Ko

its very light and i had a c section too, so was glad to have gone for a light buggy! my little one is 4 months now and loves it. its very easy to fit onto buses and down narrow shop aisles, so has meant that i go out a lot which really brightens up my day and stops me getting cabin fever. its was the best buggy i saw after looking at loads. i was mainly looking and weight and size. most buggies just seem enormous and i didn't want to be put off going out and about. hope you heal soon xxx

many thanks for all the replies. i feel like i am looking at prams again - so much choice and i don't want to end up buying something i don't find practical. thanks again for all the advice x

hurrah!!!! glad you have got it sorted.

Morning all could anyone recommend a got travel cot? we will be using it quite a lot as we often go away for the weekend. the little one is 4 months old and i would wnat one that i can keep on using as long as possible. i have heard that some can roll right over when baby gets older, so would like to get a sturdy one. any advice very much appreciated. many thanks in advance xxx

you can get saline drops from the doctor. some people put vicks on the soles of the feet, but can't remember what age they said - try a search on the forum under 'vicks'. hope baby gets better soon x

i couldn't decide which washer dryer earlier this year so went to john lewis and within 5 minutes i had made up my mind as their advice was so good. told them my requirements and budget and they told me the best 3. they were good at pointing out which dry better (i think you have to look at power plus size of drum, as a bigger drum needs more power (or something like that). with washer dryers, the dryer is never as good as if you have just a dryer. but space constraints meant we got a combined washer dryer. we got an AEG which is a very good brand. miele was too expensive for us. try to get a german brand. bosch is also good. make sure the machine fits into your existing space, including height. you need a small gap left under your counter so that th machine has room to spin, otherwise i was told the counter will slowly get pushed upwards. a couple of brands have odd measurements so just double check befire you buy. if you can't decide, you can just go to john lewis to get their expert advice and then buy from comet. the no 12 bus goes straight there. good luck! at john lewis oxford st, they didn;t once mention their own brand machines. when i asked abut them, they said they had german parts (can't remember excactly but think that it was one of the branded companies manufacturing the parts). in the end though, the AEG suited my requirements better (big drum 7KG, good drying power). it has a 45 min quick cycle, and a 30 min cycle for half loads i think.

oh sb, poor you! when little sb grows up, he won't be able to walk around ED without all us mums saying to him "do you remember how many times a night you got your poor mum up"! you are such a good mum coping with all this xxx i've read that all babies wake up a number of times during the night, but its whether they know how to get themsleves back to sleep. so some won't go back to sleep without being held / rocked / patted / fed / dummy / etc. you probably already know this though. i've read you need to break the bad habit but that's not easy. i do know people who have tried the crying down solution and it has worked in 2 nights (and their 1 year old was up about 3 times a night before that). someone else on here suggested a while ago to feed stodgy foods for dinner, eg mashed potato, bread, etc. does your little one take a bottle? could you try a bottle of formula before bedtime and see if that satisfies him for longer? also using a bottle (expressed or formula) would let you see how much he is actually drinking at night. i would hazard a guess that it is the comfort of sucking that he wants to get back to sleep, but you probably already know that! have you tried a dummy? sorry, people have probably already suggested most of these things before. i guess its good to just be able to talk about it so that you can get some support. wish i could do more! xxx

thank you so much for all the replies. great tip on the shape heidi, and molly thank you so much for the suppliers xx

Hi all I am thinking of getting one of these but having looked at them on Ebay I'm finding it very confusing! They seem really long - 30-40cm. Do people find their babies pull on them as they are the right length to be grabbed onto? Are they safe to be kept on 24 hours? Also, how do you know what you are buying is amber and not some rubbish? Any tips would be very much appreciated. Many thanks in advance xxx

may i ask - what exactly is leapers? and does anyone know - what criteria do they use for deciding who gets a place?

we got the bugaboo bee and have been using it for a couple of months now. absolutely love it, mainly because: 1. its very light 2. its small and narrow, so easy to get in and out of our narrow hallway and easy to get on buses (so don't have to bother about taking car and folding pram into boot and taking car seat too...)

glad to hear you both got some sleep xxx when they are so tiny, their tummies are so small and they get so tired easily. so they find it hard to take too much milk in one go, making it seem like constant feeding. hang on in there. when they start smiling after a few weeks, that will make it soooo worth it!!!

when did your partner have her baby? if its less than 4 weeks ago, then ring the community midwives at kings (there's an east team and west team i think). i had them visit until baby was 4 weeks old, they can come every 2nd day, or less frequently if you want, and they are available every day on the phone. good thing is that they will come to your home and are used to stressed women who have just given birth and are probably asked the same questions time and time again. i saw 3 different midwives from the team due to the first midwife going on annual leave, but they were all great and very helpful (much different to the midwives at kings whom i encountered during my ante-natal care!)

