BellendenBear

You could try la redoute http://www.laredoute.co.uk/boys-cotton-corduroy-straight-cut-trousers/prod-324406961-221814.aspx I bought cord shorts, skirts and trousers for my daughter for school last year and they have lasted well. She doesn't have allergies but I just thought they were nicer than polyester. I think most primary schools are fairly relaxed about uniform. No two kids at my daughter's school are dressed exactly the same.

Congratulations Gina! I did this for my 2nd daughter. It was hard work but definitely looks better. I used the Eco shop on Lordship Lane opposite William Rose, can't remember the name. They sell lots of nice colours and you can buy small amounts, think I managed with 0.5L using a couple of coats after lightly sanding first.

All of the above plus a safe, enclosed (even if small) outdoor space. When on holiday I really want the kids to be able to go out into some kind of garden and not have to be closely supervised. We just booked holiday homes I'm France and so many of them have a pond, stream or other hazard in the garden! Other things (and I know this makes me sound like a total loser) are a washing machine, decent kitchen and ideally a dishwasher.

Both. Some makes (Bugaboo, Baby Jogger) make their own boards, but there are others eg Lascal that can be used with most buggies. If you look on Lascal website it tells you whether or not their boards and compatible with your buggy.

Bessemer holiday club is open to non-Bessemer kids

Bessemer go straight in with full days, or at least they did last year. I was really relieved after hearing from other parents about half days going on until late September. It wasn't a problem at all for my daughter, and I'm not aware of other children struggling with it.

Try Solace women's Aid, they have a very active Southwark branch. They can provide advice, advocacy, support.

Jolly Phonics and reading eggs are both good. Jolly phonics have workbooks and really dated looking DVDs, but my daughter used to love them. Oxford Reading tree books are really tedious. Thankfully my daughter's school don't use them. With 4 kids, I don't think I could have coped with that much Biff and Kipper.

The Flying Fish in Camberwell. Delicious! Good lunchtime deal too.

Or go to simplynoise.com for free.

It's great, I highly recommend it. My 3 year old has been there since November and absolutely loves it. When she's not there she and her sister play 'villas' at home. It's quite big but it still manages to have a really friendly close feel to it. The staff are all great and very proactive about things like potty training.

We went to Legoland a couple of Saturdays ago. It was remarkably painless. Do you have vouchers to get in free / cheaper? We only had to pay for 1 x 3 year old and it still cost about ?45! Top tips: Get there early (we left at about 8.15 and it took just over 1 hour, queues not too long) Take your own food, best place to picnic is 'mini land(?)' - lego models of European countries, lots of grass. Take swimming stuff Also good advice from Medusa to have merchandise policy before you go.

I'm with sb. A definite yes. Washer, cleaning products, piles of laundry, bags and wellies all behind a closed door. We used an architect too. Maybe we just totally lack any imagination, but it was definitely worth it. They designed layout options that we wouldn't have thought of ourselves.

Where is this button?! Our alarm goes off too if I lock the door with the kids inside.

Yes, i used simplynoise.com Swaddling also good. My son was swaddled for daytime naps for a while after we had stopped swaddling at night. Good luck!

Have you tried white noise? With my 2nd daughter I used to crank up the white noise after around 40 minutes and after a while this seemed to stop her waking until she started sleeping longer all by herself.

There was a thread about this last summer. I eventually managed this with all 4 of mine. It took variable amounts of time to get to that point though - at least 2-3 months I think. And during that time, lots of cues as mentioned above. White noise, swaddling and dark room generally worked best. It's mostly about the timing I think, so getting used to how long they can stay awake for and looking out for the early signs of tiredness after 1.5/2/2.5 hours or whatever. I always tried to avoid feeding them to sleep as they never seemed to sleep for that long if they fell asleep this way. Having a baby that sleeps by themselves doesn't have to involve 'crying it out' or controlled crying. You can do it gradually and gently and accept that sometimes it will work and other times it won't.

Ha, I remember this thread. I had 3 kids for about 45 minutes before number 4 joined us. 10 months later with 4 kids aged 5 or under I have to say that there are many times each day when I would say that the answer to this question is yes. But of course, I wouldn't change anything. Life really is like a squash and a squeeze. Our capacity for the chaos, exhaustion, endless questions, whining and fighting, and all the lovely things that come with this, just has to grow. Half-Moon's post really does say it all. It is utterly relentless. And very expensive. We buy bananas by the dozen and yogurt by the kilo. And don't even mention the washing. And work is possible I think, or at least I hope. I have just gone back to work 4 days a week. Childcare is crippling for 3 pre-schoolers but it won't be forever. You just have to be very very organised and make the most of the small opportunities to relax.

Hi I sent a PM a couple of days ago. Please could you let me know how to contact you to arrange this ? Thanks

Another very happy Bessemer parent here. My daughter is in reception and LOVES it. It's quite a big school and she didn't know any other children when she started but she settled very quickly and hardly bothers to say goodbye as she runs off in the morning. We are also not close to the school but it's worth the treck and when we looked round primary schools I felt it was in a different league from the others we saw. It has excellent leadership (head, deputy and head of early years all fantastic), lots of outdoor space, good holiday / breakfast / after school clubs, amazing school dinners and lots of very invloved and enthusiastic parents.

Hi, has anyone arranged for their nanny to have a CRB / DBS check? For what I understand, we need to use an umbrella body. Can anyone recommend one? Thanks

Another vote for 'my first ballet'. We saw Cinderella last year and have tickets for Coppelia in May. Can't wait. The performances are by 2nd year students at English National ballet school and are narrated and just the right length for little kids. My 4 year old and her friends were completely mesmerised last year, we're taking younger sister who will be 3 this time.

James, could that be explained by each pupil applying for more than one school?

Ford S max. This is a 7 sweater with tiny boot or 5 seater with massive boot. All 3 seats in middle row have isofix I think. We chose the s max because it looks and drives more like a car than a people carrier than some of the ones mentioned above.

Definitely go to GP. There are lots of treatment options for acne (not cures) but they all take a few weeks or months to work so best to start sooner rather than later. You will be taken seriously and not just dismissed as a 'normal teenage problem' as severe acne can leave scars. Also look at British Assoc of Dermatologists website bad.org.uk