mima08

We are off on holiday for the first time plus baby and will have to hire a rental car to get from the airport to our accommodation. I'm trying to keep costs down but am really unsure about car sizes, particularly boot space. We are 2 adults, 1 teenager & said baby. I am looking at possibly hiring a Peugeot 206, will I get my buggy (a bee) in and would there be any space left? Alternatives are a Fiesta, Panda or something much more expensive.... We are not planning on many trips, it is really just the transfer to / from the airport which is approx. 1.1/2 hrs drive. Any advise would be appreciated!

Snappy SNaps on Rye Lane are open on Sunday and very helpful.

Well, with 1week to go, I resigned myself to the fact that I am not going to shift the stone of extra weight that is clinging on 6 months post baby in time for my holidays. So the next option is cheating and I am looking for swimwear that will flatten the tummy, perk the top-half, slimline the legs and reduce the bum to some reasonable size - alternatively I will settle for something that makes me feel comfortable at the pool & beach ;-) Any tips? Thanks!

Ohhhh - thank you Yak for the suggestions. I have literally just posted on the family classified if any one wanted them but would appreciate if you had any details about the person looking for donations - will check myself too. If not, the toy ideas are great - I guess I was "shocked" by the amount of plastic I had accumulated and not thinking laterally. PS: my husband loves the suggestion for protecting from slugs: they have been a pest!

On a recent clear out to create precious cupboard space I came across the true horror of how gullible I am when it comes to marketing: vast arrays of different types of bottles, teats, supplementary nursing systems, "true to nature" teats etc. I was so desperate to keep trying to breastfeed that I bought anything that vaguely promised to "ensure an easy switch" between bottle & breast. Most of these were used just a couple of times, then relegated to the shelf as LO was very particular about which ones to accept milk from. My question is now: what is the done thing to do with all this plastic? DH has claimed some for plant seed storage, but after that we ran out of ideas for uses. Can they be recycled? Can they be donated? Any creative suggestions?

HI Jenny - just a quick one on propping up: We have been having LO's bed propped up pretty much since he moved into it. I didn't fancy the wedges (partially because I use a motion sensor monitor) and just propped the whole bed up by raising the legs on one end. Depending on the cot design, there are various ways - we have a very wide strip of wood fixed under them,now amount of bouncing is going to shift this, but I saw you can even get purpose made leg extender to fit under one side. I also second the Olbas oil on a tissue to help! mx

Hiya - am not quite yet a working mum, as planning to go back end Oct, but would definitely be interested in meeting other working mums!

Thank you all for your comments, it is very reassuring. I did not think I was spoiling him - but you get comments etc and then start to doubt yourself....He has so for not been a very sensitive one - generally really cheerful and loves exploring the world, which is why this is such a change. I am interested in the wonder week idea - I have read previously on the website and, now that I remember, it was really helpful about 6-7 weeks ago when he had some hysterics for no reason....(also, it helps seeing this kind of change as a precusor to development steps, makes it so positive!) I will see the GP if it continues after for the week, just to rule any underlying issues out. Srisky - you have my sympathy, maybe some of the comments on this thread help you as well - and let me know if you want to put Kevin with Perry ;-) To end on a high note: after his afternoon sleep, he tried to blow rasberries on my arm & shoulder as I always do on his arms & tummy, and then looked at me with the biggest smile - yep, definitely need to try to live more in the moment :)

I am looking for help from any child psychologists, professional childcarers and especially mums! My normally very good natured 6 months old has been turning into a major whinger. It has by been slowly creeping up on us but by now, he could win gold medals. Over the last 5 days or so, he would whinge almost non-stop when ever I don't pay 100% attention and carry him around (it has to be both!). I don't think it is separation anxiety - because he is happy as long as someone is doing the attention and carrying - me, his dad, siblings, friends he has never met before, healthvisitor, anyone as long they are focused on him. He will whinge when put down, sat in a bumbo chair or in his highchair. Tummy time has almost disappeared as whinging turns into screaming very quickly and previous attempts at rolling and crawling have just vanished. My questions is: am I feeding this behaviour by constantly picking him up? Should I leave him to whinge (hard on the sleep deprived nerves - he has also gone back to feeding at night, which is a whole other whinge, aaah, I mean story...) I am worried about "spoiling" him, but at the same time I thought 6 months is too young for that? Should I just keep carrying him, and hope this is just a phase? What are others doing? Or is mine the only baby to behave like this? And how much "stimulation" does a baby need? Because, although we do activities plus things such as reading, singing, playing, of course I constantly fear I am not doing good enough a job at this.... Helpfully, a piece on the radio stated that boys with his first name are among those most likely to be spoilt.... [Yes, I know this is silly, but did I mention the sleep deprived nerves?] Thanks for any tips!

