tomo

Ah, well done Elli! And thanks for organising the facebook group. As an aside do you know if what we post on the winter baby club wall on fb is only visable to members of that group or is it seen by everyone? Bit of a numpty when it comes to such things. I agree that it would be really lovely to see any of the mums that came along to the pre baby meet ups but haven't, for whatever reason yet been to the post baby meets. I was just saying to Mr Tomo what a lovely bunch you all are. I feel very lucky to have had this thread and the opportunity to meet you all! Cxx

I also had a very challenging baby when it came to sleep - he seemed to fight it all the way. He's five and half months and we still put him down for his naps in his pram. He does sleep better at night, but that's only a very recent development. We spent hours pushing him round the garden with him in his pram desperately trying to get him to sleep. At 4 weeks he was still cluster feeding and I was lucky if I got a stretch of 2 hours from him. It does take time to get your supply established. My doctor also thought he had reflux, but I'm pretty convinced he didn't, just a pukey baby who didn't sleep well. He also hated the sling to begin with, but loves it now. We also co slept, which meant I could feed lying down. Husband went into the spare room so he could take over at 5am, made no sense that both of us be sleep deprived. He was of more use to me that way. One thing that did help to settle my baby without having to resort to rocking in the buggy is letting him suck on my little finger (nail bed on the base of his tongue) He was (still is) a very sucky baby- so this helped to soothe him when he was too tired to feed but still needed something to help him get to sleep. He wouldn't take a dummy, so I became one instead! I feel your pain. It's hard work, but you are doing an amazing job and it will get better. Take what help is offered- my mum used to bring up meals so we didn't need to cook. How was the birth? It could be that he's still got some residual discomfort from the labour? You could try cranial osteopathy- some people swear by it.

Ah, great plan! Di, I'll probably just head straight to the arboretum/picnic area. I could bring a rainbow umbrella that I can put up for identification purposes if that helps? Caroline x

Anyone going to The Gardens cafe later? It's been ages since I've seen some of you. cx

Another clothbummer, I'd definitely recommend using the advise service the nappy lady website has. You fill out all your priorities, eg, speed of drying (we don't use a tumble dryer- so that was high on our list) or natural fibers etc and she sends you a really comprehensive list of options. I did feel utterly confused before we got going with them, but found this service really helped to point me in the right direction. Also chat to someone who's done it before if you can. We use a combination of bumgenius which are incredibly easy to use (birth to potty system) and tots bots bambozzles with a wrap and booster for night time once baby no longer poos in the night. Like others we used disposables for the first few weeks- you've enough to contend with, with a new baby! But I had bought my kit before baby arrived- I wanted to be able to get going with it asap. I really don't find it a faff at all. My husband usually puts on a nappy wash every other morning and you never have to worry about running out of nappies.

Hi guys, I can't make today either. Have got the start of a sore throat and don't want to infect anyone. Hope you have a good gossip. Will have to catch up next week. Cx

Sorry to have you today. Went to the south london sling library in the morning- one outing a day is about all I can manage on such little sleep? What's happening at the dish and spoon or is it just a cafe? Either way if I can get it together, then I may trundle over for a coffee. Good chance to properly try out the Ergo I hired. Cx

Fantastic series, feels very balanced. Well done you!

Eek! fingers crossed for you Jane that it isn't measles and the little man gets better soon. Lovely to see the rest of you this morning. Managed to get Jacob to go to sleep all on his own this evening- small miracles! Caroline x

Yay! Crumpets all round. It's my birthday on friday, so this as close as i'm going to get to a party! Lindsey on the edtots website it says age 0-4 so you should be fine with Alb. It's a pub/restaurant at the bottom of grove lane in camberwell. See you then. Cx

I'd be up for going to the crooked well this Friday if anyone is up for going?

Lovely to see you all too! Thanks for reassuring me that the sleep will get better. It can seem a bit relentless at times, so it's good to sound off about it. We're away next week, down to Cornwall with my family, but hopefully catch up when we're back. Cx

I bought this one to wear to an event. Is good quality jersey that hangs very well. http://www.thewhitecompany.com/sale/clothing/short-sleeved-jersey-twist-graphite-empire-dress/ It's sold out now but they have similar wrap jersey style dress that could work well for breastfeeding. http://www.thewhitecompany.com/clothing/dresses/wrap-over-jersey-pewter-dress/ or http://www.thewhitecompany.com/clothing/dresses/pleated-vneck-jersey-dress--blue/ Wear with a smart cropped jacket and or scarf for strategic boob coverage. The only slight issue I have with choosing a plain jersey dress as opposed to a print is that it shows marks eg baby vomit more easily. Which my baby is liable to do!

