gwod

http://www.nittygritty.co.uk/products/ This nit comb really does help. It's ?10 which seems alot for a comb but the tines are very long and have groves carved into them which really help to strip off the eggs in a way the other combs do not. You still have to do the treatment with something like Full Marks once a week for 3 weeks because you never get all the eggs - but it certainly gets more out than the others.

I love this Nursery. All 4 of my children have been, or are still there. You could prob find more hard core Montessori nurseries if methodology is your main driver, but if you want a happy, varied, child led, family environment, Half Moon is the place. It is run by three members of the same family, all of whom are warm and dedicated to the school. The rest of the staff are very professional and most of them have been at the school for longer than my children have attended (which amounts to quite a long time!) this is rare in Nursery teaching and has offered wonderful continuity for my kids and reflects the happy working relationships of the people who work there. The staff are a fantastic mix of young and old, male and female and all bring different skills to the school. My only caveat is that the admin can be a bit woolley which can be annoying if you are trying to get a place, but I urge you to persevere with it and forgive any blips on this score as their skills lie in childcare, not in administration!!! PM me if you have any other queries.

I had a nanny who brought her own daughter. It worked out very well for us. One thing that was key for me was that she was qualified before having her daughter so nannying wasnt just a career choice of convenience, she had always wanted to look after children. Also she was a single mum and had no immediate plans to have another child and really wanted her daughter to have day to day contact with another child to learn the things you learn with brothers and sisters. She worked for us until our our girls were 3 and 1 and her daughter was 4 as we moved away, but the children still have a very special bond, even though they are now 8, 10 and 11. It was great to have another mum look after the children as she really knew what it was like to be a mum and had good practical advice on sleep/behaviour/health etc. My next Nanny also had her own daughter but that did not work out. The kids were older and found it difficult to adjust (particularly her daughter who, understandbly, didnt warm to sharing her mum,) and our wishes to have the kids socialised in their own areas (to get to hang out with local kids at local toddler groups etc that they will eventually go to nursery and school with) compromised her own wishes for the same thing for her daughter. It just never felt right and we amicably called it a day after about 3 months. If I were doing it again I would spend lots of time with them first to see how they would sort out (inevitable)disagreements between the kids, and what sort of weekly activities they would do and if these could be arranged to adequately suit both families needs. Hope this helps.

There used to be a nursery in St Stephens Church up College Road which I think has moved nearer to Sydenham last year....Its a church hall so no need to buy the premises and must have already have passed all the red tape for use of premises. Good luck - let us know how you get on.

Dulwich Hamlet School did do it last year and I have kept their literature as I thought I'd like my kids to do it again even if the school doesn't. Their website is www.linkromania.co.uk and Tel. 01903 529333. If it helps, we'd be delighted to put the woolley hats in our boxes...!

They are very fantastic, but the time in which they are useful is quite short as after a few months you are rarely feeding in the same place, (except at night -when trust me you'll want to be lying down, not sitting down anyway) so advertise in the wanted section or family classifieds for a second hand one - there'll be loads of people around who'll have one they want rid of

Poor, poor you. It is very discouraging to feel so ill at a time when you need all your faculties about you to attend to you new baby. I dont really have any advice, but hope that you can feel the groundswell of goodwill from all the ED mothers - these first weeks can be very hard, but you will get through it. I wish you strength and sleep.

I think you should consider allowing yourself a bit more time, (a mantra that is applicable to nearly all child rearing issues!!) as its difficult to predict how easily you or he will adapt to the change - the last thing you need while you are already coping with the emotions of returning to work, is the stress of weaning to a tight schedule....and possibly risking having unpredicatable bosoms in the workplace! Also, these dietry changes may temporarily alter his sleep patterns which will be an added drain on you once you have returned to work. I know the recommendation is 6 months of breastfeeding, but remember that this is a bit of an approximation - a couple of extra weeks for you both to adjust will make little or no difference and may actually protect you from mastitsis, sleep deprivation and stress later on which is also detrimental to your health. Good Luck!!!

Lock, Stock and Two Smoked Salmon Bagels

I used to teach at a college for kids doing A level retakes, and the exact same questions appearing on current A level papers could be found on O level (or GCSE) papers from 20 year prior.

There have been children from Elfindale Road and beyond in both of my kids classes at the infants, I think there is a very good chance that you will get in, especially if you are a genuine church goer. As for the Hamlet, it is even more likely that you will get a place as admissions are on distance only, so people who live far away but attend St Barnabas (as some of the DVIS intake does) do not get in and the genuine locals such as yourself stand a better chance. Its never a certainty though - so have yourself a B plan! I don't know about St Anthonys but the preist up there is the guy who says yay or nay so have a chat with him when you are next there.

An antique Compass so that she will always find her way Edwardian jewellery with peridot, pearl and amethysts, (the secret sign of supporting the suffragette movement) Premium bonds A Gilt letter (like the ones sold at the antiques shop on Northcross Road and Fellbrigg road Junction) with the first letter of her name.

4 babies and 4 different ways to have them sleep at night and all of them worked just fine. They definately do sleep through the night better in their own room, but what use is that if you are not sleeping because you are stressing about them. Decide how you feel when you get the baby home, nearly all the plans I made in advance of our babies' arrivals about how I would parent them were wrong...parenting is nearly always about making it up as you go along - that way you can factor in all the variables. My suggestion would be having a moses basket in your bedroom AND their cot set up in their room so you can choose whichever seems right.... or change it for night time or daytimenaps ...or you can lower the whole moses basket into the cot at 3am if the night time snuffling and gurgling drives you bonkers. Most important of all is to enjoy it all - the tiny baby bit passes so fast!!

I agree with the others about the dummy.... use it if it helps. Actually, I think once they are screaming, sometimes they make themselves worse by gulping down air until they have hiccups and tummyache which prolongs the crying episode, I think a dummy really helps to stop this happening. Also wanted to reassure you that these things pass (and will be replaced by an new equally unbearable trait!) and that the majority of mothers will not make any judgement about you whether your child is crying or has a dummy as we know you just gotta do what gets you and Baby Belle through.

These are all winners with the 6 of us Spaghetti and Meat Balls ( you can put a bit of Chilli in for the Adults) Chicken Fajitas (great for tempting the sandwich refusers) Shepherds Pie Home made giant sausage roll (bought puff pastry wrapped around sausagemeat with onion and maybe apple maybe rosemary) served with salad or baked beans "make your own sandwich" (butter loads of bread and put everything left in the fridge out on the table and people can choose what they want, last bits of cheese, Pickle, Tuna mayo, sliced cucumber and tomato, ham, salami etc. etc) Soups (favourites are sweet potato and a sort veg/tomato soup with tiny letter shaped pasta and bacon (usually made out of contents of fridge prior to next Sainsburys visit) Chilli con Carni (v little Chilli in kids' portions - loads in ours Mini Ploughman's (big Ploughmans for us!!)

Thanks to Dovestail for letting us know we can vote on this - will do so again on Thursday. Hope T-mobile dont win it.

Sounds to me like you've sussed out his routine without help of either the over regulating GF or the baby-led unstructured day police. Just perfect. You can notice when he's most usually tired, and factor in a sleep for that time to get the most out of his waking hours. Hooray for the good old days when mums listened to their babies and made a plan specifically for them, and congratulations to you and Babyverds! (PS All of my kids needed a little hour's kip in the morning at about 9.30 until they were about 8/10 mnths old)

quibble

fleeting

sneezy