nicolemodesti

I have just read the very easy read of Gina Ford Potty Training and have to say that it makes sense. Not a fan of books or GF, but wanted an idea of what is ahead. My boy is 16 months and will go into the bathroom to put his soft toy sheep on the toilet lid, says wee wee. He also comes into the loo with me or my partner, helping with attempting to pull our pants up!! No more 5 minutes peace!! Also is starting to let me know when he has done a wee wee on the floor, during his nappy frree time before bath and will lead me to it saying wee wee so I can wipe it up. Surely it is too young to try him though? May give it until next half term holidays when I am home from school? Open to suggestions!!!!

We did Australia to visit family when our boy was 5 months and it was a good age to go. Bassinets are ideal but do make sure that you pre book and the day before flying make sure that it is definitely requested. We didn't have any problems with taking on some home made puree as our son was just starting the weaning process and also had baby rice powder. Some airports have transit pushchairs depending on the airline you fly with.Although pack in a sling. Thought about a stopover but didn't bother in the end and it worked out fine as he slept for most of the 2 long journeys to Oz and enjoyed the stopover in Singapore airport. Singapore were quite lax in our transit stopover and din't ask us to taste a thing, We found the air stewards to be really helpful and wanting to whisk away your baby for cuddles! Have done a couple of shorter flights at 12 months and they did ask us to taste 50% but the nice security gentleman wavered the formula and asked me to taste his juice! Again no problems with homemade food. They stated the extra cartons we had packed were sealed and fine. Another thing to remember is that the creams etc you need to take are the required size. To be honest it was alot easier than I thought it would be but am quietly dreading the next trip to Australia, if our trip to Spain when he was 12 months was anything to go by and he absolutely had to help with pushing the luggage trolley!!

Tell you that you need to lose weight - 10 days after having an emergency c section!!!!

As randomv, we also started with purees, then mashed/finger food by about 8 months. At this age he was also munching on pieces of chopped apple etc. By 9 months he would happily sit with us in a restaurant and eat from our plates and not the lovingly prepared pasta I had taken along. To be honest I don't know very much about BLW, but it does seem that our now 13 month old has a great palate, loves to try new foods and use a spoon/fork. So much so that he would rather eat from our plates, especially the paella we had in Menorca for his 1st birthday! Long may it continue. Funnily enough, I really enjoyed the pureeing stage, as I would tuck myself away in the kitchen for a couple of hours on a Saturday morning while my partner spent time with our boy. Strange but it was therapeutic!!!! I'm not sure about the food/sleep factor as we are one of the 'lucky' ones in that he was sleeping through from 6 weeks. Good luck with it all.

Thank you Pickle and Julia2009, picked up the NUK and as luck would have it his nose is congestion free and no snot. Shall tuck it away in the cupboard for the next bout of runny nose!! He seems to have had an on/off snotty nose for a few weeks after a bout of gastric. Doctor also said this is common from nursery interaction!! Though she has prescribed antibiotics for a respiratory infection. Unfortunately he passes all his germs to mummy as well as the ones I pick up from my class at school. Maybe the 'snot sucker' should be my saviour!

Pickle, if you do know the name then please let us know as I really am looking for something like that. Not the electrical ones though!!

At my school we have a form that is filled in by parents, to gain permission, for children to be absent for holidays during term time.This is normally authorised by our Headteacher. It does depend on the policy of the school. Do not fake illness as you never know what may occur in the future with your child's health! If you do not notify the school and just go away then an EWO will be informed that your child is absent without reason. This can lead to all sorts of problems. Definitely discuss the situation with your school, especially asking for an appointment with the Headteacher. I think it also depends on the different boroughs and the procedures they follow. Good luck.

Snufflebabe is great to use for young babies, rubbed in to the chest, not vicks. Calpol nasal saline spray works a treat and Karvol drops on a muslin attached out of reach to the cot. Karvol also do the plug ins but to be honest they are expensive and they need to be changed every 48 hours. You can pick all these things up from Sanisbury's or chemist. Good luck.