HI Jenny - the ebay ad stated that it would fit (and I contacted the seller). It was no-brand, I had a look at my ebay and I bought it of an individual, rather than a shop.... I am sure if you search, there will be plenty on there! mx

Thank you Saffron, that is very helpful.I thought I had steeled myself for the gagging as all the literature says gagging is a "good" reflex i.e. not to worry too much, but first instance of it & I do panic... will have to train my nerves a bit. I guess it also freaked me that he was very quiet - but then he has been very quiet throughout the whole experiment. Will also make the strips thinner - I had made them wide-ish to make them easier to pick up. Any other real-life tips would be really appreciated! thanks xx

I took some deep breaths yesterday and decided it was time to let LO try solids. He is only a few days of 6months and constantly reaching for my foods and as I am doing Baby Lead Weaning I figured he wouldn't be actually eating any meaningful amounts for a few weeks yet, so lets go. All was going well with banana and apply - some great facial expressions and a tiny amount of apple potentially swallowed. This morning I decided to go for eggy bread strips (yes, I got the BLW cookbook from the library). As before, he went for it with gusto, shoving pieces into his mouth and sucking bits off. Some went down, some was thrown up, which did not bother me as I figure that as a coping mechanism. However, at some point I noticed a largish piece of bread fairly far back in his mouth and he seemed to be having trouble getting it forward in his mouth. He turned slightly red - at which point I picked him up & laid him on my leg & tapped back, as learned in first aid, which seemed to help immediately. I am now fairly spooked, however, and would like to hear from other who done BLW with any tips / words of encouragement etc please....

We recently moved out of the cocoon and just use a seat liner. I got a non-bugaboo branded one from Ebay for ?20 and it is reversable & a bit thicker than the bugaboo one. Will trawl ebay again for footmuff for the winter, I remember seeing lots on there...

HI - I don't have a toddler yet, but think martial arts are great for children of all ages - provided they are taught in a school that has the right approach - emphasising courtesy,integrity, perseverance, self-Control and fun! I have some experience as a martial arts teacher (black belt in chinese kung fu) and strongly you look closely at any prospective school: if there is too much emphasis on competitions and too much swagger among the older students, it is probably not that great. My teenage step son goes to a taek won do school in Beckenham and I am very impressed by his attitude to his training and how this spills into other areas of his life, i.e. hard working and helpul (yes, he is checky sometimes too - great fun kid). I don't know the name, but is run by a female instructor and all I hear about her impresses me too. Hope you find something you like - if you do, please let us know, in a few years I'll be looking too!

Hi Sally - I am currently working my way through the BLW book by Gill Rapley (my LO is the same age) and it is hugely inspiring (ok, a little preachy sometimes). By the sounds of it, your LO seems to be textbook potential - and I have to say, one aspect that makes me so interested in BLW (other than the potential health aspects) is that it sounds so much fun! I, too, feel sometimes it sounds scary - but then, not more scary than going down the puree route (I don't think I would be able to remember the stages, timings etc). I will need my copy of the book in general (need something to hold on to ;-)), but am happy to lend it for a read, if you are interested - pm me!

Oh, I didn't know about Charlotte Peacock - will definitely check them out in September! In the meantime, I might try something at the cafe - will report back (all childcare dependent ;-)

My LO has been like this for a fair few weeks now and what i found helped was a) giving infacol again (I think with all the fussing he gets more windy) and b) moving to variflow teats - that way I can change how fast he takes his food in mid-feed: sometimes he guzzles at size 3, sometimes back to size 1. Although he is eyeing up food and grabbing for it, I don't think he is ready for weaning yet (22 weeks), but I am very keen on BWL, so will wait till 6months anyway. Regarding babies "needing" more than they can get from milk, the BWL book says that milk feeds are much more densely packed with nutrients than solids, hence babies are getting the nutrients they need at this stage (and for some months to come) from that. I am no nutritionist, it just sounds good to me - maybe someone else on here knows more on that subject.

hiya, I am by no means an expert but I found the cheap sewing machines I have owned very annoying and difficult to use. Bizarrely, I find sewing easier now that I have bough a mid-range machine (John Lewis, ?180) although I am not very experienced and have not much time since LO arrived. I think it is easier due to more robust way the foot holds the fabric, the way the fabric is moved and other "control" features which means my seams are a lot more straight :). The sales staff in John Lewis are really helpful and they hold advisory sessions sometimes - I recommend speak to them. Also, there is a sewing cafe in Clapham "sew it over" which has just opened and runs lots of classes, they might be good to advise (though I have not tried it myself yet). As for a book - sorry no suggestion, I was given some basic learn to sew books from the 50s!

ohhhhhh - these are good! funny enough, we were taught the Cameron's leg ones at powerpramming a few weeks ago too! If I now grow 7 inches.....

2LouLou, I am with you, not looking forward to going back in Autumn at all. But that has definitely do to with the fact that I did not like my job and would have been looking for something else if I hadn't been pregnant (or trying) for most of last year. I think I would feel similar to uptime if I enjoyed my job... Have you done any research of doing part time work? Even starting to plan may make you feel better about the idea and let you work out if it is your job / company / the hours / etc. that you are dreading.(Personally, I am still hoping for the divine intervention of a great idea for self-employment - or a lottery win).

thank you, have pm'd you,mx

sainsbury tower fan @ ?24 but only owned it now for 15hrs, so not much to go by - was desperate yesterday ...

thanks all - fan bought, bowl of water placed - unfortunately my freezer is too rubbish to freeze a tub this quickly, will be ready for next heat wave (probably arrives when he turns 18 ;-))

I've tried it first time last week - after "conditioning" like Fuschia describes. He came up a little unsure, looking to me for cues, so I laughed and cuddled a lot, then he was happy enough. I came across this website which looks pretty cool http://www.babyswim.info/swim-blog.html

Probably really stupid question, given that large proportions of the world's population manage in much greater heat, but I was getting worried as I saw the thermometer in LO's room climb higher & higher... The growegg is flashing red at me & we are well outside of the recommended 18degree zone. I've got all the windows open to get some draft going while the blinds on his room are down to keep sun out. Room isn't ver big but high ceilings, which is why I didn't think a small fan would do much. How is everyone else coping and keeping their LO safe?