EmilyE

Really don't think a nearly three year old could get a baby out of a cot. Maybe steer clear of a crib though. A nearly three year old almost certainly could climb out of his own cot though, so wouldn't really be boxed in in any case.

It's not necessarily a contradiction to suppose that those just outside the congestion zone could face a problem. Even supposing that there is currently absolutely no problem within the proposed zone, if you were to move some commuters, some visitors and possibly some residents who don't want to pay ?125 to just outside the zone, then the people just outside the zone would have a problem. The council officer at the library admitted that this was only too possible. To answer a question earlier on - apparently the ?125 is to fund the scheme, which must be self-funding.

One of mine napped till well past 3, one stopped at 20 months. Not funny. But we introduced quiet time, where he lay down and listened to some music or a story. At least that gave me a bit of peace and quiet and him a bit of down time. Very occasionally he'd then fall asleep during the story.

I think there are some restrictions on amplified music, but for groups needing rehousing it might be worth trying the Goose Green Centre. There is currently a link on the right hand side of this page - then there's a rubric Goose Green Centre on the left hand side at the bottom, which has some details. Good luck to everyone trying to find alternative venues.

Goose Green Centre is happy to hire out for kiddie parties - I don't think they have bouncy castle though...

In brief - perfectly normal, if not the most usual to be wetting at the beginning of reception. If she's wetting that early on in the night it sounds as though she's just not ready - i.e. not capable physically of doing it yet. The only thing to check is that she doesn't have worms - that can trigger bed wetting in children who had stopped. Child 1 stopped bed wetting in reception year, and child 2 starting also in Sept still has nappy pants at night and i know we're not the only ones...

It's a song. One of the children is 'the farmer', all the others go round in a circle singing The farmer's in his den, The farmer's in his den, E I, E I the farmer's in his den. The farmer wants a wife, The farmer wants a wife, E I E I the farmer wants a wife The child 'farmer' picks another child from the ring to be the 'wife' Then continue singing The wife wants a child, the wife wants a child E I E I the wife wants a child. Wife picks child The child wants a dog etc CHild picks dog The dog wants a bone etc Dog picks bone we all pat the dog etc everybody pats the dog. Very simple, and I don't really understand the attraction, but my 4 and 6 year old still like it. I can see it's not easy if you don't know the tune, but probably any other adult attendee would! Hope that makes sense.

sainsburys Just william both have some.

Farmer's in his den. Ring a ring a roses. Hokey Cokey.

Dulwich Picture Gallery. Or hop on a 185 and see Tate Britain.

My 4 year old son gets them, and they are miserable. He's often in such a state that even being with him does no good; he just thrashes about. We now sometimes just leave him to it for a bit and save ourselves a bit of the emotional trauma. They seem to go in little bouts - but he hasn't had them for a while so I'm hoping that's it. He never seems to remember anything about them. So none of that's very useful, but you have my sympathy...

think it's very normal. Certainly my daughter didn't stop wearing pull ups till she was 5 and my nearly 4 yr old is still in them. Apparently there's some hormone which makes people dry at night (mmm, not very technical, sorry), or at least helps them to be, and that that's acquired at differing stages in different children. Remember reading somewhere (again, not very helpful, sorry) that a significant minority still wet at night going in to school, though that decreases significantly through the year. Hope that's reassuring.

I think Alan Medic is just after a bottle of something splendid when Ben and the mystery woman are finally reunited thanks to Alan keeping the thread alive for 17 months. :) How about the possibility that he in fact switched the digits intentionally, and then changed his mind when he got home/his girlfriend dumped him/he got desperate?

