Sanne Panne

As long as the milk teeth toothpaste has fluoride in it I would guess you're ok (but I'm not a dentist)... it's just that the all natural brands (like Lavera) are very popular and those don't contain fluoride. With the lack of fluoride in the water this could cause problems in the longer run.

How dare they throw you out with such short notice! We will be letting our first floor 1 bed flat soon so that's of no use to you but I wanted to wish you good luck with your search.

I'd throw a fuss at the surgery... it just doesn't seem right that patients who were registered with the DMC from the start of their pregnancy could be denied access to the Lanes midwives because of a doctor's mistake. It may be worth looking up the direct phone number of the midwives (maybe someone on the forum can pm it to you) and explain your situation to the lead midwife (is it still Erika?) - maybe she can do something on her side. Good luck with it!

Good points all, thanks so much. I think I'll get it for my daughter and will give my own jab another think!

lorraineliyanage Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Can you get thiomersal-free vaccinations yet? Yes you can request Celvapan which is thiomersal and adjuvant-free, if your GP practice doesn't have it in stock they can refer you to a nearby practice.

Still debating whether to get the jab for my 18 month old and for myself (18 weeks pregnant). I'm not too worried about myself to be honest, flu season will be over when I enter the riskier third trimester, but I'd hate to see my daughter sick. She's normally very healthy but when she does have something like a nasty cough she sleeps so poorly and I feel so bad for her...

Has anyone heard of new swine flu cases this month? Have they been severe? I'm not worried at all, just curious since the media seem to have stopped reporting about it...

Will be in Holland on the 13th but count me in for March :)) Have fun!

I'll be following this thread with interest... we never know what to do during the weekend besides going to the playground or cafe in Dulwich Park or to super busy and loud Gambado. Crystal Palace Park isn't too bad but slightly overrated imo. We end up staying at home most of the time! A swimming pool could be fun. Or the aquarium at the Horniman (also bit busy but everything is during the weekend). If you don't mind travelling into town, the street performers at the South Bank can be fun for kids and you can visit the aquarium there too (expensive though). There's a little playground near the aquarium.

Cream cheese and sugar free peanut butter are big hits here (separately, not on the same sandwich).

Does anyone know of any clothing brands that do denim/corduroy/cotton (any material really) skirts with soft elasticated waistbands (in sizes 18 months+ or 2 years+ )? I'm not crazy about extendable denim/corduroy and other "hard" waistbands because even when they're loose enough for walking comfortably the buttons or waistbands often still push into chubby toddler bellies when they play while sitting on the floor. I have a couple of dresses and soft trousers but would like to get one or two skirts as well. My daughter only wears tights and long sleeved t-shirts at home so the quickest way to get out of the door is to put a skirt over those tights! Thanks

They're really, really bad with the general answerphone. Really, really bad. They get exponentially better after your first appointment though and once you've got their pager numbers they're always very quick to get back to you. I found that the care improves as your pregnancy progresses but it is indeed a bit unpleasant if you're 13 weeks pregnant with your first and you don't really feel your pregnancy is being taken seriously at all! With my first pregnancy I was at a medical centre that didn't have a similar midwifery service (yet, at the time) and I didn't hear about Oakwood until my booking appointment at King's which was just before or after my NT scan. So once I was on Oakwood's list all was good as I was already 15 weeks along. This time round, with my second pregnancy, I went straight to Oakwood but only first saw Emily when I was 11 weeks along and only had my first appointment with a midwife at 13 or 14 weeks. It may seem odd but there's just not THAT much they can really do or say at this stage, especially if you're feeling well. But with it being your first pregnancy you do need that contact and that reassurance and they should take care of that a bit better (e.g. do an earlier "intake" and then let you wait until 16-18 weeks). Long story short: it sucks until you've actually seen a midwife and been given the paperwork and phone numbers. From then on, it's great. Which team are you with, jayd? Julie's team? I'm with the other team and wondering if I may get the same letter or if it's a resource issue within the team... I'm planning on a homebirth and quite like the idea of them knowing how to get to our flat when my labour starts.. had a very quick labour last time round!

intexasatthe moment Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I used to get agonising hip pain ,only at night > ,Daniel at Crystal Palace Rd osteopaths sorted it > out for me. > Just a thought. Thanks, if it comes back (I'm ok right now but only 17 weeks) I'll go see him - I'll try anything to be able to actually walk to the loo at night without having to do five minutes of stretching first!

