Crokes

Hi Sophie Lots and lots of sympathy and hope it improves very soon. Easier said than done but if you can avoid work tomorrow morning, then do, as rest will really make a difference to you. I found the la leche league pages to be massively helpful and full of tips, hopefully a few of them will work for you: http://www.llli.org/nb/nbbreastproblems.html The articles with tips I found useful: http://www.llli.org/nb/nbmarapr06p68.html http://www.llli.org/nb/nbmarapr07p76.html Take care and hang in there, Crokes

If it's for your kettle then just use a cheap fizzy drink like lemonade (anything with citric acid in it will work) and unlike vinegar, won't leave a funny smell. Put enough in the kettle to cover the limescale area and boil the kettle (if the kettle is quite full then make sure it doesn't overboil). Leave the kettle and fizzy drink to work it's magic! (can help to reboil a few times and if you have lots of limescale then you might need to replace the fizzy drink). Empty when you're happy with the result and rinse out a few times with water before using. Did ours last week and left it most of the day (reboiled 4 or 5 times), kettle looks like new inside now.

Whilst it's hot in the labour ward, (on my husband's recommendation) would take a jumper especially if the weather continues to be cold. You don't know what time you will be leaving to come home and it's pretty cold out this time of year. Also doubles as a makeshift pillow/cushion when not wearing it. Good luck to you both!

Annie, I also had this problem with the new model - went back to the shop I bought it from for advice and was told that this will occasionally happen when in rear-facing mode. Not entirely helpful (I guess it's a bit of a design flaw) but have now worked out that there's a bit of precision involved to avoid the seat falling out when folding - (I hope this makes sense) the stage after you close the seat up is crucial; (stand at the side of the bee when doing the next bit helps) when moving the folded seat part back towards the handle make sure that the folded seat is in line with the diagonal sides of the handle (sorry, not sure if this is the best way to describe it!). If the folded seat goes to it's furthest point beyond the diagonal side of the handle, the whole seat unit will fall/drop out when you fold the whole pushchair. Return to stand behind the pushchair handle and use the handle button/switches to fold the pushchair as normal. Sandy - Not sure if your model is in rear-facing mode, but if so, then similar to above suggestion, the stage after you close the seat up is crucial; (stand at the side of the bee when doing the next bit helps) when moving the folded seat part back towards the handle make sure that the folded seat goes to it's furthest point beyond the diagonal side of the handle, to remove the seat unit either lift the seat unit up (the catches that hold the seat unit in place are vertical in relatin to the floor/ground, so lift the folded seat unit straight up) or alternatively try folding the pushchair and the whole seat unit will fall/drop out (this probably isn't the best way unless you're on a soft surface!). Hope this helps.

Can't help on the British Gas side of things but echo the recommendations for a Miele washing machine (had a repair man out once and he gave me lots of useful tips and reassurance that we'd made a good choice). I spent ages deliberating which machine to buy and found this site extremely helpful (written by a washing machine repair man!): http://www.washerhelp.co.uk/buying-washing-machines.html Hope you get a solution soon!

Any information on 'when' this is intended to happen? (have been to check the notices and there's no indication of timing).

Agree with the sleep advice... My own tip would be to go get your hair cut! - at 5 days overdue I felt huge and uncomfortable so I decided to treat myself and try to take my mind off the waiting game; later that day post-haircut, I felt wonderful and relaxed (almost forgot I was pregnant!)....It may be a coincidence but contractions started later that night! Good luck!

Try Addison Lee http://www.addisonlee.com/ - I've not used their car seats but whenever I book a cab from them and mention that I'm travelling with a baby, they ask if I need a car seat (so I'm pretty sure they can provide if needed).

Fuschia, lots and lots of luck at kings today and speedy healing to you. Sounds like a nightmare, hang in there. x

Snowboarder, I've sent you a PM as your words echo my own situation! You're doing a great job, hang in there!

Does anyone know if East Dulwich train station is open and accessible by pedestrians?

