Bubster

Another big thumbs-up for Dave from McHow. He quickly sorted a problem with our boiler and offered us a discount on the call-out fee to boot! A lovely man and we would definitely call on Dave again for any problems with heating or plumbing.

We hired Katie Cotterell -- goes by KatieC Photography -- after seeing her flyer posted near to our house. She did a day-in-the-life photo shoot with us and our two little ones and it was terrific. She is great company and great with kids. https://katiecphotography.pixieset.com

Many thanks for these suggestions!

Hi there, We'd appreciate some help from forumites in finding out about any classes we can register our nearly 3 year old for that are held on Thursdays or Fridays, rather than the weekend. Not fussy about the activity, really; just want something fun / active / outdoorsy to give a bit of structure to his non-nursery days. Thanks!

Sorry! Mistakenly posted this in wrong section. Have now moved post to Family Room Classifieds.

Hi all, Have just requested to join FB group, Kim -- many thanks for setting it up. Our second baby is due 10 October but I've started maternity leave already so have now got the time to get ready for her arrival properly! Looking forward to meeting you all in/around ED. Faith

We use Mason and Green and highly recommend them. The seats are fitted already when the driver shows up and all the drivers have been fantastic: relaxed and conscientious. Safe travels!

Hi there Forumites, We want to get out riding on our Brompton bicycles with our baby, who will soon be nine months old. We've seen various Brompton-compatible child seats but we're not sure what to buy. We'd like one that mounts in front of the parent, and ideally one seat will see our little one through from 9 months old up to 2 years or so. Any recommendations? Many thanks!

Another happy customer here. Thanks, Nick, for putting up our big roller blinds and working around baby-based chaos and schedule! We'll call on Nick again when we need help, for his professionalism and all-round pleasant manner.

And another thumbs up from us for Joseph -- great help with a short move from ED to Camberwell.

Hi Knomester and Tara, Thanks for your stories about how long you both persevered with (trying to) breastfeed despite all the problems. They've helped reassure me that I'm not crazy for persevering myself -- although surely I'm a masochist. I'll try to be realistic about what difference the cranial osteopath session might make. Would either of you say you are now breastfeeding relatively successfully/happily? Anyway, yes, Knomester, Katie put us on to the Novogel pads, which seem to help a bit, or at least prevent nipples from getting worse. Seems the subject of this thread needs to be updated to reflect the fact that we've spent the last few days talking about how to continue with breastfeeding, rather than bottle feeding practicalities!

Hi Tara, I've been meaning to go to the albrighton cafe as I've heard good things about it. Interesting too to hear about your getting help to lose the nipple shields. I've often been afraid to try feeding without because they seem to protect the nipples from further damage (and I hope from another bout of mastitis) but yeah, then what about milk transfer?! Anyway, it's off to the cranial osteopath Monday so wish me luck!

Thanks, everyone, for continuing to share your stories and experiences. Reassuring, but also alarming in a way, to hear from so many people who have also had really tough times with breastfeeding. Makes me feel much less lonely. Anyway, the next step in our 'journey' seems to be a visit to a cranial osteopath, as recommended by Katie Fisher. Any thoughts or comments on this? For those who took their baby for treatment, would you say it made a noticeable difference to breastfeeding?

Thanks so much, CocoC. I'll check it out now. And thanks for the moral support too!

Huge relief to find this thread today. Our firstborn is nearly five weeks and breastfeeding has been a nightmare: tongue tie, severe nipple trauma, bacterial mastitis. We're combination feeding for now - expressed breast milk and formula via bottle. One of the reasons we've persevered so long despite all the pain and trauma is because of the lack of information about and support for formula feeding. I want to be positive if and when we finally give up trying to breastfeed the 'normal' way (eg. Without nipple shields or tube feeding or expressing) but it's really hard to be positive when there is no official support for it, and it seems so complicated and liable to error around sterilising etc. I will just keep repeating simonethebeaver's story to myself to keep things in perspective and I hope it is ok if I pm a few of you who've offered advice and your experience with making life using formula easier.