It's actually a mattress topper / mattress pad that I put on top of my normal mattress (to save money) but yes I guess it's (almost) the same material as the tempur mattresses. Your children certainly don't seem to have been affected by it! ;)

I had very bad hip pain (only at night) during my first pregnancy and in order to avoid getting it as badly this time around I ordered a memory foam mattress topper - a friend of mine said it was a lifesaver when she was pregnant. And of course I now read lots of negative comments about memory foam being toxic (either the chemicals that help it behave like memory foam or the strong fire retardants used to keep it from combusting as it's highly flammable material). We won't ever let our kids sleep on it but would you use it during the second and third trimesters of your pregnancy? I need to google a bit more and find some research backed articles about it (so far I've only seen strong pro and anti camps online) but it would be great to get some input from a community that seems to talk lot of sense about other topics as well :) Any opinions welcome.... thanks in advance

helena handbasket Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I really like the Bibi cup, and they can use it > for years. Think I'll get one myself. > And love that it's BPA free. > Does it leak much if full of water and in your kid > gear bag? No leakage really as the sliding cap that covers the straw tip fits pretty tightly (the blue bit in the picture is a sliding cap). And since the straw nearly touches the bottom of the cup not much water can come out when the cap is not covering the straw tip, even when your toddler shakes the cup while holding it upside down. The only accidents I get are when I don't screw the cap on straight (and that's my fault rather than a design fault). Millsa, about when to stop milk, I'm not sure what's right but I give my daughter this Bibi cup with warm semi skimmed milk after her bath - after which she will play another 15-20 minutes before going to bed which gives me time to brush her teeth (and as an added benefit you disconnect the milk-sleep association). I'm not really giving it for the calories but for the liquid volume as she doesn't drink huge amounts of water during the day (maybe the evening milk actually causes that). The calcium never hurts but I give semi skimmed as I'm sure she gets plenty of fats from the olive oil, cheese and yogurt in her daily diet. Sorry, I know, that's not really an asnwer.

My daughter also refused to drink milk from the beaker but was completely happy to switch to a straw cup. The only one that I've found that's of any decent quality is the Bibi one (the straw actually reaches the bottom of the cup and the child doesn't need to chew and suck on it like there was no tomorrow - it's just a normal durable silicon type straw tip). It's also BPA free in case that's relevant to you. Just google "bibi straw" and make sure not to just buy the straw attachment or the sports cup as they also sell loose parts and other bottles. It should be about ?9 - ?10. Expensive I know... but they work for us for all drinks, we don't even use the "sippy cup" anymore. Here's an example http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bibi-STRAW-BABY-BOTTLE-350ml-BPA-FREE-Green-Blue-BNIB_W0QQitemZ400089756479QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=&rvr_id=&cguid=ce18b29511c0a0e203a46764ff9abdd8

Bilingual Dutch-English here... our 17 month old uses loads of words but doesn't distinguish between Dutch and English at all. When she started at the childminder I had to tell them that that word that sounds like "b*tch" actually means "dummy". I think in your case with the dig-dog example you may run into a few funny situations in public but I'm sure your kids will learn the difference WAY before the age when it changes from cute to embarrassing.

