candj

Does your washing machine have a 'wool' setting? I think it washes at 30 degrees and should be fine with a bit of nonbio detergent. You can put all your unaffected jumpers in this cycle then lay flat on a towel to try and then iron and the lowest setting or 'wool' setting if your iron has one. Good luck.

The best way I have found to keeps moths away is to wash/dry clean your clothes and store seasonal things (winter cashmere coats, heavy jumpers, wool/cashmere trousers) away in plastic bags when not in use. Touch wood I haven't had moths, but I am absolutely manic about storage and cleaning. I also do this for my husband's clothing since he's the one who occasionally will get a hole or two in his jumper. I have also used those pheromone sticky traps on the inside of wardrobes as well as 'natural' lavender or sandlewoood scented sachets (found at Peter Jones). Moths like dark, undisturbed places so someone rightfully said check curtains and under the bed and hoover them up. Good luck!

I wore a gorgeous blue and white hospital gown with the opening in the back and charming knee high anti-thrombosis socks for all three births. Not same ones mind you! And agree it's nice to have a stash of nice easy to bf in pjs at home because that's all you wear for the next weeks.

I've sinned too with the microwave milk .... I neglected to say the advent bottle warmer was used with baby 1, baby 2 got microwaved bm in a bottle and agree it was worth placating the screaming, baby 3 opted out of bottles altogether so didn't use a warmer or microwave.

Any bottle warmer can be used for either bm or formula. It just depends if the medela one has a specific shape to fit a medela bottle. I used an advent bottle warmer that fit every size of bottles even the little medela ones (that fit directly onto the breast pump) they just floated to the top a bit, but worked otherwise. Just look to see if the bottle warmer is big enough to fit bigger (fatter) bottles. Hope this makes sense!

I know your little girl is only 3 months but my FAVOURITE thing to do in NY is the Madeline tea/brunch at the Carlisle Hotel (Madison/77th). It's in the Bemelman's bar which is decorated with murals by the illustrator and they have a crazy lady that sings and plays the piano for the children. I personally have always loved it and always bring my girls there when in NY as it makes the kids feel very grown up (cloth napkins, lovely food, great treatment, etc) and they make a killer Bloody Mary for the parents. You will not be disappointed. Have fun! And do your shopping in NY not here!

I never had a maternity nurse until I had my third child. He was 10 weeks old and my husband had to go out of town for 10 days on a business trip and he (my husband) insisted on me having some help in the evenings/night. My mother usually helps out but as she lives in California was not able to come out this time. The maternity nurse was absolutely lovely and all she did was bring my baby to me during the night when he woke up so I could feed him (bf) then she would change his nappy and settle him back to sleep (shush pat method) in his own room. He was still sleeping in his bassinet in our room but for this period we moved him to his own room otherwise it would have been a bit difficult. She never let him 'cry it out' as she didn't believe in that method and this I know because I would have heard him. This enabled me to get some rest and be a sane mother during the day and function properly getting my girls ready for school, allowed me to jump into the shower, help girls with homework, and then have my son all day without feeling like a zombie. It was a luxury and a life saver for which I make no excuses for and resent whoever it was that said it was fobbing off childcare responsibilities to someone else. I have the maternity nurse's contact details should anyone need her as she works a lot in East Dulwich (Moos, I wonder if we had the same one??).

Hi Helena, I had my first daughter at 35. After a year of trying and increasingly painful periods we (my consultant and I) discovered that I had an ovarian cyst along with a bit of endometriosis that was impeding my falling pregnant. So after laparoscopic surgery I literally fell pregnant two weeks later. Had second daughter at 38 after yet another year of trying and consultant put me on clomid (makes you release more than one egg during your cycle). Clomid made me sick as a dog and by the third month I swore I wouldn't take it anymore and would have to move on to different measures. Luckily, third time lucky and I fell pregnant. Now, fast forward to when I hit 40 and feeling life is complete and husband and I were done with children. I got pregnant! I was so shocked and was both scared to death (another c-section) and thrilled at the prospect. Meanwhile husband immediately was thinking about what car to upgrade to in order to accommodate us all! Sadly, that pregnancy ended up being ectopic and I was absolutely devastated. So then given my age (40 1/2), history and now one less fallopian tube, I figured I wouldn't have a hope in hell in getting pregnant. In fact, I got it out of my head completely. Then 5 months later due to the ash cloud in Iceland we were trapped for an extra two weeks on a half term holiday in Asia and somewhere between Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore I fell pregnant with my now 8 month old little man. Unbelievable! What I'm trying to say is that in my case I found it difficult in my 30s to get pregnant and my 40s was a lot easier but then I wasn't 'trying' to get pregnant. The moment I tried all plans went out the window. Of course with each pregnancy I was more tired and it was much harder on my body, but as long as you have a good consultant who keeps an eye on things you'll be absolutely fine. I wish you all the best in trying and hope it all works out for you, your husband and your little boy. -C x

I agree with pickle that if something is not done correctly it's better to let her know about it. Also agree that weekly cleaning is much easier and better than a whole mass of cleaning done fortnightly especially with baby and toddler as more stuff gets moved around. Perhaps three hours isn't long enough so she's rushing? I would ask her if she feels she has enough time, needs more cleaning supplies, if the mop is okay, etc. My housekeeper has been with me for 6 1/2 years and is very proactive but is never put out when asked to do something else or told that something needs to be done differently/with more care (sweep garden leaves, hand wash cashmere jumper).

Pretty pregnant on North Cross Road sell some of their items. It would be great to have it online though!