Pickle it is really difficult and my 13 month old went through it recently. He would seem full of beans, would then become a bit limp and then do the most amazing projectile vomit! It lasted for a couple of days with a slight temp just before he vomited.This soon followed by severe diarrohea. Bless him as he really didn't know which way it was coming. He did seem interested in food so offered it to him, loads of fluid and his milk. Also gave him electrolade to replace any minerals. As candj has said, do be prepared for illness yourself as I came down with it severely for 2 days!!Really felt how my boy must have been suffering. Fingers crossed you don't. Also at my school we have had a nasty outbreak of vomiting and diarrohea in the nursery today.

sb - We had a similar problem when trying to organise the christening of our son. I approached my local Catholic church and was told I was not part of the faith community so would have to attend regularly and then the priest started talking about people only wanting to have their children christened to gain entry into a Catholic school. He also asked of my marital status and then proceeded to go completely off the topic of christening. In the end we organised a CofE christening, as my partner is CofE, and I teach at a CofE school. We had a lovely baptism which was very liberal, mainly due to the priest who conducted the ceremony. Another reason we went with her and CofE. A christening is a very personal decision and I wish you all the luck in your choice.

Thanks for your advice Steve T..... We did try all that you suggested and to no avail. The situation that I felt uncomfortable with in my home was the fact that he was fabricating rather exaggerated stories about me, that we found rather disturbing. Not to go into on here!!His lack of respect for mine and my partners relationship is rather dreadful. I also failed to mention that I am a teacher and am well and truly accustomed to setting rules, boundaries and behaviour management. I am rather highly qualified so do know a few things. Unfortunately our house rules etc do not marry with the house rules that he is accustomed to in his own environment. So his mother seems to think that we are too harsh in expecting that he, at the age of 10, make his bed, run a bath, earn his pocket money or not be allowed to run around outside til 9pm!! God forbid if we then don't allow him his 'daily treat'!! I shall hold onto the thought that maybe it will change in the future but I really don't see it happening soon.

Kate, You are doing all you can!! I have done exactly the same as you and am still in a difficult situation. I'm sure you still are good as a stepmother and haven't changed one bit. Having met both you and your husband, I saw that you were both very natural and calm people. This time is very trying for you. Your point of not being able to vanish is quite valid, plus it is your home and you should not have to. Also when would your husband spend time with your son and his daughters as a family unit? Mothers being uncomplimentary about us certainly does not help and I have had my share of comments relayed to me by my stepson, as well as ranting and verbal abuse down the phone, and unfortunately you shall always be in the wrong! Take it on the chin as I am sure that if you were such an unfavourable person then your husband would not be with you, allow you contact with his daughters or have even had another child with you.Personally we have found that since our boy started walking at 10 months and into everything the situation became unbearable. I felt so uncomfortable in my own home, which surely you should not, whereas my stepson seemed to thrive on the tension. We have tried quality time with Daddy, special treats and whatever else we could think of and to no avail so I guess that I, like you, shall wear the mantle of wicked step mother with a feeling of regret and sorrow! Oh and look forward to the teenage years!! Take care Kate and if you do find some sort of miracle then please let me know!!xx

Agree with Crystal Palace, have been brilliant for our baby and the toddlers there seem to really enjoy.

My son had his MMR dose at 12 months which was early due to a measles epidemic, apparently. I have to take him back in 4 - 6 weeks for his booster dose. Advised to do it in a different way than the 1st and 2nd dose. He was a little ratty in the afternoon, which baby nurofen helped. Although 4 days later he ended up with a gastric bug and high temperature. Sure they weren't linked but fighting off all those bugs may not have helped???

Hi Kate, don't count on the fact of having stepkids under 10 being any different!! My stepson, who is 10, created a huge strain over the summer while staying with us. Unfortunately we only managed 2 weeks rather than the 4 weeks and he had to be flown home early. Needless to say and quite sadly he does not want to be around me which makes visits to us very difficult. There was no hint of his turning on me as we had experienced such pleasure over the last year of my own sons life. So it looks like I am in for a very rocky road with his impending teenage years approaching!! Good luck.

Had exactly the same situation as Pickle!! Not worth buying really. I'm such a wimp that my husband cut our boys nails and still does, a year later.

Hi, My son was fully breast fed although we had also introduced a bottle of breast milk from about 1 month. Not sure if you have done this at all? Before returning to work, when he was 6 months, I introduced a formula feed when he was about 5 months. At this stage he was breastfeeding every 3 hours but sleeping through the night. We would breast feed first thing in the morning, mid morn, after lunch, and before bed. I introduced the formula mid afternoon.I would then have to express as you can well imagine. He didn't seem to mind, possibly as he had experience of the bottle. I didn't cut down breast feeding time, not sure that I would have known how!My son was a guzzler as well and would at times have quite awhile on the breast. Over the couple of weeks before I returned to work I replaced the before bed feed with a formula so he was having 2 formula feeds a day. When I returned to work, I would bf first thing in the morning and before bed. He would have 3 formula feeds during the day, plus his solids. With all my best intentions, I only managed to keep the morning breast feed going until he was 10 months, when he flatly refused my breast anymore!Although I would express in the evening I found that my milk supply had dwindled. Even had a spare breast pump at work that I never needed, although everyone is different. Not sure that there is a right or wrong way to do this, but do understand your concerns after having mastitis myself at the beginning of bf. Wishing you the best!!

