MrsLL2b

Thanks for the recommendations all, i will check them out.

Hazel - I have just started another thread and then seen this. It is exactly the sort of thing I am looking for!! Am I correct in understanding that you can choose to self cater or the owners can cook for you in the evening? If so, do you remember if baby monitors work from the accommodation to the main house? Are they quite flexible on you eating in sometimes and cooking for your sometimes? Thank you.

Hi, we have a week booked off at the end of September to go away. We are thinking somewhere like Portugal or Majorca - still nice and warm, but not too far. our daughter will be about 21 months then and I will be 6 months pregnant. I have seen the following two places recommended on the holiday review section of Mumsnet. I really like the look of them and wondered if anyone knows of anything similar in Portugal or Majorica or similar country? The first one is uber expensive and the second one is mid France so I don't think the weather would be reliable in late September. http://www.country-kids.fr/site2008/rubr/heaven_for_parents.htm http://www.livingfrance.org/ The aspects that appeal are that they are small and appear to be friendly, family run places. I like the idea of having the self catering option without being tied to it all the time. There would be the opportunity to meet other families, ie not stuck in a self catering villa by ourselves somewhere for a whole week, but we would still have our own space. You would get to know the owners who do the babysitting etc. I have been searching for somewhere like this in Portugal but can only find big resort type places, which I don't really fancy. Many thanks!

Peekaboo is good for prob 12months plus. The nighty night interactive book is great. Baby piano also a hit here. There are quite alot of rubbishy ones that are free but would at least pass a few minutes on a long trip.

This is great thanks! One thing to point out is that the site is not iPhone friendly. I can only see as far as the column 'term time only' on my phone and can't scroll across any further. Some other things to add are jelly babies, rhyme time and soft play at the leisure centre.

Following on from the above I just bought the White company leggings. Anyway seems as I was a little over optimistic,bought medium,wore them once and spent the while time tugging them up...bit small! They were ?26, and are in as new condition as worn for about 3 hours. Anyone interested in making me an offer?! PM me if so, thanks.

Ps you might be ok in just the sleep style one for the first few days while you're hibernating at home and then you can buy some day ones once your milk comes in and you know what size to go for.

I too second pretty pregnant for advice (but cheaper online!) and actually debs hams on Oxford St had a huge selection and were so helpful. They brought me endless sizes and styles to try. As snowboarder said get a tank style one that you can use breastpads with at night. I think they do a plain White two pack in Jojo Like this: http://www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk/sp+2-pack-maternity-sleep-bras+a9252 I liked the bravado one but when you unclip the cup it is very exposing. There was one I got from debs hams that had a panel under the cup with a hole for the nipple so once the baby was attached was quite modest but wasnt as comfy as the more expensive ones. I didn't have any but the elle mcpherson ones are supposed to be good too. Good luck!

One good tip I heard is to pay for priority boarding for one of you, that person can go on ahead and bagsy seats for you all and then second person can go on at their leisure with the kids (or have one each etc).

I do a quick pasta sauce using a bag if spinach, a chunkily chopped courgette and some broccoli. Boil broc and courgette, once cooked add the spinach until wilted. Blend together and the. I usually stir in Parmesan and creme Fraiche (you could omit those for your sons portion) then just stir into any type of pasta. It is yum by itself but I often add prawns or grilled bacon and more Parmesan. If you don't have one of the veg substitute with peas or even rocket/watercress etc. It freezes well too. Another favourite is nigella lawsons 'noodle soup for needy people' http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/noodlesoupforneedype_87338 I rarely follow the actual recipe as it is easy to just substitute in whatever crunchy fresh veg you have. Can easily be veggie or can add prawns or chicken etc. Maybe tofu? Is good with sugar snap peas and pak choi.

Jenny you poor thing, you must be exhausted and so worried which won't be helping your emotional state. It sounds like you are being amazingly attentive and doing everything you possibly can. I can't offer much help on the ear infection. But when my daughter had the terrible vomiting bug last month I went through a similar thing with trying to get her to take some food and keep it down. It's awful when you get a little over optimistic and they take a decent amount and then sick it all back up. Your little and often approach sounds great. Her tummy will probably need to adjust to having more in it bit by bit. I just tried different things til I found some things she would eat. She seemed to regress a bit and preferred very smooth purees etc rather than the lumpier things she was having. Just try different things. My baby would eat the following : cold, plain, pasta shells, cow and gate apple & pear pur?e in the squeeze pouch (from the pouch only not the spoon!) a little bit of custard, and sometimes some squash and sweet potato pur?e. I also gave her milk before each nap and whenever she woke in the night. Even if she gulps down the milk maybe limit it to 3 or 4 oz per feed or whatever you think she can take without being sick. When my daughter was on the mend she started drinking full bottles again but then would sick it up whereas if i only gave her a little bit she could keep it down. I agree with the others that if you feel it is more than just being a bit weak from the lack of food and drink then go with your instinct and take her to A&E. I think you tend to know as their mother if it is serious or not. Good luck, really hope she is better soon and you get a bit of sleep and peace of mind x

This is the thread where buggie explains the doses: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,653327,653675#msg-653675

Thanks all. She doesnt normally need medicine during the day when she is teething, so I don't usually mind giving her a bigger dose or a mixed dose (2.5ml of each) as a one off. But this is like no other teething! Think she may have 4 teeth coming through,constant dribbling, clingy, whingy, pulling on gums etc ALL day and night. I was just in sainsburys and was looking at the instructions for use on different brands of medicine. For a 1 year old, baby nurofen and sainsburys own brand say 5ml but calprofen says 2.5ml (all the same strength) and sainsburys own paracetamol says 5-10ml each dose, where calpol says 5ml. Those higher doses are more aligned with the dose she would need if I were basing it on weight. Might go with the lower doses during the day and higher at night. Have had 3 nights of crying/moaning on and off all night long, hoping it will pass soon or the teeth will break through!