I think it is difficult for people who have basically good relationships with their parents to understand how bad a dysfunctional relationship can be. I am lucky enough to have very good relationships with my parents. When I met my partner he was vitriolic about his own father and I naively thought that he was exaggerating, that it couldn't be that bad, that through better communication understanding etc, we could improve the relationship. 15 years on, we sort of have, but only really by distancing ourselves. My father-in-law is possibly the most difficult (and sometimes offensive) man I have met and my otherwise well-adjusted husband still struggles with this. Many relationships need work, but some need to be left. Most parents are great, but some are appalling, and surely to carry on hitting your head against a brick wall does nobody any good. Those of us who have 'up and down' relationships need to thank our lucky stars and try to hold the hands of those who aren't so fortunate.

I used to snore and drove my partner mad. But then went to a chiropractor about a back problem, and from the first visit didn't snore anymore. It turns out I had a misaligned C2, which can have a significant impact on the whole ENT system. I know it sounds a bit wierd and wonderful, and obviously there is absolutely nothing to suggest that any of you/or partners have the same issue, but an expensive trip to a fantastic chiropractor could start feeling like good value for money...

oops. sorry. And yes, they shouldn't be charging extra. I may raise it...though I fear that if they didn't they would have to close.

The government grant covers 5 x 2 1/2 hour sessions, so you are eligible for 3 of those. You can't just take the hours and then divide them up as you like.(at least, definitely not at Oak Tree, and I don't think in other places either) Oak Tree, I think charges ?8/hour for non-grant holders and grant holders out of term time. I think it charges a bit more than the 1/2 hour top up even for the grant covered sessions, though I'm not sure about that. I get the impression they they really need to, to cover costs; I don't think they're making a mint. But if you're not happy/don't understand/need help, I'd talk to them. I also have had two children there, and I agree with Kate. I'm sure there are more 'academic' environments, but I don't think that is what my son needs at the moment. And given that your child will presumably start school in September, I wouldn't worry too much...

Reckon it really depends on how much you use a car. If you walk everywhere, get a double buggy. We had a 25 month gap, and I thought we'd use buggy board/sling, and then someone gave us a (well-loved) phil and teds when the youngest was 7 months and I couldn't believe I hadn't done it sooner. But it's true that you can wait and see, as you could probably get one pretty quickly if you needed.

Janet and Alan Ahlberg The Baby Catalogue, Peepo, Each Peach Pear Plum could all work. Goodnight Moon is lovely too.

The tricky thing about diagnosing coeliac disease, is that you have to be eating gluten in order for it to show up. They say from 6 weeks before the test, though in some cases less (not sure how being a baby affects things...). There's a blood test which is good though not 100% reliable. To be 100% certain, you have a biopsy. But it probably would be worth it to see if it is coeliac, which you never grow out of, or an intolerance, which you could.

Totally brilliant. Just trying to keep the love coming so you're inclined to keep going...!

Kelly mom says 8 days in fridge, as does something else I have - but having tried it several times, I can assure the assembled company that my milk is off after 8 days in our fridge. Maybe I don't put it near enough the back, but I don't leave it in the door. And tasting it does work, but isn't so great if you taste it just before you wanted to go out, and realise that if you do the baby will have nothing to eat...

Yes, I know that one - when our nearly 6 month old grabbed dad's apple to suck on it - I said 'oh look, that's his first bit of real food' 3 year old replies 'no, it's not, I gave him some of my cake yesterday'... Older sister (5) assures me it was a tiny, tiny crumb, but still... I don't think our bedtime is perfect - I quite often hate the post-bath, pre-book bit, but as I tell myself most days, that bit really only lasts a few minutes and the only other way seems to involve splitting the children up, quite a lot of tv and it taking forever. I really don't have the patience for bath and bed 2 or 3 times over.

We've never had any issue with them sharing - in fact, I think they are each reassured by the other. I do bath all together, dress baby and help with other dressing as necessary and then snuggle up - feed baby (usually to sleep) while reading to the other (well, now others). There is mostly a bit of baby crying in there when someone has failed to put on their pjs, but it doesn't take long. Good luck. Bedtimes can feel like a bit of an ordeal when it's always you...

get some of the adults to babysit and escape? Oh, and use the time in your bedroom to plan xmas 2011, which, needless to say, will not involve endless in-laws!