bluesuperted

I worried about this too but I read lots of information (one was a great site written by an air hostess about travelling with kids) that said what Pickle says - that actually it's very rare to have ear problems unless there's an ear infection. Might be worth taking her to the doctors a few days before to make double sure? I'm still breastfeeding but when we travelled with our then 11.5 month old in the summer he was too interested to feed much at take off and landing and was absolutely fine. Good luck and have a lovely holiday :)

Also I never took pram, always ergo'd - this guaranteed at least an hour of sleep with minimal pacing required (loud noise made even my son very sleepy). I also credit the Peckham Plex experience with my son sleeping while watching films on my knee on a transatlantic flight - only sleep he got in 11 hours so was v grateful!

Radnrach - I LOVED it too! Always lovely staff, lovely atmosphere. Saw some good films and some tripe but didn't matter! Can't quite imagine going with my manic active 14 month old but maybe should try for old time's sake!

I used to do very occasional babysitting for an ex-boss of mine whilst studying a few years ago. I used to get ?8 an hour (in ED) and usually rounded up to the nearest note! Was fab as they lived one street away too and have a lovely house.

Second getting up and about asap. Get partner to chase your pain meds and discharge papers like a bear with a sore head. Have faith that colostrum and lots of suckling with sustain your baby until milk comes in and is best thing to get your supply going. Keep an eye out for tongue tie if any problems bf. Take acidophilous (available in health matters) to avoid thrush caused by c section antibiotics. Hope this helps and good luck! I had a great recovery too and hope you are the same x

Nunhead library baby/toddler group plus songs 1030-12 and I think Grove Vale rhyme time around 11. Sure there's a bookstart on somewhere too - maybe Peckham library?

Definitely get in touch with some universities - we used to get requests like this at City University where parents specifically targeted speech therapy students by approaching our department directly. Local colleges offering childcare courses would be good too.

Fuschia and RB - thanks for recommendation, All Saints is indeed great. I'm going to try the Ivydale group one of these days, sounds good as well.

Also love Whitstable. Wheelers restaurant is to die for - but tiny and booking is essential. We took our baby when he was a few months old but can't comment on whether it's toddler friendly. Amazing fish, lovely boutiques - great day out with a babe in arms - ours slept most of the day due to the lovely fresh air and being safely tucked up in an Ergo! Ooh and saw Phil Spencer walking down the street which caused much excitement to my sister and I!!

We spent last Sunday in Leigh on sea/Chalkwell/Westcliff on sea in Essec and had a fabulous time. Granted the weather was completely amazing and we swam in the sea, but wrapped up the beach would be just as fun for little ones. We had a 'caff' lunch on the sea front in Westcliff which was simple but great views and we nearly made it to a highly recommended cake shop (Stop the world) in Leigh but it had just closed at 3pm when we turned up. It took us just over an hour each way which was perfect for our car disliking 13 month old.

Seldoc should see you if you are concerned - or Lister is also good, open *til* 8pm, we went once on a Sunday of a bank holiday and we weren't waiting too long.

That song is amazing. Me and my mum had a good blub together watching that a few days before my wedding... So you never know, one day your little girl might 'get it' just the way you do :)

Ahhhhh Anna! Big hugs to you and your lovely girls. Don't get me started, you know what I'm like and I'm (fingers crossed) only on my first of a few... Don't read the music thread!!! Get the photo book was gorgeous, what a lovely thought :) xxx

Smiler - for some people it is financially unsound to take a monthly hit so that two parents can go out to work. In our case (although my primary reason for staying at home is that I want to care for my son full-time at the moment) we literally cannot afford for me to work at a loss. It would mean that rather than existing on a single (very modest) teacher's salary, we would exist on this but MINUS a childcare shortfall caused by my working - by my calculation and taking into account tube fare and (very conservative) work clothes etc costs this would mean several hundred pounds less a month. It would make a massive dent and would mean we would be in the red every month PLUS would have all the logistical difficulties associated with being a working mum - plus it's easier to budget when one person is at home to cook cheap meals etc. I think you are thinking of people on larger incomes but I know that we are not being disingenuous when we say we can't afford for me to work. Also we are taking the longterm view and I have a career I can pick up again at a later date, like everything in parenting, no decision is taken lightly and I certainly do not do anything without considering the long term as well as the short term.

Omg I love Blood Brothers, however it's up there with the film 'Life is beautiful' and the book 'My sister's keeper' which I have vowed not to go near since having a baby!!! I used to cry at the 'hello to the sun' song from Baby Sensory - still makes me well up now, remembering those special cuddles... In fact I was a mess at the whole 'date with your baby' Valentine's class! Total sap alert here! I also love Ben Fold's 'Still Fighting It' about his son. It's lovely, love the words 'you're so much, like me, I'm sorry' - sums up the incredible connection and the fear that they get the bad as well as the good from their parents...

There was a lovely 'love songs for your babies' thread last year. Just reading it made me a mess let alone listening to the songs. It was started by gwod if you fancy a weep! I love the Adele song too - she makes it seem totally relevant to motherhood. And I have been known to cry my eyes out whilst listening to the relaxing music we play to baby when he goes to sleep. And don't get me stated on Monsters Inc or Toy Story 3 since having a baby. So sad to think of him growing up, they really affect me now!

MaeveW tax credits have definitely been cut - we don't get anything now and when baby was born we got more than ?80 a week! Quite a reduction (partly due to the baby specific portion being axed but not all due to this). I don't know the ins and outs of childcare vouchers but I do know the scheme is now closed to unregistered higher rate tax payers. Too true F!

We do a bath every other night unless he's really dirty for some reason (13.5 months). We don't use shampoo at all on him (and only rarely use baby bubbles) and he smells lovely and his hair is always nice and shiny. I think baby/toddler shampoo is a bit of a con really, plain water does a fab job, is nice and natural and added bonus is, it's free!

It's hard to take the longer term view though when you're making a loss unless one partner earns enough to cover the shortfall; on two average salaries it'd be hard to cope with a loss of several hundred pounds a month, even over just a few years. I know we physically couldn't do it without sinking into debt very quickly.

I didn't see it - but did they test the milk at all to see its composition? Just asked my husband. He said he'd definitely do it!

Tongue tie has a lot to answer for!!! Best of luck with the next few days and fingers crossed everything goes smoothly from now on. So glad you managed to get through to Claire, what a star. x

I don't know the exact maths of it but have looked into childcare/earnings ratio and for good quality childcare (expensive nursery, good childminder, nanny), I think needing ?45k earnings for two kids sounds about right, maybe even a bit higher... My rough guesstimate is you need to earn ?30k+ pro-rata for even one child... I think lots of working mums earning less than that have family support... Or choose significantly cheaper nurseries than we have available (or would want to use...) round here... Sorry to be the bearer of bad news... Can your husband reduce his hours at all?

Ditto to HelenGV's point: My slow to ingest (but happy to experiment) BLW baby today had a 13.5 month old meltdown because he wanted my Calipo SO BAD!!! NB yup bad mummy, but was only eating it as am recovering from a heinous tummy bug and can't face much food at all at the moment! In seriousness, I found 8/9 months really marked a change in realising food was quite fun to munch on... It'll come really soon.

Also - have you left a message for Claire Kedves or Joanna (surname escapes me) at Kings? Worth a try as they come very highly recommended... X

Admin - repeat thread. I've responded on other identical thread :)