Norfolkvillas

My sister hates shopping, and once every few years has a massive online shopping blowout whereby she trawls the internet, orders everything she sees that she likes, in a variety of sizes, usually spending around ?2k in total. Then it all arrives, she tries all of it on, figures out which items work in a number of different combinations: this makes up her capsule wardrobe and she sends the rest of it back. She usually keeps around ?500 - ?600 worth, ends up with a great choice of outfit combinations, all from the comfort of her own living room. Reiss is good for classics with a twist, and the sale sections of Matches, Net-a-Porter, and Liberty websites are always worth keeping an eye on...

Donation made!

We have always used one of these http://www.brushbaby.co.uk/ (JoJo Maman Bebe sell them). I give it to my 15 month old and he puts it straight in his mouth and chews away for ages, which has the added bonus of keeping him quiet whilst I'm getting his PJs on after bathtime.

In my experience, it's been very easy to buy and sell second hand buggies on gumtree (and I bet the EDF works well too) so I would perhaps suggest that you go halves on whatever's needed for now, and then you sell it and split the proceeds when it's no longer needed....

My son has just had his MMR. I originally planned to pay to have the separate jabs done privately (my mum offered to pay the c?200). I know that the findings were discredited and the doctor responsible struck off, but my mum's thinking was no smoke without fire and better safe than sorry. Anyway, when the time came, I found that the single mumps vaccine is no longer being manufactured, and no private clinic I contacted had any in stock. So I was left with the choice of vaccinating my son against just M and R separately, or MMR together, so it was a simple decision for me to go for the combined MMR as mumps can lead to male infertility. The bottom line is that if you want your daughter to be immunised against all three diseases, you have to go for the combined jab. Although the lovely nurse we saw at DMC kindly let us space the 12mth booster jabs and the MMR two weeks apart as that made me feel more comfortable. Hope this helps!

We really enjoyed Martinhal in Sagres, Portugal. Launched last year by the people behind the likes of Ickworth and Fowey Hall in the UK, it is a hybrid hotel / self-catering resort designed specifically to be family-friendly. They really have thought of everything, and have a lovely kids club where our then 10 month old was perfectly happy. http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-hotels/hotel-martinhal or http://martinhal.com/ If I remember correctly, Portugal doesn't have a time difference from the UK. Other places I've considered but not visited are Almyra on Crete and Sani Asterias Suites in Northern Greece. Hope this helps!

I quite easily found a matching pair of footmuffs for our Phil and Teds E3 on ebay (two separate listings for the same product). We had a pair of mothercare universal fit ones, and currently have a pair of Cosatto universal fit ones, and they fit fine - I'm guessing the actual phil and teds footmuffs taper to the triangular point of the footwell of the front seat, but I don't think ours (standard rectangular shape) look bad, and the strap holes all correspond etc... Hope this helps!

The Lexi cinema in Kensal Rise is run as a charity, and I think it's been very warmly recieved in that neck of the woods. http://thelexicinema.co.uk/lexi-community/. Your idea of group hire sounds fab for parties / special events etc

Going up a size worked for us too when we had the same prob. I also switched from pampers to huggies which seemed to have more padding where we needed it. Also, I made sure that I fixed the tabs far closer to the top of the nappy (ie above the coloured / patterned band which both pampers and huggies have but not sure about Asda, rather than in line with the band). Hope this makes sense and helps.

My husband enjoyed reading From Here to Paternity by Andrew Cullen. I read it too (a while ago) and I thought the author (and book) was based in East Dulwich, but could have just been imagining that....

We use a company called Taxing Nannies. When I rang Nannytax, they seemed vague about nannyshare situations and said there were two ways to do it and they recommended the way that incidentally meant paying them twice the fee. Taxing Nannies on the other hand seemed much more sure of themselves on how to manage our nannyshare arrangement, and as we only needed to pay one lot of fees (and they were cheaper than Nannytax) we went with them, and haven't had any probs.

My son used to fall instantly asleep when I switched my hairdryer on - obviously, I couldn't leave a hairdryer on in his room, so I positioned a radio under his cot and set the dial right at the end of the fm scale, where there's some lovely soothing white noise, and it worked a treat, right through until about 5 months if I remember correctly. If you want a less DIY option, the Prince Lion Heart Slumber bear has a box inside him which is motion and noise triggered and will play your choice of white noise, whale noises, and a couple of other options. The bear is a bit twee looking (and expensive), but all you really need is the sound box which fits inside him, and I bet you could pick one of these up on ebay.... Hope this helps!

I love my Ergo - at 6 months, when I was really sick of spending money on neverending baby kit, I really questioned whether it would be worth it, but carrying our massively chunky son in the baby bjorn was instantaneously painful. I did loads of research and picked up the Ergo on ebay, and it has been a very worthwhile investment. My NCT group tried it with their babies and asked incredulously 'but where does the weight go?'. My son (still chunky) is now going on 13 months, and I can imagine using it for many many more months. Invaluable for airports, errands where you're in and out of the car and can't be bothered to get the pram out, supermarkets, and, what I originally envisaged using it for, walks in Sydenham Woods. I have to say I also love the intimacy of feeling his heartbeat next to mine, and being able to whisper gossip in his ear as we are out and about.

