akc74

I'm talking about a toddler here. He's 15 months old and he still nearly always wakes by 6am. I know people have worse sleeping issues but it just slightly grates (I am rubbish at this time of day!) and even an extra half hour would make such a difference. I am slightly envious of all those Mums I know whose babies regularly sleep till 7am. He goes to bed about 7-7.15 normally and a different bedtime doesn't seem to make much difference. He usually has a 2 hour nap at lunchtime (occasionally a small nap in the morning as well esp if he's had a particularly early start) Does anyone have any experience of this improving this late on?! He is just starting to walk so I am hoping once he's cracked it he might knacker himself out sufficiently to just need an extra hour in the morning...??!

From what I can gather the Monday one is really busy, the new Tuesday one less so. You could give it a go just to see if your daughter likes it - ?3 drop-in.

Tippee Toes at All Fired Up on Mon & Tues 10am Copleston Road playgroup Tues 10am All Saints playgroup (peckham rye) Wed am

Our front door also opens directly onto the pavement, but it's not especially narrow and we do have green wheelie bins provided. The small brown one for food though, is so much smaller and would fit even on a narrow pavement. Would need to keep in kitchen (or ideally backyard) for the week and then just put it out on bin night. No more obtrusive than a bag of rubbish and more fox-proof.

intexasatthe moment Will they not even provide the small brown food bin or is there no room for this outside the house either? As an elderly person living alone (if I understand correctly) this will be enough space for her weekly food waste

I have been very impressed with the way waste and recycling has been handled here (we have been part of the pilot scheme) especially compared to Wandsworth where we lived before. We are a family of 3, with the little one still in nappies (I am gutted to have never quite got into reusable nappies but that's another story). We manage well with the very small brown caddy in the kitchen for food waste - needs fairly frequent emptying but we seem to manage with the slightly larger one that lives outside - it lasts about a week before it's pretty full (could be a problem for a large family). If you have a proper garden, then it's worth starting composting at home as well or getting a wormery. They now take so much dry recycling (delighted to hear tetra paks are now included) so the "normal" bin in the kitchen takes a lot of time to fill. Nappies are the only issue but as long as they are bagged they can go straight outside into the green bin - it has a good firmly shut lid so I'm not sure why there is a concern about smell - it ain't pretty if you get too close but keep your head out of it and you'll be fine. As for the Daily Mail - I have to try not to think about it, as the smoke that comes out of my ears at the very thought of it is probably polluting the atmosphere...

Great, thanks. Also interested to know if anyone's been to one at Rye Oak school as that's slightly nearer us and I think they have one on Fridays. I don't really know what's involved (my 14 month old may be a bit young?) but am just checking everything out as the Autumn stretches out in front of us!

May try this too. Is it easy to find the Albrighton Centre? On the map it looks like you approach from Albrighton Rd, but just checking in case it's tucked away in the estate somewhere?

There is a page on the Southwark site of Bookstart sessions (looks like the one above is on) - however those "Let's Go" guides aren't available/haven't been updated. Have emailed the council to ask about them...

Without wishing to go off topic, could anyone advise me how early we might realistically start using one of these - in your experience? Thanks.

We love the Donaldson books too - but there are some really great and interesting books in Review on Bellenden Road - and it's great to support your local bookshop! (Shameless plug - I don't have any connection I promise) Particular favourites are by Alexis Deacon (Beegu and Slow Loris) which are very original and quite poignant (in the case of the former). Also "There are Cats in this Book" is great fun, our 1-yr old loves it - by Viviane Schwarz. I believe that Viv and Alexis are both very local too. Less unusual but great fun is "There's an Ouch in my Pouch" by Jeanne Willis. Nice Donaldson-esque rhythm with antipodean theme...! My husband is a huge dog-lover and loves reading him "It's a Dog's Life" by Michael Morpurgo and "Dog's Don't do Ballet" by Anna Kemp.

He had just turned one - I had attempts at dropping it earlier, but we kept regressing as he wasn't consistently ready - but feels like he definitely is now. It may also not entirely be a coincidence that he's only just started to crawl and is probably wearing himself out more. If she is waking early or not having a good LTN, I'd reduce it to about 10 mins first for a while and see how that goes.

Me too Mellors! But I get more help during the school holidays so I realise I'm very lucky in that regard. But during term time, he's out the door by about 6.45am and back just after bedtime (and works most nights after dinner - after he's washed up!). He does the baths at the weekend and lots of nappies, and I do all the food prep (for us and the small one), shopping, admin etc.

After that evening stroll and him sleeping in a bit on Friday, we have managed to drop the morning nap - the first day this caused massive overtiredness and a crap lunchtime sleep, but since then things have settled down and for the last 3 days i haven't been in till gone 7am - for the first time in months. He has woken around 6.30 (I think!) - so much better than the 5.30am we were getting before.

