jonbateson

Hello, I was in the same position last year when we returned to ed with a 1 yo... I would take your pic from the drop in sessions on ed tots and try a new one each week. There's also a really friendly group at the dish and spoon on Wednesdays 10-11 and great coffee and cake there too. Can also recommend tippee toes music classes. Maria x

Have you considered a camper van or even just renting a car (lots of the sites have little rooms like a motel) so that you can see more than one place, there is so much to see and do, we had 6 weeks in a camper and still didn't do everything, my children were 6mo and 3.5y at the time, they loved it and having the camper meant we could stop and make food etc whenever we needed.

We spent six weeks in NZ in a camper van with a 6mo and an almost 3yo it was amazing, so much fun, I would be keen to get a camper van if we had the space to keep it, go for it!

My daughter is a couple of weeks younger than yours and loves tea set, play food, scooter, art stuff, puzzles and duplo we are having the same issues, my mum pays for her mr tumble magazine each month as a present and we ask for money for swimming lessons (water babies) she had a little wooden cake stand with wooden cakes for Xmas, that was a big hit!

We had this issue last year when my son's great grandpa died. We are also not religious so I wanted to avoid the heaven and god thing (nothing against it at all, just not right for us) I found two books, we are all stardust and badger's parting gift, both were great starting points for discussing it and also helping my son to think of a way of remembering grandpa. I ordered both from rye books.

Depending on the age of your children, they might well sleep for a large part of the journey. For the time that they are awake, do you have some toys/ books that you can attach to their car seats (so they don't drop them and lose them). A music/ story cd is handy and joining in with singing songs. Plan where you will stop along the way and decide if you keep going if they are asleep. Whilst driving, particularly on motorways etc, focus on driving, not them, only stop if it is safe to but I find if I stop if they are crying (unless you know that there is a problem) it just makes it worse, they stop crying for a little bit but then start straight on again when you go again. So keep driving to the next services or your planned stop and then get everyone out/fed/watered etc. make sure the car has been checked for oil, screen wash, tyre pressure, petrol etc. good luck :)

I find the smile and nod method works well...

Trust your instincts and do what you want to do, don't be pressurised into doing something that you don't want to do. You should be absolutely fine to continue breast feeding, if he ups the number or volume of feeds, then your body will get used to that and produce more milk, you won't struggle to feed him there is no reason to start doing something different unless you aren't happy about how things are now. You will notice that he takes more milk at times of growth spurts and you may find reading about wonder weeks useful. I am still bf my 21 month old, just carry on if you are all happy. Unless there are other reasons to get him on a bottle, I wouldn't bother with that either, especially if it is a stressful experience. As long as your baby seems fine in himself and is meeting developmental milestones you have nothing to worry about, you know what is best for him because you are his mum, new mum or not, do what you think is right for your family. Maria

Possibly the school have to provide the deposit to the place to secure the booking hence the no change on the deadline, to me it sounds like someone has been slow in the organisation as two weeks notice is very short. Without turning this into an argument about teacher's pay, we don't get paid extra for school trips, we have to be on call 24 hours a day, take responsibility for the students going, piles of paperwork, preparation etc, and then there's all the planning and marking from the classes we leave behind, because that work still needs to be set and marked. we leave our families for the week so that your children can have a great trip. I would not expect to have to pay for my ticket for that and it upsets me to hear parents talking in this way. I do agree that the cost of the trip sounds a lot though. Maria

We had a lovely board book called waiting for baby, really. Ice pics to talk about and then the follow on book new baby or my new baby, I think they were by child's play I have already loaned them out...

I can make something bespoke in fine silver, including your partners/children's/pet prints, or your choice of gemstones etc my fb page is www.facebook.com/mariamadeit I will be at the Goodrich school fair on 7th. I live in ed so you can come and browse my gems/ have an appointment if you need. I can make up your own designs or create something for you,o your budget...

If anyone wanted to design their own piece of jewellery, incorporating children's handprints/ gemstones etc I can help with that... Take a look on my fb page www.facebook.com/mariamadeit

I can make fine silver cufflinks using your children's/your dog/ your handprints ?100 or for a cheaper option, I can use fingerprints ?75 www.facebook.com/mariamadeit lovely things for mummies too...

I've voted for you too, good luck!

Hello, here's a link to my fb page www.facebook.com/mariamadeit (you don't need to have a fb account to access it) I will be at the Horniman School autumn fair on Saturday, I can take hand/foot/paw prints using my very effective no mess kit, I can also take finger prints and impressions of special items like shells from holidays etc. I sell the kit individually (look great in baby books or framed) or I can transform these into fine silver keyrings/cufflinks/jewellery or attach them to picture frames etc. for you, these make great Christmas presents. I also make gemstone jewellery using high quality gemstones and findings. I accept commissions, repairs etc. do come along if you are free or get in touch via my fb page.