Hi there. My son (now 1) has just a couple of days ago had absolutely appalling nappy rash due to a prolonged tummy bug - definitely the worst it has ever been by a long way. It came on very fast and our usual cream wasn't doing anything (the eco nature baby range or whatever it's called). I was recommended to use a German brand called Weleda so I bought their nappy change cream, applied it to his botty once it was totally dry and it more or less cleared up (or to a manageable level) with one application. It seemed very thick and soothing, and a more natural alternative to some of the more 'medical' creams... Might be worth a try? I was told, but don't know for a fact, that the health food shop on Lship Lane sells it. I got mine from Waitrose though.. Hope this helps!

Hi there, not sure if my recommendation would count, as my little boy is only a year, so I don't have any experience of using our car seat with a 2 yr old. However, I thought I'd post anyway, because ours doesn't have a harness at all - instead it has a kind of cushion that you place on your child's lap and then strap the seatbelt over that. If you google it you'll see what I mean. It's the Kiddy Infinity Pro (this one goes up to age 4 I believe, but there's a similar one in the same range that goes up to age 12). It doesn't recline very far, but my son sleeps well in it either lying back, or by resting his head on his arms on the cushion, in which position he looks perfectly comfy. The other (and main) plus point is that it was rated number one for safety, and performed way better than its nearest competitor. Kiddy is a German company, but if you look on their website, there are videos in English comparing their seats to traditional 5 point harness seats. Hope this helps!

I also value the fact that, unless I'm mistaken, a nanny needs specialist nanny insurance, a current first aid certificate, and the higher level of CRB check in order to get and maintain OFSTED registration. Plus childcare vouchers make a big difference as others have posted. PS If I understand it correctly, if either parent is a higher rate tax payer and joins the childcare voucher scheme after April 2011, their allowance is almost halved, whereas those already in the scheme are protected. Could be wrong on this though...

If you are already feeling like things are starting to happen, then they will most likely give you the first lot of hormone and it'll just kick start your labour and you'll be able to progress naturally. I was induced (almost a year ago to the day) at St Thomas's and from almost the beginning, this wasn't an option for me (which was fine, I didn't have any set ideas about staying in the home-from-home setting). Whilst my labour was hectic and full of interventions, I have very positive residual feelings about it, which I think is about the best outcome anyone can hope for. I don't feel that inductions are by definition any worse than non-induced labours. I guess my motto was que sera sera and I kept right at the front of my mind the fact that labour itself is a tiny window of time in the grand scheme of things, and it WILL end and there WILL be a baby at the end of it. Hope this helps, and good luck!

How hugely annoying! We've used Ocado for quite a few years and have never ever experienced any unreliability, other than very occasionally being offered a replacement item for something that was out of stock (maybe once every couple of months). Currently having big arguments with my other half about whether or not it really IS much more expensive than alternatives. He goes to Sainsbury's and definitely spends ?30 less but comes back without nappies, baby milk, wetwipes etc.... so I've never had much luck actually comparing apples with apples. My gut feeling is that Ocado is probably not much more expensive, and if it did come out at a fiver more a week, that would be justified by convenience, reliability, easy and speed of shopping etc. Now I just need to convince my husband....

Lime Wood in the New Forest is currently top of my wishlist: http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-hotels/united-kingdom/hampshire/lime-wood

Since the arrival of our first baby, my parents are now planning to move closer to London to see more of us. I would love to have them round the corner. One of the loveliest aspects of becoming a parent has been seeing how much love and positivity its created within my family.

Our cleaner regularly does less hours than I pay her for, and more often than not comes with someone else (without asking). The job is done, and I feel that the total I pay her is very reasonable for cleaning our house and doing our ironing, so I've never once considered it a problem. I do very much see it as a flat fee for a job completed, so the time it takes is immaterial. As our cleaner, who's been with us for some years, also works for at least 10 of my friends, colleagues, family across London, I just can't see her ever abusing our trust...

Hi there, I notice that there are quite a few yellow spots on Whateley Road but it would be great to have some more trees after Whateley turns into Underhill, specifically at or near the corner of Friern and Underhill Roads. Thanks!

Hi there, Calcot Manor in the Cotswolds is meant to be fab for kids and adults alike, ditto Ickworth in Suffolk and Wooley Grange in Wiltshire. Child-friendly details for these hotels here: http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-hotels/united-kingdom/cotswolds/calcot-manor/child-friendly and here http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-hotels/united-kingdom/suffolk/ickworth/child-friendly and here http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-hotels/united-kingdom/wiltshire/woolley-grange/child-friendly I work for Mr & Mrs Smith, so I hope I'm not breaking any Forum rules by posting these links...

Beababies - I would definitely be interested in finding out more about the Tuesday afternoon class. I don't work on Tues and Thurs afternoons, but most other ED classes I've found seem to happen in the mornings...

Hi there, apols if you've already been reunited with the correct scooter, but we were in the park today and as I left, I thought I spotted a signed taped to the gate saying something about a blue mini scooter having been taken and some contact details... Thinking about it, perhaps it was your own sign for the other scooter owner. Oh well, thought I'd let you know just in case it's useful...