I think there's a huge amount of variation. I would say the Gina followers tend to do it a bit sooner, because by now they all tend to have 2 hour lunchtime naps, and if that nap goes wrong or they start waking early it can be because they are ready to lose the morning one. I kept making it shorter and shorter and for a while he has just had 10 mins or so around 9.45/10am (I think this is what he was doing at Baby K's age) and then still managed to have a decent kip after lunch.

Clearly this may be a coincidence but I took little akc out at 6pm for 20mins last night, and this morning he slept till just gone 6am (as opposed to 5.30am) and chatted happily till 6.45am - which is the latest I've managed to go into him for weeks.

I think you're right, I need to persevere with dropping it. I have had a few days like that already (with an early lunch and early LTN) and it went OK. However, I think I am just in that transition period, and we've got stuck in a bit of a relapse lately, with the early starts and a tired baby come 10am.

Well I didn't confess in my OP but I, too, have been loosely following GF since very early on. As recommended, I have cut his morning nap right back and if it happens it is rarely now before 10am and he only sleeps for about 10 mins (with intervention from me I confess - or he would sleep on). I think I should be dropping it completely now, because he still seems to wake early even since shortening it. I probably just need to bite the bullet but it could be a bit painful to make the readjustment as he will need a very early lunch and an early lunchtime nap for a while, if he continues to wake at 5.30 at first!

We bring ours in with us too, but as he didn't really ever co-sleep and it's not as dark in our room, he is extremely fidgety and awake so there's no danger of any further snoozing for any of us! Hubbie gets up at 6am himself anyway, so maybe he is just tuned in to that and wants to get up like Daddy...I live in hope that as you say it'll improve with age. And in the meantime I am willing to try all sorts of tricks just to see if I can get to that golden hour of 7am, just once!

Thank you, interesting stuff. I try to resist taking him out of his room straightaway as I have read about the way daylight helps regulate the body clock, so I try to sit quietly in his dark room at first. However by this time (after half an hour chatting) he's already pretty awake and wants to go downstairs and play. I am going to try a few evening outings, and see if it has any impact and will report back. He may be in the early stages of teething with his first molars, though there is no other sign that they are particularly imminent beyond a spot of thumb chewing. Otherwise I am pretty sure it's not cold/hunger/light etc.

My little boy has always been an early riser - currently consistently waking at 5.30am. I have just read about taking them out between 6-7pm for some evening air & light and how this supposedly helps with early waking. Does anyone have any experience of this?!

Well, since dropping our morning feed, my LO has some cow's milk from a cup first thing but not much - maybe about 50ml tops. Then he has some cereal with quite a bit of cow's milk, and throughout the day he typically has at least one yoghurt and probably some cheese. He doesn't seem to mind the taste of cow's milk - I think he's got used to it as I've been giving it to him on his cereal for a while. He also drinks water from a cup with his meals and a tiny bit in between meals. Then he has about 20 mins breastfeed at bedtime. So I don't think he's drinking that much milk either if that's any help...Admittedly my FF friends' babies are still drinking a lot more milk than my son.

I have recently dropped the morning feed and my son seems OK (if a little grumpy at the moment but may not be related). He is drinking cow's milk from a cup. I am wondering how long I can keep up the bedtime feed as it's the only one of the day? I am a bit apprehensive about dropping it, and would like to continue for a few more weeks. I need to play with his routine next to reduce the association with bedtime, before dropping it completely. But I am wondering if my supply will now dry up quite quickly? Any tips welcome.

Seems like you've had good advice on the sleeping routines (I am a selective Gina fan, as it's helped me a lot - but like Pickle don't want to get into that debate) and I only have one so far (nearly 1 yr old) so can't comment on the challenges of 2 - but I am full of admiration. HOWEVER, the leg banging thing - I am glad to hear that wasn't just us! My son did that for months with real gusto - quite odd. Has calmed down now if that's any comfort...

Such a relevant and interesting thread for me - thanks for starting it Sophie. Nearly a year on, of my NCT group of 6, 2 are about to return to work part-time - probably not statistically typical, but there seem to be quite a few SAHMs round here, from what I can see. I always thought I'd be back at work (albeit 3 days a week) by now. However I was made redundant in December and we have decided that I will stay at home for the foreseeable future. When asked what I do though, I find it hard to give a straight answer - I worked hard in marketing for about 15 years, and still struggle to let go of that big part of me. I am contemplating freelancing but can't quite figure out how it would work. My husband is also a teacher (a reasonably senior one thankfully) so we have had a lifestyle change - but that has largely been enforced anyway. Possibly the biggest extravagance of our previous life was eating out, cinema, theatre etc. which we now we can't really do very often anyway. I have no idea when will be a good time to start working again (interesting comments about being home when they go to school) and whether it'll involve a big career change. For now I need to try to relax into my decision and enjoy it, and to savour this precious time with my son.