I think the benefit of a routine isn't so much about you-and-husband time as some mentioned - you mainly do the baby a favour by (carefully) moving into a bit of a routine. Kids tend to love predictability. Things like waking the baby up for a feed were just not my cup of tea (not because it's evil but because I personally never feel comfortable waking a child) and distracting instead of feeding when the previous feed wasn't digested yet wasn't for me either until she was much bigger (3 months maybe, don't remember) but the idea of creating a sense of nighttime (e.g. moving a 6+ week old baby to your bedroom after 7pm instead of leaving her in the living room with lights/tv on; swaddling her which I hardly ever did during the day; keeping feeds very quiet etc) is probably a very healthy thing for a baby, it helps him/her develop the day-night instinct and get more restful sleep. To be honest, we didn't start the nighttime thing until our baby was 10 weeks old as I just didn't dare to leave her out of sight, but I will probably do it from about 6 weeks on with the next one (not talking about letting a baby cry itself to sleep but about using another room for sleeping). I understand jojobaby's point to an extent - yes life with a baby is about the baby and not about you, and even life with a toddler (which I have now) is a hundred times more about the toddler than about you and that is as it seems to be designed by nature - but I don't think that the fact that a toddler wants to get up at night (to play or be soothed or fed) means it's best for the toddler to wake up at night. In some cases you may do the child a favour by gently teaching it something it wouldn't do by itself. A routine isn't necessarily led by egoism, it's often there for the benefit of the child. Some kids may not need any parent-guided routine, they may settle into one by themselves, but I doubt that happens to the majority of families. Hope you don't take this as a personal attack, your opinion was quite strong so I hope you don't mind an opinionated reply as part of this discussion.

Congratulations!!! I love the Oakwood midwives as well.

> The thing that's hard to appreciate at the time is > that a baby is perfectly fine if left awake by > itself for a few minutes - How very true. I also fussed over my baby much more than I had to when she was small but you just can't "let go" until you really feel confident and ready, which I guess means that most of us won't do this until baby 2 arrives.

Congratulations first of all! When my baby was small I would try to do everything while she was asleep (usually not longer than 35 minutes in one go during the day...) - I'd shower quite quickly and with the door open, or even with the babyphone with me. My clothes would be in the room where the baby was so I'd get dressed there. When she was awake I used to just take her wherever I went for more than a couple of minutes (including hanging laundry or showering), in a moses basket or bouncy seat (don't remember when we started using the bouncy seat). You just won't do anything at your own pace for a good while I fear (not on weekdays at least)! After a few weeks you'll be more comfortable with the situation and you'll probably be able to relax a bit more (and make that sandwich without bringing your baby to the kitchen haha - but again, take advantage of the naps unless you're too tired yourself). As for places to go, I had a summer baby so just went to the park. In your case you could pick any buggy friendly pub or cafe while your baby doesn't need active entertaining yet. It's probably a bit early for playgroups etc although you can meet other mums there. And NCT organises teagroups as well, maybe someone else on the forum has more information about that. Good luck with it!

Sounds a bit like baby Sanne when she was 7 months old.. She's now 17 months old and a great sleeper and eater and she shakes her head when she's done eating (though she sometimes still throws her water cup on the floor, let me not brag too much...). She still drives me nuts sometimes (when they sleep and eat well they'll come up with something else, like getting REALLY cranky when she wants to walk but I need her to be in the buggy) but yes I'm still at home with her most of the time too. How old is baby sb?

Yes... gone are the days of shortish but elegantly filed nails with subtle, thin line, natural look French tips. Instead, you're washing up all day and cutting your nails with toenail clippers because you're too busy to even file them (at least that was my life until my baby was 3 months old). I never ever have moisturiser on my face (super easy skin) and used to never wear handcream either for the same reason. Face is still ok, hands look like those of an unlucky 60 year old now. And ouch the cracks in my fingertips. Washing up gloves helped (also when using Milton wipes and other surface wipes). And not using hand sanitiser all the time when out (instead, avoid touching what you don't want to touch as much as possible). And... the Dutch version of Bag Balm, called udder salve. An even more charming name ;-) For the cracks, I find relief in putting a plaster on slightly too tightly. Thing is you need to change it every time you wet your hands again. Baaah

I've researched the Peach as a double buggy and heard from lots of mums (and read on review sites) that the kids grow out of the seats very quickly (sometimes as early as when they're 18 months). The single version has the same seats so you'd have the same problem. I believe the Bugaboo seats are bigger. Edited to add: sorry, no answer to your other questions, you could have a look at kiddicare.com but you may get better advice from the other mums and dads here.