GinaG3

Why not trying calling enviromental health team at the council, they will deal with many issues like this. Ive also known issues such as thick black dust settling literally every 20 mintues all over worktops in kitchens to be sorted by council enviromental health department. Some odd occurences in peoples houses these days. Maybe try and call them before christmas, it its worrying you, and certainly if you have children in the house. Although it could be something of nothing!

I too am worried about being stuck with top up fees that I can barely afford. I though surely, if its 15 hours free, its 15 hours free, regardless of the nurseries hourly rate, as fuschia says. Putting my daughters name down for both Dulwich Village Preschool, and BUDS but surely they are more expensive than a 'school' nursery such as Goodrich. They dot exactly make it easier for us parents do they, rules seem different across the board! Still, cannot get stuck with top up fees!

Going to email two nurseries today about there admission processes and expected waiting times, also about early years entitlement. Thanks for all your help ladies. Much appreciated!!!

Would probably be looking at BUDS or Dulwich Village preschool as both are within walking distance to us. Where exactly is BUDS, I have actually never seen it, do you have to walk through the car park bit where the Christmas trees go up for sale. I assume both have long waiting lists?! And how many waiting list can you sit on?

Thanks Pickle. Im so new to all of this, but I feel more comfortable with a smaller adult to child ratio. I assume (as with everything..) that a school nursery would have more children, and less staff to deal with them. If you know what I mean. I'll definitely go and have a look around different types of nursery and see what my daughter thinks (she will more than likely talk about it a hell of a lot, as she is already), she is desperate to start school and has been asking for the last 6 months or so. I'd love her to go to montessori, but am unsure whether either of the two I can think of take children on free places. Is there a site other than southwark council and directgov that offer advice on nursery etc that isnt quite so confusing?

Thanks - I know it may take a while, should of put name down earlier. Does everywhere take the entitlement, or how do I find out who does vs who doesnt? How does it work? Just want her to go for the 15 hours she is entitled to for free, cant afford any top up fees at the moment, and dont want her in full time anyway, 15 hours is enough in my eyes at such a young age.

Ah-ha. Thanks for this thread Ruth. I must sort out nursery this week, but southwark council website so confusing!! So my daughters birthday is Feb 1, by my reckoning she can start nursery April 1 2012 this is 2 months after her 3rd birthday?! Im right, arent it wise mummies? And, how do I find out who will take her on early years entitlement? FYI Im near Harvester, and I am also willing to volunteer anywhere that will take her (I'm scared for her to be under someone elses care without me, until I can trust them. Makes sense to me) I dont get it, its all really confusing. I could ask a million and one questions about this literally need a step by step guide of what to do! My first parental stumbling block.

I had such a shock when I found out, she's a fantastic doctor and was trying her hardest to make MG a much more positive place to visit. I wish her the best of luck wherever she ends up.

After having frequent problems with 'missing' post I now have a different issue with East Dulwich postal service. I always recieve letters any letter sent from Southwark Council, but this week they rang to say they had tried to send a important letter 3 times, each time its been returned with a note to say 'unavailable at this address' and I really dont know why?!! I asked the lady on the phone to check the address, and all was fine, so I dont understand why its not being delivered, and the council wont let me know what the letter contents are over the phone. Its been sent out again, hopefully it turns up this time. We regularly see our new postman on the way out, and if we are leaving and he see's he stops to give us any post, and any signed for items. So I'm definitely not missing anything, its also just standard 1st class, not recorded or sign for item.

Hmm I'm concerned about lollipops falling off the stick and her choking, this happened to me when I was young.. Also sugar on a 6am flight :-( I'm doomed! It's just the constant swallowing that needs to be happening to help isn't it? Or am I wrong in thinking this?

Hi Ladies, we're off to spain for a week next weekend and daughter (2.9 years..) has never flown before, the flyings fine she seems mega excited (although telling me she doesnt want to get on a plane unless its a helicopter..) but im just really concerned about having her screaming in pain if her ears pop during take off. So looking for some advice of how to help my daughter if she feels the effects of cabin presure in her ears, is there something I can do to avoid or reduce the discomfort on take off and landing?! So wish I was still breastfeeding right now, seems the simple solution! Grrr. I used to find it really uncomfortable as a child, but flew a lot so got used to it over the ears. Im reluctant to give her things like lolipops so wondering if any of you mummies have any useful ideas for me? Thanks in advance..

Daughter is the same although she is only 2 years. Her bed and herself are normally soaked in the morning. When I go in to check her before I go to bed she has kicked all the covers off and is literally dripping. I think its all normal, a lot of people are hot during sleep.

