little h

Another vote for Denzel - I too have 2 boys in the 11am and 13 non classes. They love it and both coaches are great with the kids :-)

Thank you - we're both aware that this could have been so much worse.

My husband was mugged at midnight this evening by a young man with a very large knife. The police have taken details. Please be careful if walking alone across Peckham rye - it happened directly outside the one o'clock club as he walked from bus stop from Barry road towards the other side of the park. Attacker took his phone and coat. He's fine but shaken up. Police have been very helpful Helen

Thanks for all your messages. It does feel like one step forward 2 steps back ... We tried movacol last year, and it helped briefly then got worse again. Maybe it's worth another go. We had a good phase earlier this year where he wS going every day at his request firing day in pull-ups - which felt like a big step forward. Then he gradually withdrew again. And now he's withholding regularly again. We bribed him with a new toy to get him going during day again, and it worked for a few days but now we're back to square one again. He is adamant he won't use a toilet - he has an answer for everything. Yet in quiet moments he admits he wants to be like other children but says he won't do it. It's worse than it's been for a while - he 's stopping himself at night too at the moment. It makes us feel so helpless to see him like this. He wants to have sleepovers with his friends but doesn't want them to know. We've been refered to a paediatrician but might try the movacol whilst we wait for our appt next February! Our doctor has been brilliant and has also referred us to child psychologist but the referral has been rejected - frustrating as we feel this is a behavioural issue. I agree with one of the replies here that our parents generation had less patience - but equally how do you get a child to change behaviour like this? You can't force a child to poo ! I've had a quick look on the Eric site - it's depressed me to read of children having issues still at age 8 or 10... I'll have another look for some pearls of wisdom. We just want to help him - it's really affecting him now. Also we have another son aged 2.5 and I'm terrified well have similar issues as he's never seen his big brother sit on a loo and is constantly hearing him shouting about not wanting to do a poo . Sorry feeling rather low about all of this

Thanks for these comments. - firstly he is too big for a potty and also very aware that he is a big boy so wouldn't use it anyway. He is very worried about his school friends finding out that he still wears pull-ups at night. Secondly he needs to be in control, so a laxative of any kind won't work. If he had an accident at school I'm not sure how he would deal with it. We find the whole thing very upsetting...

Hi folks I'm hoping someone put there has had a similar experience and can offer some words of hope! Our son is almost 5, and is a bright, sociable and happy boy. But, at almost 5, he still refuses to do poos in the toilet. Following the advice of health visitors we've tried bribery/reward charts/ignoring it/ waking him at night... Everything. We're now waiting for a paediatrician appointment . Has anyone been through this? He just saves up his poo and does it in his sleep. Apart from a brief phase where we somehow persuaded him to go in pull-ups during the day, I'd say this has been going on since potty training. He has an argument for everything - don't like the loo, don't like the noise, don't like the splash etc etc. he did it twice when he was about age 3 and has never done it since. We want to help him - sometimes he is horribly constipated- but it's like there's nothing we can do . I know this will be resolved somehow and sometime, but can't see how. Has anyone been through this? H

I have absolutely no idea where/how we'd start planning this - but it would be great if we could pull it off! H

wow that all sounds amazing - would you mind passing on the details of where you stayed? Please pm me... We've never done anything other than 2-3 week holidays, actually haven't managed 2 weeks anywhere for a few years, so this would be a real adventure for us... :-) H

hello My 2 and 4 yr old boys are there - they are very happy and have always been so there. ditto all the praise above! Its a lovely environment and all the staff seem to genuinely care about the kids . We've always liked the fact that its a smaller nursery too. Again, pm me if you would like to know anything else H

thanks for this b, my eldest son's birthday is jan 6 so we could in theory have until april... h

hello all Interesting... We've not given any thought to this other than, wouldn't this be a fab thing to do whilst we can . I had no idea we could defer our school place, so thanks for that little gem Renata. It would be a great thing to do :-) Hx

Hello Has anyone got any exerience of taking a year out with kids? It looks like I might lose my job, and my husband has a chance to take voluntary redundancy. We're wondering whether to rent our house out and go abroad travelling and/ or working for 6 months or a year. Our kids are 4 and 2, so seems like a good opportunity, although not sure what would happen with school - b is due to start this sept. anyone done this ? If so any advice or suggestions for good places that worked with kids. Could be a great experience and adventure! Thanks H

when i was at school, not sure how old i was but i think i was about 12, i discovered a good housekeeping mag in which my mum had completed a questionnaire. One of the questions was ' is your son's education more important than your daughter's?' . She had answered yes, and i was furious and heart broken and never ever forgot it. I just couldnt bring myself to ask her about it but I asked her about it years later and she said i'd misunderstood, that the man was usually the main bread winner and she felt it was important for both of us but more so for my brother. I was still too upset after all that time. I dont think i ever did appreciate how hard it would be balancing a good career and kids though.