We used the Handysitt as we were limited for space. It attaches to a chair and is very sturdy. Plus it folds up compact and can be transported around in a carry bag. It can also be used up to 4 years of age. Worth the money we paid. handysitt

Hi, I have a book called 'Cooking Without' by Barbara Cousins. It has recipes free from added gluten, sugar, dairy products, yeast, salt and saturated fats. Although it does contain some recipes with eggs the majority are without or suggest using an egg replacer. I buy all my wheat, dairy free products from Sainsburys or Holland and Barrett. In Sainsbury's the free from range is quite good, and they even have small pancakes,pitta,pizza bases, etc. The best pasta I have used is Orgran, which is an Australian brand, and they have rice and millet pasta, corn pasta, etc. Just find that it cooks better and is tastier.You can even get orgran tin spagghetti! As for chocolate they do a free from bar but try to get the Dairy Free bars or buttons (in a purple wrapper). For desserts you could try the Alpro Soya (if allowed) - Vanilla, Caramel or chocolate which are found near the milk (not in the cold section) As mentioned the Toffutti is excellent and you can also find tofu cheese slices, which I find in Holland and Barrett. The Pure soya butter is better than the free from range.Sainsbury's do wheat free frozen foods and my 10 year old stepson didn't even realise that he was eating wheat free fish fingers the other day!! Good luck with it all!

It's sad that most of our opinions are very low on HV. I have to say that I do not put much faith in the service and rely on other mums and forums. I always feel very rushed by them at a visit and confused by advice given. Needless to say that once going back to work when my boy was 6 months I have only taken him twice since, for weight checks. When I did ask for advice on switching to cow's milk it was inadequate and I turned to ED forum where I was given sound tried and tested advice. Seems to be that HV are not thought of very highly in many boroughs and while I appreciate they are 'very busy and overworked' (stated to me when I tried to book my sons 8 month check)I feel that they coud take the time to guide first time mothers a little better!! Therefore people like Snowboarder would feel less that they are doing it all wrong, which I am sure you are not.

We have been taking our boy since 4 months to Crystal Palace for baby/parent swim lessons. I think it is done with GLC swim school. They are on the website for Crystal Palace Sports Centre. Reasonable price, I think ?60 for 12 weeks, and we enjoy it.

Cystal Palace?? They do weekend courses and we have enjoyed taking our boy there. They are very reasonably priced.

Hi Rach, Not sure about October or Italy, (I did go to Italy, Isle of Elba, years ago in October and it was warmish during the day but became cold at night) but we have just booked a holiday for end of August. It was a last minute thing and we were offered a great deal through holidayhypermarket.co.uk. I eventually phoned them after looking at all their deals on the net and they were so helpful. We originally wanted to head to Portugal but they discussed the transfer from airport to hotel was about 2.5.hours and this was not manageable with an 11 month old, plus the beach was a bit of a trek. In the end we have chosen Menorca, with a 40 minute transfer, self catering, 3 swimming pools, kids club(which will be great for my 10 year old stepson), playground and 2 beaches about 400m away from hotel. Even better they helped us out by getting us morning flights, at 8am, rather then 6pm for departure and return is leaving at 12pm. Let's hope that after all the brilliant service from them the holiday will be excellent! Holidayhypermarket Dunedin House Columbia Drive Stockton on Tees TS17 6BJ 0844 8003199 or you could try to speak to our advisor Katie Whitham, on her direct line, 08009165155. Good luck and enjoy your long awaited holiday abroad!

Posted by: toast August 07, 02:16PM Not sure but i know its a popular and last min so the staff dont know I'm confused that staff at the school are unaware that they will be having an additional class in September 2009? My school in Wandsworth was aware, months before, after agreeing with the council, to an additional Foundation Stage class. An open day and meetings were held for prospective parents and children in May so they knew they had a place, in a local area school, for September. The school has also had to employ a new teaching member and LSA to accommodate the class. I'm curious from a professional point of view. Although I really do feel your pain in Dulwich. Hard enough making the right choice about a school for your child then being denied any of your 4 choices. Enough stress with all this at Secondary entrance let alone primary!!

Fuschia this is happening as well in some schools in Wandsworth. Where I teach they are offering an additional Foundation stage class, due to demographics. Something to do with School's Contingency plan, I think. The school was approached to offer an additional class with funding allocated. Good luck in Dulwich!