I remember reading on a thread here a while ago that in hospital they work out dosages of ibuprofen and paracetamol by weight which sounds very sensible to me. Think it was 0.4ml/kg for ibuprofen and 0.8ml/kg for paracetamol. I certainly don't want to risk giving my daughter too much medicine but she has been ill and teething badly for the past few weeks on and off and I find that if I go with the dosage on the box it just doesn't seem to help her at all. During the day the box dosage may be enough to take the edge off but at night it doesn't give her enough pain relief. I also heard somewhere that you shouldn't give ibuprofen more than 3 times in a 24 hour period and not for more than a few consecutive days. Interested to hear what others do. Incidentally I did try to question a gp about this but in short he didn't seem to know - he did not know what calculations the hospital use and he said 'follow the instructions on the box and if she needs more than give her more'?!!!!!!!

Handpicked.co.uk also has nice ideas. Classic book set like Winnie the pooh or Beatrix potter, personalised wooden train set (each carriage is a letter of their name,from amazon), nice silver cutlery set, silver piggy bank from the little White company, personalised chair or toy of though might be a bit pricey.

Rocca in dulwich village are amazing with kids and I imagine it would be fairly quiet early evening. They also have loads of highchairs and booster seats etc. Enjoy!

Hi Lakey, We had exactly the same,introduced a bottle around 4.5 months but she would only take it from me (once she actually took it which was a challenge!). Once I had her taking a bottle regularly and she got more used to it she then did take it from other people. My husband just used to try it every now and again and eventually it worked. You will get there don't worry. I have to admit I was really interfering when he would give it to her (tilt the bottle more,lean her back etc etc!) so in the end he took her out for the day to his parents house and I went out and had a nice day and let him get on with it. She refused bottles all day and he just tried every hour or so eventually she caved and took a full bottle and things improved after that. The worst bit is throwing away expressed milk they don't drink but then I gradually mixed in formula and changed the ratios until she would take a bottle of formula. Good luck!

Bt150 here too, it's great. The difference between the bT100 is I don't think that one has a temperature gauge on it. I love that you can adjust the volume and put it on mute but watch the lights. I have used it abroad where the pool was at the end of the garden and it still worked from quite some distance. You can get them on eBay but it's worth the money I think.

Will give them a whirl,thanks!

They look good value and get good reviews but it's a huge pack size to have go get through if they're not great!

The galt playnest is one of the best things I bought,my daughter loved being propped up in it and then learnt to turn over and got very strong arms and legs from feeling safe moving around in it. A friend had the one for sale in this thread and had problems with it as her daughter kept slipping under the bridge bit (sorry!). There are often galt ones for sale on here and you can take the cover off and stick it in the washing machine. My daughter is 11 months now and I use it to tidy her toys into, she uses it to crawl over as part of an obstacle course!

This happened my daughter and nephew at exactly the same age. On the second night of waking every 1-1.5 hours we moved her from the Moses basket in our room to a cot in her own room. The frequent night wakings lasted 10 days with my baby and 2 weeks with my nephew, so it does end you just need to ride it out. At first I rushed to her every time she stirred but after a few nights I was too exhausted and would wait a few mins and half the time she would just whimper for a few minutes and go back to sleep. I wouldn't put yourself through 50 minutes of lying there listening if you know you can get them back to sleep with a quick feed, maybe give it 5-10'mins. Whatever you're comfortable with unless the crying is very hysterical. I agree with the others that there isn't much you can do but try and be as routine and consistent as possible. On the plus side, when my daughter came through the other side she slept much better than she did beforehand, waking once between the dreamfeed and morning. Good luck!

The place in Packham Rye is called Tommys Wear and Cheer

When I was in kings they kept bringing me maternity pads and disposable pants...so many in fact that in 3 days there I didn't use any of my own and brought home loads of the hospital ones which were great. My top tip is to get the Always nightie sanitary towels with wings to put under the maternity pads. Lots of disposable pants, didn't think I'd use them but they were great! Again the kings ones were better than the sainsburys ones I bought. I took one book and read about 3 pages. Trashy gossip mags were good though. Get someone to bring you in expensive amazing cake once youve had the baby. A lightweight robe and some big t-shirts are handy if you're being induced so you don't need to keep taking pj bottoms off when being examined. Comfy socks or cheap slippers from primark which you can throw away. Also I would make sure you discuss some different scenarios with your birth partner in advance so they know what you want if you're not in a position to speak up for yourself. My labour spanned 3 shift changes, first midwife was amazing, second could not have been more different. I couldn't speak as my contractions were overlapping but my husband, thank god, realised how upset with her I was and went and spoke to whoever was in charge and got her changed. No matter how assertive you are in the real world you can be very vulnerable in labour or just otherwise engaged! So having someone to speak up for you takes a big load off your mind.

Morning all, good way to brighten up a Monday....Just seen this deal on mumsnet... http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/promotional_codesbargains/1322469-Warehouse-25-35-off-60-off-and-free-delivery?pg=2