hi there, there was a good turnout - 9 mums with their babies. we had a good chat about how we are finding the early days and it was good to meet other mums in the same boat. thanks again for the tip! x

ludoscotts Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- They do an hour on a > different topic i.e weaning,sleeping,teething etc > then you get an hour just to sit and chat. From what Ludoscotts said, seems like the first hour is is on the topic (the timetable gave a different person doing each session, eg the health visitor or nurse) and then the next hour is informal chat between the parents.

i find my best tips come from talking to other mums, so it will be good to meet some other new parents in the same boat!

great tip ludoscottts. i dropped into townley rd this afternoon and as chance might have it, the next set of new parenst courses starts on monday 18th jan (this coming monday), 1pm to 2.45pm. i think i will pop along and hopefully meet some other new mums.

intexasatthe moment Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I'm still patiently waiting for a response to my > queries about secondary school admission criteria > > how can parents understand an admissions system > where the criteria vary so much ? > how can schools be compared if they are operating > different admission criteria ? > why do the Harris Academies have a banding system > that references national ,rather than > local,attainment ? > how does the banding system work ? eg where some > bands are oversubscribed how is the selection made > ? > > I'm being patient because don't councillors do all > their council work in their spare time ? Hi James, I don't think this has been answered yet but I would be quite interested in the resposnse, as would quite a few other parents. I appreciate it isn't the easier of subjects to work out, but was just wondering if you'd got anywhere on this? Many thanks

Pugwash Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > James, Have you cycled up Landells Road recently? Suggest > you do so - the road is terrible - hubby says can > you see if it is scheduled for resurfacing?. > Thanks. Ko Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The road surface is really bad on the half of > Landells Rd between the junctions of Lordship Lane > and Goodrich Rd. > > When I enquired about this, I was told this half > of the road was surfaced by the council with an > experimental surfacing material. However the > council found it was no good because bits sank, > making the surface uneven. > > Therefore the council decided not to use this > surfacing material elsewhere. However this half > of Landells Rd has been left with the sub-standard > road surfacing. It is very uneven to drive down, > plus residents say it increases noise because cars > are driving on ths uneven and bumpy surface. > > James - please can you tell us what can be done > about this? If the council got it wrong, which > they admit they did, they should now put it > right. > > Thanks Pugwash Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Ko and James> > Both ends of Landells are pretty bad. Hubby > Chris is always moaning about it as cycles up the > full length of the road at least three times a > week. > KO wait until you have to push your pram over the > road -you will notice it more then! JBARBER Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Ko and Pugwash, > I'll make a point of paying attention when next on > Landells Road about its state and then feedback > how we can improve things. Hi James, any news on this as per your post of 14 October? Many thanks

congratulations to you all! great news and glad it went well. enjoy these early days, they are so special xxx

half the problem i find is that not all stores stock maternity wear (eg you can go to a 'next' but that particular store might not do maternity wear). i think gap on kings road does maternity wear - could be worth calling them before making the trip though. if you're going to oxford street, the mothercare at marble arch has a good selection of clothing (but not sure about nursing tops) and m&S marble arch has a tiny, tiny selection of maternity clothes. in bromley, there's pumpkin patch which does some lovely clothes (but a little pricey), mothercare, a next which stocks maternity wear (next to mothercare) and H&M which does maternity too. or ebay seems to have bargains but you can't try them first...

washing up gloves - the less contact with water and detergent/soap, the better lots of e45 or aqueous cream at night with cotton gloves (can get them from body shop) hope it gets better soon x

poor you! can't offer any advice but hope you have a lovely holiday! xxx

hi there. sorry if i am repeating what others have said, but as an adult with bad eczema and someone worried about my baby getting eczema (so have been reading up about it!), i would say the following: bathing - cut down on baby baths as they don't need a daily bath. contact with water dries out the skin so much, even if emollients are added to the bath water. the skin's natural oils are best. breathable clothes - 100% cotton, plus avoid wool if baby gets too hot, that often makes sore patches more itchy, which is why cotton clothes are important get a referral to kings who have good dermatologists who can do more than the gp hope baby gets better xxx

poor you. i would also say physio and a support belt. the physio will show you how to corretly position the belt and hopefully give you exercises to do at home. i had physio throughout my pregnancy for a back injury and it helped hugely. the hormones stretch the ligaments throughout pregnancy and to prepare for birth too. hope you get some relief from it soon. xxx