Norfolkvillas

Thanks all. We've never had lasting success with 'delayed gratification' systems such as star charts / pebbles in the jar etc, but I love the card idea Indiana - I will keep that one in reserve. Yellow moon looks like a good site so I'll have more of a browse of that. He's not really into any one thing or character, so I think wrapping up generic little animals / dinosaurs / pirates is the way to go. WomanofDulwich, that's a great idea about making the big bed itself a reward - will implement immediately. As for your question about where my partner is during all this, well, the answer is, snoring in bed next to me with earplugs in.... I guess that's for another thread another time - haven't the energy to bemoan gender inequalities right now! Seems like it's such a common thing for an older child to be wakeful around the arrival of a sibling, so I will just keep repeating the mantra we all know so well.

Good evening, wise forumites. I'm just about to start my second week back at work after having my second baby, and am still absolutely exhausted from the first week. My 6m old is up a couple of times in the night as I've just stopped feeding her - she's happy to take a dummy and resettle herself pretty quickly, but my 3 and a half year old, who was a brilliant sleeper as a baby, but not so much as a toddler / preschooler, is also up a couple of times most nights for reasons known only to himself. Last night I was up at 2am (son), 3am (son), 4.30am (daughter), 6am (daughter) and then they were both up at 7.10am to start the day. So I'm really keen to eradicate the 3yo's wakings if at all possible. My question is twofold: Firstly, we need to take the sides off his cot (I know, I know, we're really late doing this, but he's only just started climbing out himself) - does the forum think I should do this now and deal with the night wakings and 'big boys bed' simultaneously, or should I try and solve the night wakings first and then take the sides off his cotbed at a later date? Secondly, my idea to incentivise him to not call out for me in the night (and potentially also not get out of his big boys bed) is to get a jar of small toys, from which he can choose something every morning if the night has gone well. I'm envisaging little plastic dinosaurs or animals encased in those plastic spheres that you used to get from machines that you put 20p into..... Can anyone suggest where I might buy something like this, or something similar? Or, any other suggestions for my sleepless plight are more than welcome! Apologies for inordinately long post for insignificant issue - jeez, and am expected to make sense in meetings at work tomorrow too :-(

Isn't it the case that your work have to give you time off for antenatal classes? Can't remember whether it's paid or unpaid but might be worth googling. I remember being vaguely surprised by the entitlement when I discovered it....

My kids shared a room for the first time when we were away for 3 nights over Easter. My daughter is nearly 6m and was going through a particularly unsettled and screamy few days. I was totally amazed at what my 3.5yo son could sleep through - even settling himself for his afternoon nap whilst the littlest was going for it at full volume.

I know that Lloyds on Northcross is open as I thought I was going to be picking a prescription up today (in fact I managed to get there yesterday) so I rang on Weds to ask. Hope this helps

We are east-south-east facing and get plenty of sun - one side is more shady than the other, so we've planted accordingly. For us, there is a big seasonal difference, I guess cos of where we are in relation to the buildings around us, so might not be the same for all east facing gardens, but we get much, much less sun from Sept - Feb than we do March - Aug - in the latter months we get sun in the garden through til 5.30pm. It actally works well for us, as from middayish there's always enough shade for kids to play in / paddling pool etc, but also enough sun for me to lounge about in, soaking up the rays and reading the papers (oh, sorry, I'm getting confused with before I had kids)

I use the static blackout stuff that you can buy on a roll from JoJo. This stuff: http://www.magicblackoutblind.co.uk/ My daughter's room has a window with two panes, so I have two bits of the stuff cut perfectly to size so they don't even let in the smallest chink of light. The top one stays on all the time and I keep the blind rolled half way down so that you don't see it, and then I just slap the bottom one up and shut the blind for sleep times. I use the same bits over and over, and the static wears off eventually but I just use bluetak. It leaves no marks, and I find it no hassle to take on and off three times a day. And it really truly does the trick in terms of making the room pitch black. I've had the roll for a couple of years and still haven't finished it, even though I always take a couple of sheets with me if we're going on hols / staying elsewhere for a night so that I can always ensure enough darkness to prevent early morning awakenings. Money well spent, in my book! Depending on what your window format is, this could be a solution that requires zero fixings or velcro etc.?

Am planning to pop by tomorrow. Hope you're fully recovered now Carine!

Great, would be lovely to see you and Freddie, Louise - just text if you can't see us / find us.

Cool, see you and any other of the Autumn mums tomorrow at 3.30 at PRP playground. Assume you mean the one nearest the girls school, rather than the one by the cafe, but let me know if I'm wrong.

