MichelleT

We were told when registering at the villa that the waiting list was 2 years, however when the intake increased we were able to get a place sooner - when DS was 2.5, exactly when we needed him to start. Doing a tour wasn't a problem, and its such a lovely nursery its worth pushing for. The 'caterpillars' are in the new building which is very light clean and cosy with underfloor heating and DS loves it there.

My baby was bottle fed (tongue tie) so I liked the BW - wasn't rigid, but worked for me as a framework.

Fillyourpants.co.uk (I think) is a v useful website selling loads of different types of cloth in one place. I use a mix of smartipants and baba and boo nappies with little lambs fleece liners. Never scrape poo, just flick it down the loo. We also now have some training pants for 26 month old though he is showing few signs of potty readiness.

Signed. While still in Kings asked about tongue tie as baby just struggled and struggled to latch. Diagnosed a month later. Waited another two weeks for the snip. Breastfeeding never happened for us, something that still makes me sad.

Didn't bother with the cocoon wither - had bub in a moby for the first three months. Then bought a cheap John Lewis footmuff for winter and a sheepskin for summer.

we have a little life bee backpack, bit less like a leash and very cute.

Second the recommendation of My Child Won't Eat.

Reading an interesting book called Letting Go As Children Grow by Deborah Jackson (of Three In A Bed fame). on the toddler years, she posits that until children are 3, there is very little point in trying to discipline them as they can't understand. They act on intent, not volition, and have no impulse control. As Claire says, I try to avoid hunger and tiredness, and remind myself that he isn't trying to give me a hard time, he is having a hard time. Now he's nearly two and rapidly gaining language skills, the meltdowns are fewer and farther between as he can tell us what he wants and doesn't get so frustrated.

I stopped when he started crawling - think the steam from the dishwasher does the job.

We had reflux, but as it was under control I waited til he was six months and did BlW - used the Gill Rapley book.

Its also worth remembering that the definition of sleeping through is sleeping for five hours and not from 7-7 or whatever the baby trainers have decided that week. BabyT's sleep is all over the place, sometimes brilliant, sometimes awful. He defined the 18 month sleep regression and would stand in his cot shouting 'no no no no' for an hour at a time before starting to cry. We decided to bring his cot into our room and side-car it (our bed is too small for three of us), and now one or both of us lies down with him until he falls asleep. At the moment this is working well, but who knows when it might change again :) I second the recommendation of etta above, especially the No Cry Sleep Solution.

Google open gut, and follow your baby's lead. Baby rice and cereal is nutritionally worthless. We waited til 6 months and fed him real food from the word go.

Yes. Bugaboo know its a problem, if you get in touch with them or the retailer who sold you the Bee they will send you some washers which fix it.

Have used friends TTs and have a BabyDan ourselves; the wood of the TTs is nicer, and I think its easier to adjust them as you need to take the BD apart, but otherwise pretty much of a muchness.

Oh thank you Fuschia! I shall google it.

Our little boy goes to a nanny share with another slightly older toddler and their nanny now feels that the older boy needs a bit more stimulation and interaction with older kids, without her supervision. Does anyone know of any playgroups where you can drop off a child for an hour or so? Thanks in advance.

I have a Bee and it is a city pram. If you plan to do a lot of off-roading its not great. Otherwise I think its brilliant, light enough that I can carry it and my toddler onto trains, great on public transport, can be steered with one hand. The 2010 model expands to accommodate bigger babies. You need to buy a cocoon for a newborn as it doesn't lay completely flat. Its also forward and backward facing, folds down really easily and nice and small, fits easily in car boots, and can be adapted to take a car seat. Hope that helps, and good luck with your search.

Ladywotlunches, at the moment he pushes the scooter along by the handle :) but I don't think it will be long before he is scooting as he and his nannyshare buddy have one each.

I bought one from Jojo Maman, if you register with mumsnet you can get 10 or 15% off which was the cheapest I could find. My son loves it and he's only 18 months :)

Another vote for the Manduca, I carry my 18 month old toddler in it most days.

I go past it on the bus and its closed now.

Another Manduca fan here - I carry my 17month old most days. The nice thing about a ssc is that as the baby gets bigger you can switch to a back carry for longer trips, which is easier on your back and means you can wear the baby for longer. My toddler still loves going in the sling and sits quietly in it observing everything that's going on while I chat away to him. Slings are fab!

Can I just say again No Cry Sleep Solution! Its not a case of sleep deprivation OR leaving baby to cry. There are other ways to gently help your baby to learn to sleep. I got home tonight, Pickle had his bath, bottle, teeth two stories one on my lap one in his cot lullaby good night and off went the light. Twenty minutes later he was asleep without a squeak. A lot of this is down to him being ready developmentally, but also I followed lots of Pantley's tips about consistent evening routine, bedtimes, a calming hour before bed so the baby relaxes and winds down gradually. I've never ever left him to cry in his cot.

The language used by medical professionals doesn't help - my labour 'failed to progress'

Hi Mrs F, that's fine for your baby but sleep training isn't working for the OP so what would you suggest?