Hi I'm in the early stages of weaning with my 6 month old. So far we've been using a bumbo and tray but we're keen to progress to a high chair - I know that the trip trapp and ikea antilop get lots of thumbs up, but we're pretty limited on space so can anyone recommend one that isn't too bulky and/or folds would be good (obviously an easy to clean feature is important too!). Thanks!

Chantelle If your friend catches a train from London out to ED then yes there are stairs (about 5 small-ish ones). If he/she catches a train towards London that stops at ED then there are no stairs. Eitherway it is worth noting that the distance between the train door and the platform is pretty big (ie. the platform is low in relation to the train) and therefore can be quite tricky for prams/buggies. Some people seem to manage it ok but I'd always ask someone to give me a hand. I hope this helps.

no longer needed - thanks!

No post on our section of East Dulwich Road this week yet, very frustatrating.....I'm expecting a couple of overdue parcels/post including some registered delivery - I even stopped by the sorting office this morning, came out empty handed but with my hopes raised that there might be something delivered today as I was told they are concentrating on letters and registered delivery today and parcels will go out tomorrow when they expect more people to be in.... still nothing arrived tho!

Thanks for the posts and suggestions - the source has been found (a neighbour's flat and upper floor which explains why it was so difficult to locate) and yes it turned out to be a smoke alarm low battery (neighbour returned from a few days away and sorted it but was very apologetic to anyone affected).

Has anyone else noticed the rather annoying beeping noise that can be heard by goose green or know what is causing it? - maybe i'm just being overly sensitive but i don't have super-hearing! Whatever it is beeps about every 30 seconds and has been going on constantly since the weekend. We live on east dulwich road and can hear it from inside our flat, even with the TV on! It's possibly a faulty alarm or something but it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where it's coming from and it doesn't seem serious enough to warrant complaining the council -does anyone have any ideas?

Thank you one and all.... Boris is now roaming free (thanks to the cardboard technique!) and so far hasn't payed me a return visit. I must confess I couldn't work up the nerve to move him myself (I hold my hand up, I am a total wuss). Asset, if it helps with your spider argument at all, I looked up a few Tegenaria types and as you might expect (as even looking at pictures now scares the pants off me), I couldn't tell which was Boris. I did note one comment that might placate your discussion: "Unfortunately Tegenaria is one of the tricky genera of spiders; meaning that even with microscopic examination of the adult genitalia they can be tricky to tell apart, so you certainly won't get them to species from a photo I'm afraid (unless it's a photo of the adult genitalia!)".

Ok, here's Boris!

My phobia of spiders is back with a vengeance (I suspect I haven't helped myself reading this post). To explain, I have those electronic plug-ins to deter insects/rodents etc from the vicinity but my confidence in them has just plummeted.... A HUGE spider has decided to pay me a visit (maybe to escape the deluge outside??)... sorry to any insect/animal lovers but as the options of killing it (too big/scary)/letting it go free (not a chance)/putting it outside (so it can come back in again?!) are all out, my temporary solution is to cover it with a casserole dish (a pint glass wasn't big enough!) and call him Boris (apparently Boris the big black spider was something I watched as a child), whilst I figure out what next - any ideas welcome please???

We have had a couple of these too. Looks like the 'nest' is in the wall by our front door... which would explain why on a couple of occasions one has scurried in the front door when it's opened in the morning! That certainly woke me up - the first one that ran in was massive! never seen a household spider like it!

Agree it is wrong to take these items and awful to see items/clothing dumped, but the clothing box outside Mind is no better for avoiding this issue - I saw exactly the same thing as Dominitianus, it was also this afternoon but outside Mind/the Mind clothing box - two women rifing through the bags/boxes AND going to the effort of dipping into the clothing box (not easy by the looks of it!). I was tempted to say something but couldn't see it leading them to doing the honest thing, just giving me aggro back. I also think it's the dumpers that are the main culprits (if it wasn't there it wouldn't be a temptation) - MIND eases the problem as it is open at weekends, and all charity shops have notices requesting that items are not left outside of office hours, yet people seem to ignore these... as there's so much of it about perhaps the council should have a recycling bin for clothing too??? (probably totally unworkable, but it's an idea).