jollybaby

Seconding what sunbob said - I don't think it's unreasonable for the partner to help out at night after they've returned to work (well maybe unless they work in heathrow air traffic control). Having recently returned to work myself I'm even more of that opinion - i have quite a demanding job but it's still far less stressful than being at home with a young baby. How we worked it in the early days was that Mr JB did the shift between 7pm and midnight or 1am (admittedly miss JB was taking a bottle by then) and so whatever happened I knew I'd get a stretch of 4 hours sleep. Glad to hear things are going better.

We're having a bit of a nightmare here - trust today to be a day when miss Jb naps really badly and so she's absolutely exhausted now . . . Not sure how much longer we can keep her up. looking forward to the 5.30 start tomorrow :'(

Umm are any of those serious suggestions Nette?

Off to Joanna's in crystal palace tonight for a birthday meal. Would be nice to have a drink before we eat. Any recommendations? or any pubs we should avoid?! Mr JB is partial to a pint of real ale. Thanks

What's tdlp?

Sillywoman - were those trends similar in previous years too? I'm not sure how much you can interpret from one year's figures. What surprised me though from the stats - was that St Thomas' is a busier maternity unit than kings - 2000 more births per year.

Many congrats strawbs. Just really echoing what the others have said - entirely normal for a new baby to want to be held. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to be a particularly 'clingy' baby either. Miss Jb was like that initially and then from a couple of weeks seemed to prefer going to sleep in her crib, pram or rocker than in our arms. On the feeding side - your milk will be in anytime soon. It's quite an experience/eyeful when it happens. Try not to stress about expressing too much until then - that can be more exhausting than feeding. Make sure you have a decent feeding pillow (I expect you have as I know you've done your research!) and do get help if things don't begin to come together soon. Hope tonight is better for you.

Yes it was good to meet everyone. I've escaped relatively unscathed for some reason . . . Though I did find myself ordering a meatball sandwich in cafe Nero at 9am this morning! Ps ???? and mr Ben am assuming you were the two gentlemen on the stools next to our table??

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_16/275-0205747-9146637?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=baby+bjorn+spoon&sprefix=baby+bjorn+spoon Hope that helps

Pommie, I have a friend who had a similar abnormality on her 20 week scan and the repeat scan (? around 30 weeks) was fine - no need for any intervention or anything. Best wishes

Looking forward to it. Should be recovered enough from my lurgy to enjoy a glass of wine, or two, or three .....

Hope I don't get one of those hats for Christmas!

You'll need to be proactive and book his immunisations. 12 and 15 months in this area. I haven't delved too much into the red book but I don't think there is much of a formal programme of assessments from now on. I suppose it's because the pick up rate of such a scheme is quite low and it's probably not a very efficient use of services -ie the chance of finding a problem in a well child (when the mother/carers haven't any concerns) is low. Mums and dads of older children - please correct me if I'm wrong!

As saffron said your best bet is to buy a 'happy nappy' and then use a disposable swim nappy underneath. Most of the local swim classes insist on a double layer system for the under 2s and miss jb's current swim school have specified that they want us to use happy nappies rather than kushies or other brands. They're easy to put on and do seem fairly secure - no leaks so far.

According to my big sister, who seems to live at godstone farm, they do have microwaves in the cafes.

I'm not a fan either. I couldn't believe the number of children out on court lane last year. I've always been a bit anti hallowe'en though - I think it's because my birthday is on the 2nd Nov and too many of my parties were taken over by the hallowe'en theme as a child! I had to stop myself buying a tub of hallowe'en treat sweets today - decided they can make do with what's in the cupboard.

This is what we need in East Dulwich. http://www.donaldsimpsoncentre.com/ Drive past it when visiting the inlaws. Always makes me smile.

Goodness - that's a bit enthusiastic! my great aunt Mary used to adopt the neighbourhood cats. At one point she had thirteen regular visitors. Our Christmas cards would read - happy Xmas love aunt Mary, uncle Eric, smokey, ginger, fluff, pickles and so on. She'd feed them steak - the poor owners didn't stand a chance. Glad your friend's got her cat back.

Diamond White - not White lightning!

Blast away was castaway and cider ? White lightning - tasted like lilt but lethal Two dogs - much nicer than hooch - less sugary and fizzy

Hello sailor - sometimes we could link the off phases to illness or teeth, but as the others have said I expect development did play a part. It was around this time she began to resist lots of other things too - like being put into her buggy!

Is she teething or coming down with a viral illness? Miss jb went through phases like that and it was so dispiriting when before she would wolf down huge bowls of weetabix and porridge. Both illness and teething could be upsetting her sleep patterns too. These phases passed after a week or two and she would happily take food from a spoon again after. Miss JB is now one and feeding herself a lot more - both finger foods and with a spoon. I do sometimes worry when I see how much is on the floor after a meal but am trying to relax and tell myself that she has eaten what she needs. Tough isn't it! In terms of practical advice - The baby bjorn spoon and bowl set was recommended on here - I think by fuschia. It's expensive - around ?18 but the spoons are really easy for them to hold and feed themselves with. May be worth a try.

they have a home from home unit at St Thomas' too - though I'm not sure if this is as demedicalised as the Lewisham birthing centre. http://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/services/womensservices/maternity/labour/homefromhome.aspx I have a bit of a soft spot for St Thomas'- having worked there in the past. I only decided to go for Kings as I couldn't face the idea of travelling along the Walworth Road in labour!

You don't need to take bottles with you, as they do have bottles etc on the ward should you have a breast feeding catastrophe. Women who plan to bottle feed from the start are expected to take their own supplies though- so they don't advertise this. Ruth - I laughed when I saw that you mentioned a book. I took in a book and then bought about 4 magazines from the hospital shop. Didn't touch any of them! I also got the sanitary towel:breast pad ratio totally wrong. Take hundreds of sanitary towels and only a few breast pads. You'll most likely be home before your milk comes in.

Thanks tommy I thought that might be the case. Nette - I think so but we bought the car from car giant so who knows!