Hey missmack, Congratulations on your engagement, how exciting! For a bit of wow factor and old school mid century glamour how about The Royal Festival Hall? http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/venues/venue-hire/weddings (Not just suggesting it because I work there!) Although don't think you'd be able to party till the wee hours... Will keep thinking...

I tried acupuncture and moxibustion when my baby was breech along with Hypntherapy and all the baby turning tricks in the book. He turned eventually with the help of an ECV. But I'm sure all the alternative stuff I tried helped to make it such a swift procedure- he turned in 30 seconds! So clearly just needed a helping hand. I saw Tracey Golding www.essentialtherapia.com for the acupuncture and can highly recommend her. I got a definite feeling of movement in my uterus when she was doing the acupuncture. I've also got spare moxibustion sticks left that your welcome to if you want to try that on your own?

It really depends what you're after, if you're looking for investment shrubs or trees then go online. Crocus is good to get inspiration from but expensive I find. If it's bedding plants then I've had some great bargains from your B&Q & Homebase type places. For roses you can't beat David Austin http://www.davidaustinroses.com/english/Advanced.asp For clematis try http://www.thorncroftclematis.co.uk/ or http://www.taylorsclematis.co.uk/ I bought a fantastic Acer from here: http://www.rhododendrons.co.uk/ very good value I thought. If you're after something specific, have at look at the specialist nurseries that show at places like Chelsea RHS and order directly from them. Locally, the Secret Garden Centre in Crystal Palace behind Sainsburys has quite a good selection of plants.

Large factory fire in Greenwich http://www.itv.com/news/story/2012-05-28/large-factory-fire-in-london/

I'm up for this. See you there! Don't forget the sun block! Cx

Hello, I'v been reluctant to post on this thread because my situation does not sound as bad as many of yours and but I'm after some advise. My baby's 13 weeks today my doctor diagnosed him as having reflux at our 6 week check based on the fact that he vomits a lot and how unsettled he is in the night. Reading your descriptions I'm not so sure... He can be a very fussy feeder. He pulls off, but then immediately fights to go back again, shaking his head from side to side to try and get latched. He often cries when he comes off. I try winding him if he does fuss, often he has a burp, and most of the time he brings back some milk. His arms flail about and sometimes he arches his back. He always brings back milk at the end of a feed and sometimes cries on doing so. It's getting increasingly more difficult to feed him in public. He feeds best in the night, when he's sleepy, he winds more easily and mostly goes back to sleep no problem. As the night goes on his sleep and feeding get worse, sleeps for a shorter amount of time and is more unsettled. We've tried gaviscon which made little difference and was such a pain to administer (He's exlusively breastfeed) We've since been on ranititidine which has helped a bit I think. He still vomits a lot after feeding but cries less on doing so. He's never had the awful screaming that some of your describe on here, bar a couple of episodes. His sleeping at night has got worse though. He is waking every 1-2 hours and has become more difficult to settle back again. He thrashes about in his sleep, kicking his legs up trying to pass wind. I'm wondering if this could be related to the reflux or medication or if this is a separate issue? I've always wondered if he does have 'true' reflux or if I just have a pukey baby who's a poor sleeper and has some digestive issues? Lhell- I mixed gaviscon with some expressed breastmilk and gave it to him from a syringe or spoon. He often just used to spit it back out or it would be vomited immediately back! We also had a tongue tie and thrush and had procedure done by Mr Patel and Katie Fisher at their Croydon practice.

Nice one! Great looking recipes, that easy enough to throw together. Like the clean look of the site too.

Yes, having missed last week I'm definitely up for today. Be lovely to see you all! Cx

I'd be interested to know Yak- my mum volunteers at CAB, so I'll get her to investigate. It does seem wrong to be charging potential customers with no promise of goods and/or service?

Hmmm, Yes the nursery I visited this morning charge ?25 but ?100!! Really?! Amazing to think that people actually pay that kind of money, even with the chance that they might not get a place. I get that they don't want time wasters, but nursery provision around here seems to be massively over subscribed, they are clearly always able to fill the places?

Can anyone tell me why nurseries charge a 'registration' fee? I was pretty appalled to find out that I could be charged a non refundable fee just to go on a waiting list which doesn't guarantee my child a place? Is this just a money making scheme on their part? I asked at one nursery I visited this morning and was told it was to 'secure my place on the list' and that 'all the nurseries do it'. Am I the only one baffled by this system?

Forgot to say that although I laboured in the pool, baby was actually born on dry land. There was a but of a gush of blood during one of my pushing contractions which meant I had to get out of the pool so that the midwife could assess. All was fine and baby was born 10 minutes later. Would love to have a water birth next time if I'm lucky enough to have a next time!