Hola girls, I can't make it either as I am forcing myself to get started on painting the bedroom and if I don't start this morning, I'm worried I won't start at all! This Thurs arvo at 3.30 works for me - assuming I've finished the blimmin' painting by then! xx

Hi, nice to see you Caroline and Jess this morning. I've just seen this last post - Caroline, I'd be up for an all-kid meet-up. Selfishly, I'd quite like to find out if something could be arranged for a Friday arvo, as that's the afternoon I'll have free when I go back to work (scarily soon!). Not sure how that would work out for the other mums-with-two? Louise and Jess, I know that Annabel and Cato either do Fridays at nursery already or are about to change? Anyway, if another day suits best, I'm happy to fit in with plans for as long as I can!

Poor you Carine (although actually, if you are laid up in bed with others waiting on you hand and foot, that sounds quite appealing), see you in a few weeks! Am planning to be there this coming Monday. Lula's had chicken pox (caught from her big brother) but is no longer infectious. She does look like she's got the bubonic plague, so I hope I don't unduly alarm any of you lot, or any of the neighbouring winter babies gang who meet at the same time. She definitely isn't contagious now, and certainly won't be on Monday, so I promise she's not a health hazard, even if she looks like one, poor girl!

My three year old goes to a pre-school which isn't part of a primary school, but doesn't charge anything on top of his 15 hours. I don't know whether it's classed as 'state' or 'private' - I thought the only 'state' nurseries were the ones attached to primary schools, but I'm no expert. In my experience it seems to be only the term-time only nurseries and pre-schools that can offer the 15h with nothing further to pay. I can see that if a nursery is open year round then it's impractical / impossible for them to take a child for 38 / 52 weeks so they have to prorate it across the whole year, and if they have a minimum attendance then that's where the need for top up fees arises.

Hi all, Lula and I aren't going to make it this week - utter sleeplessness and a bad cold are not a good combo, it turns out. Sorry not to see you all, but see you next Mon! Amber x

I have known of A Level students doing 'top and tail' nannying for couples who work long hours - ie from 6am to nursery drop off, then nursery pick up til when parents get home, corresponding to their before and after school hours. We've used some absolutely lovely babysitters of this age - responsible, reliable, trustworthy etc (now sadly off at uni), but perhaps this could be a solution?

Hi all, I don't think I'm going to make it today - not because of the snow, but because I have a work call scheduled at 11. I might try and swing by around 11.45ish to see if anyone's still there, but otherwise hope to see some of you next week. Amber (and Lula) xx

Same as eagleken, I live just the other side of Underhill from the church, and bar the odd fox, and the planes, it's very very peaceful.

I'm only 12 weeks in to having two, but I've found it less tricky / exhausting than I thought I would (admittedly I have help during the week). I can already see how fascinating the baby finds her older brother, and can see that she will make an excellent captive audience for the various pretend music classes / singing sessions that my son loves to conduct for anyone who'll listen. I'm incredibly close to my sister (now, although we fought for years when younger), so I will do everything I can to promote a harmonious and supportive relationship between my two. I often wonder whether the fact that there's a longish (just under 3 years) age gap, and that they're different genders, will work for or against this aim...

We had the same issue when our second child arrived a couple of months ago. I picked up a second hand BT100 because I wanted something that wasn't exactly the same, but operated in a similar way. I didn't want to get another BT150 because of possible interference, but also cos it's handy to be able to immediately and easily tell which monitor is for which child. We use the BT100 for our three year old's room, and the BT150 for our new baby - the main difference as far as I can tell is that the BT100 doesn't have the room temperature feature.

I find museum gift shops can be a good source of interesting prezzies - could try Horniman gift shop, or online there's design museum, natural history museum, Tate modern - most museum websites have online shops. Science museum maybe? Also, Rye Books on Upland Road has a small but inventive selection of gifts and books.

When I was recruiting a live-in nanny earlier this year, I used Margaret at NannyLink, who was initially recommended to me by another family roomer. I also had good candidates from Abbeville Nannies and Nappy Valley Nannies (both Clapham-based but happy to recruit for Dulwich positions). I found it impossible to recruit for a live-in position directly. On the other hand, when I was looking for a live-out nanny, I found that recruiting myself was much easier - gumtree, this forum, and either simplychildcare or childcare.co.uk, can't remember which. Not sure on temp positions though. Good luck!

Caroline, shame you're not doing the Friday diddidance class - would be nice to intro Otis and William! Louise, yes basically after I last saw you, i found out that Otis and Annabel already know each other from tippee toes, and the birthday party at dish and spoon you mentioned was one that Otis had already been invited to - I just didn't put two and two together! Anyway, hope to see you both tomorrow / mon!

OK cool, will wander up to The Gardens tomorrow at 10.30 and see who's about. And next Mon at Bread of Life also sounds good to me. Hope lunch was lovely! xx

Plus your nanny will need a current first aid certificate and public liability insurance. Our nanny already had a current first aid certificate, so we only had to pay the ?103 plus ?70 for the insurance. Think there's some info about ofsted reg costs and processes on the nannytax website. It can all take a while to go through so the sooner you get her application in, the sooner you'll be able to get her all set up with your childcare vouchers system (which also isn't always immediate and can take a couple of days).