 3 carseats in a row at the back. It's a Honda 5 seater, sorry don't know the name but equivalent to Ford Focus in terms of size. However I only moved next door when the youngest was nearly two, so it could be that they had to have a different car before. Just worth a double check as Carbonara suggests.

Hi Sylviamaria, I still find it hard to think about the delivery of my first child, who is now 3 - even though I have had another child since then. Like Trish, I didn't realise it at the time but I was really traumatised; I don't think I have "closure" even now. I really wanted a second child so I tried to put it out of my mind but of course, eventually I had to discuss birth plans with someone. I sat in the consultant midwife's office in Kings crying my eyes out when I was 6 months pregnant, she suggested counselling but frankly I didn't want counselling I just wanted it to be different this time round. Anyway to cut a long story short, it was better and I (like Trish) have very positive feelings about birth of my daughter. Like Trish I still cry when I think about No 1 (am in tears now! :()and I think it's not unusual, will PM you my contact details if you want to have a chat.

F, we would need them in about 3 weeks time but would be great to have them in the next week or so, so we can check that the seats actually fit etc.

Hi, does anyone have a recommendation for a travel bag for MaxiCosi car seats. We are going on a long haul flight and neew to bring two car seats (groan). We have a MaxiCosi Priori and MaxiCosi Cabriofix - does anyone have any recommendations and tips? Or even a bag that you would be willing to sell /lend for a month? I assume we will need two bags.

I can;t wait for my 4 month old daughter to be old enough to smock!

Anyone fancy a playdate with a 3 year old boy? Goose Green playground or Warwick Gardens best for us, ort can come round to ours. We are on Bellenden Rd but ideally outdoors as we are also potty training! I also have a 4 month old!

Espelli - I said "after all formula is not poison" and I'm glad it helped you. I have been following this thread but couldn;t bring myself to post (until now) because of the OP's comparison with Rwanda, which frankly made me think, are you serious or is this a wind-up? (Sorry SophieChristophy, I know this is a serious thread and you feel strongly about this topic.) I've now decided that discussing breastfeeding is like religion: there are "true believers", "unbelievers" and the rest of us, who are just doing our best.

Hi, I posted about this recently here nanny costs it was for 3 days, but very similar situation i.e. one child in nursery in the morning. I used the nannytax calculator to work out the NI and tax costs, which you have to add on to the net cost.

I've given up reading these baby/parenting articles because it's just another thing to feel guilty about. Never a good enough mother no matter what you do; I bet there's anotherarticle floating around somewhere quoting research that says how much better "schedule-fed" babies do at school, nursery, better at playing with other children etc... When I was struggling to breast-feed TinyKatsu in the early days (milk took ages to come in, nearly 10 days), she used to cry and cry. Whether from hunger or just because she was a newborn baby, who knew? But there was an article in the BBC news at the time about how breast-fed babies cry more than formula-fed babies. Wow, did I feel like cr*p. (Sorry off topic I know.)

Hi Minikatsu has never had bubble bath because he had terrible eczema when he was a baby so we have always avoided bath products. He still doesn;t use soap or shampoo in the bath, but he would love a bubble bath. Are there any brands which are better for dry skin? And any that I should definitely avoid?

Sex after 4-6 weeks, hahahahahaha..(bitter laughter on a loop)

congratulations and hope you are recovering well. I remember how lovely it was to be home after a week in hospital, best wishes!

Fuschia, you are a legend! (Storing away all your tips for future reference!)

Someone has suggested a "nanny with own child" arrangement, which might suit us so I will look into that too. Minikatsu was really happy at his childminder so I'm not really worried about the quality of care they will get if they go to the right childminder. But there were days when it was awful getting him out the door by 7:30 and I felt terrible all day at work because I only had 1 hour to spend with my son and I had spent it shouting at him. But as MrKatsu pointed out - there are lots of people who do it, so we can too. And I should stop being such a wuss! (Edited to say: I mean there are lots of people who manage the drop-off and pick-up routine...not lots of people who shout at their children...)

Thanks for the info everyone. MrsS I do appreciate that it is very hard work! :) Dulwichgirl2 - yes I have added tax and NI to the basic net rate, thanks!

Hi, I've been busy doing calculations trying to figure out how to cover childcare costs when I go back to work later in the year and I'm hoping that some helpful forumites could advise, or just say, yes your numbers sound right or no, you have forgotten about xyz etc. Minikatsu went to a childminder and I was happy with that, but now that I have two, a nanny or nannyshare really appeals. Mainly because the thought of wrestling two children out the door by 7:30am, and doing the pick-up at 6ish and whole bathtime/bedtime routine with everyone (especially me) tired and fractious is making me depressed. So at least if the nanny comes to house I am spared that drop-off and I can come home to two clean and fragrant children, fed and all cute and cuddly in their jim jams. (well that's the dream) But working out costs (based on other posts and nanny tax calculator)- ?10/hour for 3 days would cost us about ?1800! Yikes! If that's true I'll just have to accept the fact that we can't afford a nanny and look at other options. I also looked at nanny share - but the hourly cost is higher ?12/ hour and if we paid 65% of the cost (eg if the other family only had one child, which is realistic) - it still costs about ?1550 - which helps but seems a lot of hassle for not much gain. Also how does the bathing work when you are in a nanny share - does it happen? Do you keep towels etc at each others houses? Or does it not really happen? I think I have just about concluded that we can;t afford a nanny! It's not that I am against childminders/nurseries etc but exploring all the options.

computedshorty - where are you in ED? Have sent you a PM

feedback posted above.

Hi little h, sorry no advice as I have put off any serious potty training till after TinyKatsu has arrived and things have settled down. But just wanted to send you good vibes and let you know you are not alone. MiniKatsu will be going strating nursery in January and I am hoping (all fingers crossed) that once he sees older children using the loo etc, peer pressure will kick in and he will want to be like the "big boys". (I can only hope!) Fuschia- thanks so much for your earlier post. MiniK will be be 3 in a few weeks and some days it seems like he will be in nappies forever. Soon I will have 2 sets of pooey nappies to deal with - what joy!

Hi little h, we are in the same boat. Minikatsu will be 3 in January but shows no sign of being interested in potty training. We have tried sitting him on the potty and he will sit for a bit, but never does anything in it. He will happily sit in a soiled nappy.:-S To be honest probably our own fault that we have waited too long (?) but I was working full time till recently and now am on maternity leave waiting for arrival of Tiny Katsu. I've just got no energy at the moment to put him in pants and deal with wee/poo accidents as they happen. It just seems easier to keep him in nappies for now, although I know I am storing up trouble for myself. Arrghhh. Let us know how you get on.