Petit bateau. My daughters have strappy undershirts, but am sure they have them for toddlers. HTH.

Yes you're allowed a rant. Sounds dreadful. Can you try to get a massage/spa day before baby comes as once they arrive it will feel like you haven't had a break. My eldest was born amid a kitchen extension/garden dig overrunning and I woke up one day at 8 + months pregnant and screamed at everyone to the point that every builder left the house (tea mugs in hand and all). Building work is the worst thing because all you want to be doing is nesting and placing newly washed babygros into their appropriate drawers! I do wish you the best of luck and don't stress and good luck in two weeks. - C x

I think it's still there bishberro. Although they have the screened off area in the corner next to the children's area in the cafe, the sofas would be ideal, but are in the middle of the cafe by the walkway and cafe checkout.

I once woke up (recently) to feed my 4 month old only to find that I was already propped up in bed feeding him. Spooky. I often read the EDF when I'm up feeding in the wee hours wondering who else was out there doing the same .... I thank the iphone for this luxury.

I remember when I was interviewing a nanny for my eldest daughter, now 6, when she was 10 months old. I remember the nanny having 5 years experience with childcare and I said to my husband that this was not enough. My husband then pointed out the fact that we only had 10 months of experience with childcare. Needless to say, we hired her! I myself now have a whopping 6 years in childcare experience with three children and it sounds like nothing.

Hi belle just wanted to add my support for you. Sounds like you have loads of great advice. Also wanted to say that I've had three elective sections and panicked for both the second and third (to the point of imagining i would die during both - nice eh?) and agree with smiler that they are not necessarily less predictable. Very best of luck for everything and congrats on pregnancy!

My eldest was like this. Potty training was easy except she had to get a nappy on to have a poo. We just gave her time and like you did lots of praise and star charts. My husband was the one who would sit her in the loo as he's a bit more firm. We kept telling her she's a big girl and every one poos in the toilet. Also we used one of those little toilet seats that sit on top of the loo and I used to put a small stepping stool under her feet as I wondered if it was somehow uncomfortable to have her legs dangling. They get there eventually and sounds like you're doi g the right thing with the praise. Good luck to your little one!

Lake Como. We did this a few years back with a 14 month old and it was fabulous. She ate everything - parma ham, calamari, pasta (naturally), olives and she was welcomed everywhere. Daughter was still taking her morning nap so we used to set out in the car after breakfast and drive anywhere for an hour so she could sleep (Bellagio, Lugano, Bergamo, Milan where some of the places we ended up). We'd do some sight seeing, have lunch then drive back. Really relaxed and fun for all of us. In fact, I would recommend anywhere in Italy with children of all ages. We also use the service www.tuscanynow.com to rent villas which we do every summer. You can tailor it to the size of your party and location is not necessarily limited to Tuscany. We went a couple of half terms ago to Thessaloniki to a place called Porto Sani Village which was very child friendly with a nice spa, restaurants, harbour and beaches which I would recommend. San Francisco would be lovely and if your little one is good in the car you can do the SF-LA trip as there is much to see on the way (Monterey Bay aquarium is a personal favourite). There are loads of little BBs or nice big hotels to stop at and stay along the way. Santa Barbara is a lovely town about two hours north of LA. Or if you go north of SF, Napa and Sonoma for the wine route is lovely but probably not with a young baby as you'd want to spend some time at the vineyards! I am a bit biased as I'm from LA. The last time we were there we stayed at the Chateau Marmont with two kids which I too would recommend, but have also stayed at a little hotel called the Avalon in BH. Very 70's with a kidney-shaped pool and palm trees and kids very welcomed. However, LA can be tricky if you don't know it very well as we do tend to drive everywhere. The Avalon is situated in BH so easy to walk around there. Or if you stay in Santa Monica there is the promenade to walk around but everything is quite spread out and a car is essential. Hope that helps a bit and sorry a bit rushed in typing this as just got home from one trip and trying to pack for another...

We were at Goose Green playground this morning and it looked like a cyclone hit it. Rang Southwark and had it logged with the typical 'we'll get to it within 24 hours' response. Also rang the head of GG playground Paula someone (her number was listed as the manager on a sign at the playground) and she said someone was trying to get there. About 20 minutes later, a chap walked through with a broom and dustbin (no binbags), looked at the state of the place and walked off without sweeping. Great response!

Already a thread on this topic

Very worth it. My children still use theirs and I bought one for my youngest when he was a month old with the baby pod thing that clips to the top.

Very good to have! Thanks.

I seriously doubt she has gum disease. Are you brushing her teeth before bedtime and is she drinking something after that (ie, a beaker of milk), if so you could change this so that she doesn't fall asleep with something other than water. You can also try the beakers with built in straws in them as I think they are better for getting the juice past the teeth and probably also better for general alignment. Also, don't brush immediately after having juice. And no doubt you are helping her brush twice a day because at 2 1/2 you still need to be brushing her teeth as children cannot do it properly themselves until around the age of 7 (this according to my dental hygienist sister-in-law and her orthodontist husband!). It's good to take her to the dentist anyway as it gets them used to it and also good to go when there isn't anything drastic needing to be done. Good luck. sorry for disjointed sounding post, I'm not much of a thinker or proofreader these days!

We have friends who have their child at Bessemer and they absolutely love it. Their daughter is really thriving and no doubt their second child has also gained entry this time and will be going in September. PM me if you want me to put you in touch with the parents (both forum users, as well!). Hope that helps a bit.

Yup it's legal David Mc. Good one, however, BELSIZE PARK. (Tee hee)