our boys love all the museums mentioned on here. Especially the transport museum and the science museum (our almost 4yr old loves the space bit and the planes - and the interactive bit on the ground floor near the restaurant at the back. In our experience though, if you want to see any of the science museum then go to the basement bit last - you'll never get out of it otherwise!) enjoy :-) H

hello our 2 boys, 3.5 yrs and 16 mths, are at mother goose on waveney avenue and love it. The staff are great and its quite a small nursery. Depends what you're looking for but the slick, corporate nature of some of the bigger nurseries like asquith wasnt for us - though i know lots of happy children there. Its in a victorian house and although it could do with a lick of paint its a homely friendly nursery with a great outdoor space. The staff are great, and even ali the chef is a big part of nursery life, and popular with both our boys! H

hi there I seem to remember theres a closing down paety this week at the 1 oclock club, today i think... Can anone confirm? Thanks H

hello We're going to move to somewhere around Guildford... Possibly Godalming depending on what we can find, does anyone know any ED folks there? We wouldn't choose to go there as although its lovely its still v expensive. But we're moving to be close to my job, and so I can work around school hours. My husband will commute into london still. We live on the nunhead side of peckham rye park, up near ivydale and will really miss our house and the community here. Just about to put our house on the market. :-( H

hello usually fine though sometimes you get a jobsworthy bus driver who wont let 2 buggies on if ones a P&T H

hello everyone Us too, we're on reynolds road and I haven't checked where we are on the waiting list yet. we've been using the children's centre since b was 6 months old, so this has been a real shock. all of our neighbours kids go to the school. I now hold no hope of b getting into the primary school now . I knew the sibling intake would be big, but this has been a real eye opener. H

hi snowboarder having similar issues, infact worse as we haven't even managed one wee in the toilet in months. And B has ongoing constipation...now on day 4 and wondering whether to go back to the doctors. Bizarrely we have done 3 perfect poos in the toilet totally unprompted but now have no interest and loves saving everything up for me ' is this really horrible mummy, good, haa haaaaaa' as I changed one recent horrible pair of pullups. I'm glad to know it's not just us struggling. everyone seems to have this sorted except us :-( H

hello My youngest son is 11 months and had reflux from about 6 weeks. He was 6 weeks prem and quite a tiny baby. we're at the gardens surgery and the drs there, dr tran in particular, have been brilliant. I too was at my wits end, and its so exhausting. If my eldest son, then 2, hadn't been in nursery 2 days a week I don't know what I'd have done! we friend gaviscon infant and rinitidine at first but switched to omeprazole soon after instead of the rinitidine. After a few days ethan was like a different baby. He went from a miserable and upset baby to a smiley and sleeping one! Couldn't believe it. ethan was formula fed from about 4 weeks... me and my boys just never got on with breast feeding. We did also switch our formula, at the dr's advice, to the hungry baby kind. I'm not sure this made a big difference or if it was that and the drugs together, but the Thinking was it would be heavier in his tummy and therefore help. He had a relapse around 5 months as he'd got much bigger, but once the dr had increased the dosage then we were back on track again. We're now considering weaning him off the drugs but wanted him to be more mobile and upright. Our dr said some babies get worse as they crawl around as they are horizontal again more...but improve again as cruising/walking becomes the norm. It does get better, and as you'll see diff things work for diff babies. We never went down the cranial or non dairy route as ethan had been fine on normal formula at first. Feel fee to PM me if you'd like any more info. Oh and we did also prop up the cot which helped too. Its so awful seeing your baby in this distress isn't it.... Stick with it. Hx

hi Gussy Thanks for this, which buggy board have you got? H

hello I've got a mclaren and a p&t sport. We use the p&t most days but seem to need both seats less and less. My eldest son is 3 and sometimes does still get tired so we're not quite ready for 1 buggy. I wondered if anyone had used a buggy board on the p&t sport just with the main buggy? I think as time goes on we'll end up using the mclaren more so ideally want a buggy board I could use with both... Anyone tried this? I do like the p&t as a single buggy, its nice and sturdy for muddy parks etc, but the mclaren is more compact and so much easier for the car. Also I'll have to use the mclaren and a buggy board for nursery drop off when I return to work in may... Any tips on the buggy board front? Thanks H

don't get in such a tizz about breastfeeding, if you and/or baby don't' get it then spare yourself the heartache... You and baby will be fine, and other mothers aren't judging you as much as you think for having a bottle fed baby... Enjoy the tiny baby phase, its so so fleeting. I'm really glad we got into a bedtime routine fairly early on...that did really help.

oops I think we might have received an australian flat bear for our first son... I had no idea what it was, it was black and you couldn't see the eyes properly.... it looked really creepy and a bit like a teddy bear that had been run over. We always thought it was a bit of a weird present. Sorry. Best presents for baby were a lovely personalised blanket from mr mole (I've since ordered for friends online). for mummy and daddy home made meals were very welcome... I also later was given a day at the sanctuary, which possibly was the best present I've ever had!