I think when it comes to washing liquids this is trial and error. My daughter has eczema and it runs right through my whole family. ALWAYS (!!!) stick to non-bio and always liquid. At the minute we have come to the conclusion Persil small and mighty non-bio is the one that causes less irritation. Have used Ecover, which suprisingly flared up her eczema a lot! The best brand I found that kept the eczema at bay for months was Sainsburys own brand non-bio liquid. It was brilliant. Then I switched supermarkets and havent found another since, until I trialled Persil small and mighty. Another thing to consider it scented fabric softner, if you use it, its a bad idea. I always stick to Comfort pure for fabric softner. As I said at the beginning though, its all trial and error, I have loads of half used bottles of tried, tested and failed washing liquids under the kitchen sink. Each eczema sufferer will react different or be more sensitive to certain things. For bathtime too, its ery important you find the right products, once again I have a million and one tried tested and failed bottles in the bathroom. I use infacare or simple moisturising bath and halos and horns or simple shampoo. Until my daughter was 1 year we didnt use any soap products in the bath, just simple water as anything would 'hurt' her skin. A good cream is essential after bathtimes, I find diprobase the best the best and has been the cream of choice for my whole family. Try to stick to the same products over and over, and try not to switch as a simple chop and change of products can cause flare ups too. As with eczema the key is to keep it moisturised all the time, and not to let it dry out. Hope some of this helps. Best of luck.

Thanks to everyone, very helpful. Im so out of my depth! Do most places take the early years entitlement, 15 hours a week would be perfect, 5 days a week for mornings or 3 days a week for 5 hours. Would love her to to montessori, as I did when I was little. Will be moving in April, so unsure where we will end up and might be far away from chosen nursery if I pick in April. Saff seen your thread before, it does appeal to me but I always feel completely out of place with others in the area. Never feel welcome being a young teenage mum. Tried groups before and sat secluded with my LO. I'm a 40 year old in a 21 year olds body, seriously! If I pluck up the courage maybe I will doing something sometime soon. :-)

I do not know what I'm doing at all when it comes to all this. Definitely my biggest parenting dilemma so far. My daughter will be 3 in February, she is eligible for a early years place in April 2011. Should she be on a waiting list somewhere already? If so, she isnt! What do I do? Had anyone forgone nursery and kept the child out of education until school age? I'm 50-50 on what to do. She is very intelligent for her age and is advanced for a 2 year old (this comes from my aunty who has worked with 2 year olds for 10 years plus) so in a way I feel we dont need to do it as such. But its the social aspect I'm more concerned about, for reasons personal to me I dont do much with her outside of the house by means of baby groups and etc. Although we do get back during the week to nana's house or shops etc. I'd love her to have the social skills she so badly needs now, being an only child. Someone explain all this to me, because it all just seems confusing to me. I dont know what I do or even where to start. Southwark council website is terrible for research, its here there and everywhere and no very informative. Thanks all ED mummies! x

Daughter is nearly 3, she likes it use mini, this is her mini version of what mummy has. Daddy would occasionally have a willy or a mini, whichever she wants to call it at the time. We also use mooey. This was terminology from around 14 months.. Will correct her as she gets older and starts to ask. Will always try to be as honest as I can with her. But it's all a but of fun right now, right?!

I'm feeling exactly the same!! I meal plan ahead so I can get what I need in the weekly shop. Fancied a change from the usual 15 meals or so that everyone likes this week. So got a whole new menu for this week. For tonight were having pasta with mascarpone, garlic, parmesan and spinach. Quick, simple and oh so yummy!

LI. From the day she stopped breastfeeding I never had problems getting her to sleep. I still keep the rocking motion I always used when feeding, and we now sing a select choice of songs, including one I made up about her (she loves that one!). Since breastfeeding she dropped naps, now only napping once every 3 months or so. I had extreme sleep problems with her, we co-slept for 16 months at which point she was still waking for feeds up to 5 times a night, but at around 13-14 months she became extremely violent whilst waking for night feeds. I was waking bruised, bitten and scratched. I carried on with that until she was 16 months, where I then moved her into her own bed next to ours. The violence stopped immediately and she began learning to sleep through. By the time she was 20 months we moved her into her own room and from that day on she NEVER woke up once in the night. Feeding during the night was my main worry but considering she had been sleeping through for 4 months before stopping it became less and less of an issue. In the rare event she does wake in the night, I just carry her into our bed and she falls asleep with us both. Its such a relief for me, I honestly thought the sleep issues would carry on until she was 5, easily and stopping breastfeeding was going to be the time all hell broke loose. I still miss it very much now, I was happy to continue for another year but it all fell into place by itself. And I was happy with that.

Hi, You obviously love breastfeeding, its a difficult decision, a lot harder for us as parents I think than the child. We always see it as a massive decision, yet more often than not babies and toddlers aren't too fussed and don't necessarily notice the transition. You could always drop feeds during the day gradually using distraction and getting out and about so as to 'forget' about it. You could carry on a morning and night feed whilst still working if its what you want and your happy with that. Some women choose to go cold turkey, or when starting work just take that step. Baby is normally fine at home, especially if drinking from a cup etc. They always want whats right in front of them when it comes to breastmilk, but you do find a lot, if separate from the option they will just get on with their day. I fed my daughter for 2 years, even toward the end I was still feeding/comforting at the breast up to 20-25 times a day. Always on demand. Until the night before her 2nd birthday she was obsessed with boob. Quite literally. Then on her birthday so much other stuff was going on she didn't even notice she hadn't fed all day. And that was the end of that, she still asked everyday for months on end, but rarely caused a scene about it. She was bought a new 'special' cup to replace the boob and took to it more and more as time went by. It was such an emotional time for me, and I really missed it for 3-4 months after, and ended up regretting she stopped. She was a baby and toddler in fact, that NEVER slept without the breast, and wouldn't nap without the breast, it smoothed every cry, every pain, it was just a beautiful thing. I spent ages thinking, I'm never going to get her to sleep, I'm never going to be able to release the pain and tears without it, but we did, it was nothing like I expected it to be!! Many women find a way to do it differently, I suppose its up to the way you handle it, want it to go, and the need to actually do it. Wish I could give more advice. But it will be fine, and you will find a way thats right for you and your baby. Best of luck with your decision. X

Most Clarks shoes on eBay sell really well, even when worn. They are a huge expense to some people brand new! I'm the same as you, kept all shoes wondering what to do with them. Daughter was also growing out of Clarks shoes every 6 weeks, even a ?48 pair!! I always look on eBay out of curiosity to see what they go for (meaning to sell, but never get round to it, typical!), and some of the shoes go for ?10-15 easily! So long as you make sure to state they are worn, and most take a picture of inside to see the 'indentations' its up to bidders if they are willing to let their child wear used shoes. Autumn/winter shoes will be starting to sell a lot better now, so if you have some sling them up you'll probably get a fair price.

Trofast combinations Does anyone have one of these systems in their children's room? I'm looking at them as an option for daughters room! Wondering if they do actually hold as much as they look like they would? They are definitely one of the most practical solutions available out there, and reasonably priced too. Just annoying as per, Ikea with no delivery or option to buy online with these. They would make a tonne more money allowing all their products to be purchased for home delivery!! Anyway if anyone recommends let me know, or an alternative like this even.. Alternatively, if anyone is selling one locally feel free to PM me, as may just make the whole trip to ikea etc easier..

Need to get some storage for daughters room, desperately! Cant even walk to drawers for the entire contents of toy shop spilling on the floor!! If there is anyone else out there who doesn't drive, and finds the prospect of carrying flat pack half way around London, and on buses, please get in touch. A man and van on EDF has offered to do the run and is happy to split normal cost between 2 people. I'm literally after a few toy boxes, so seems more worth sending him off with 2 orders to collect so we could spend ?12.50 each on getting it straight to our door with no fuss. Any offers PM me I'm looking to do it within the next week or 2. ASAP really! Thank you x

My mother had my brother at 40!! If you want to do it go for it.. Its each womans individual choice (obviously). Whereas a fair few women have children in the earlier stages of their life and then enjoy 'freedom' in their later years, a lot of women also enjoy 'freedom' in the earlier stages and then enjoying bringing up children in the later years. Many women still get pregnant, whilst under the assumption they may not be able to produce children so easily as they could of before (I too have heard abortion rates are high in 40+ year old women, as they don't realise how easy they can actually get pregnant). My aunt is 40 and hasn't had children yet, she would like to, speaking the other day she kept mentioning time being on her side but the reality is, she is probably thinking time is ticking a lot faster than it actually is. Lord, some women are even still able to have children and give birth to healthy offspring at 60 something, although I'm sure everyone is aware this is quite a rare occurrence (and peculiar IMO). I say, If its what you want, GO FOR IT! Good luck with your decision.

I stopped breastfeeding at 2 years, my boobs were huge, engorged, hot and heavy. Not particularly painful, just uncomfortable same as when milk came in as baby was born. I used cabbage leaves in my bra that I had sat in the freezer for about 30 minutes before using. Really helped!! I also had to hand express once every 2 days (literally a few drops, not anything substantial..) just to relieve my breasts, best done in a warm bath I find. Boobs were back to normal after about 7 days, 6.5 months on all I have are rather annoying milk spots on my nipples. This is perfectly normal though!! Just a note, if you have sudden on set of cold/flu symptoms and your boobs are painful, see your GP to rule out mastitis. Best of luck x

Add to that another element - the fact that people are unlikely to mug people right on their own doorstep or within a few streets (kind of increases the chances of being recognised and identified). Fact? You wanna bet..