sanity girl

I have just stopped using ecover powder, as this seemed to trigger the flare up on baby E's tummy. No problems with Fairy non bio liquid.

Hi, my 5 month old has also just been diagnosed with eczema - the doctor prescribed a steroid cream which I am reluctant to use, and dermol cream, which so far seems to have calmed it down a bit. Luckily it doesn't seem to bother him yet.

Many thanks for your link darlin' - I'm really excited now about putting together a treasure basket for my little one :)

I would say if the cot provided by the hotel looks dirty/unsafe/generally grim then ask them to replace it with a better newer one. This happened to us on holiday and when we asked if they would put their own children in it to sleep they soon sent somebody off to get a new one! We were paying extra to have a cot provided so I think this is fair enough.

Uh oh baby E has exactly the same symptoms - I suspect eczema, so off to GP it is :(. My daughter has always had perfect skin, no problems or dryness and I sometimes wonder if this is connected to us not bathing her at all until she was about 3 weeks old, and only using Aveeno baby oil in the bath (we got this in Italy, not sure if you can get it here) for the first year - baby E on the other hand had a bath very early on, and has been dunked in his sister's water with bubble bath in. Better change our habits I guess!

I have spent the whole evening slightly tense wondering which of my little ones will wake up! Watching the extreme gore of True Blood while breastfeeding a sleepy baby is a very odd experience

Keef, a pharmacist told me you can use brolene eyedrops for babies. Also, a squirt of breastmilk often does the trick!

My experience: lost appetite during both pregnancies so didn't put on that much weight, lost all pregnancy weight immediately after birth and regained appetite big time whilst breastfeeding. I didn't lose any further weight while bf first time around(probably because I was eating like a horse!), but as soon as I stopped bf I did put on weight, quite a bit. So I guess for me bf kept the weight off whilst I was eating more, but didn't actually help weight loss. I am doing more exercise post birth this time, so have possibly lost an extra kilo or two - I think if I cut out all cakes, biscuits etc I would probably lose more weight.

EDmummy I lived and used a car in Naples for 4 years so yes I am a very confident driver :)), but I think that if you are used to London driving it is no big deal. If you are taking a hire car from the airport you can avoid the city altogether and I don't think the experience on the motorways is that different from anywhere else in Italy (cars like to get up really close behind you and flash their lights until you move out of the way - very annoying!)

Hi Liz, We had a lovely time in the Cilento last summer. It's in Southern Italy, just below the Amalfi coast. Best avoided in late July/August though as it gets very busy. The place we stayed at was Villaggio La Siesta - chalet accommodation, lovely big pool with bar and restaurant next to it, and very close to clean beautiful beach with assigned sun loungers! Website here. You can fly to Naples and then hire a car to drive down there.

When I spoke to Dulwich Infants about distances, they said the furthest distance that got a place last year was 850 metres. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the reminder! Will watch in on 4 +1

I too lived in flip flops towards the end of my pregnancy. Massage helps. There is an excellent masseur who works from home locally and advertises on here as Aloued. Just think- not long to go and then your feet will get back to normal again :)

The soft play at Beckenham Spa is very nice

Hi, my almost 3.5 year old daughter and 3 month old boy got it just before christmas and neither seemed very bothered by it. I just dabbed a bit of calamine lotion on the spots and also did a few baths with oats in (tied up in a muslin square and swished around, you can also dab the muslin directly on the spots).

I've used the avent manual one and I find it works best if I keep the lever compressed for quite a long time to let the milk come out - i.e. long slow spurts rather than short quick ones!! Hope that helps

I also used the man by Acorn for my baby boy and photo was accepted by the passport office no problem. He was friendly and quick. It costs ?6.50 for four photos

Loved watching Amelia the Polish girl and her mum - they were both brilliant. SHe really kept her cool! Her labour reminded me a lot of mine with baby E (except thankfully my OH was present!). It also reminded me that I definitely won't be doing it again!!

Come on, I was just sharing a handy tip. And an eco-friendly one at that. I still refuse to ever ever shine my sink with baby oil...

Hi Toad and Vik, I also have an almost 4 year old and a small baby and am looking for things to do on a tuesday. I sometimes go to soft play at Beckenham Spa which is nice - how about all going together and our 4 year olds can play together while we sit with the babies and have coffee?

Yes white vinegar is excellent for descaling. You can also get a bottle of astonish descaler from the 99p shop in camberwell/brixton that does the job well. Also another good use for vinegar - pour a bit of bicarbonate of soda down kitchen sink plughole followed by a few glugs of vinegar and let it fizz to unblock and keep clean. Once the fizzing stops flush with lots of hot water. Much better than using that horrible corrosive stuff

If you decide to go for the older age group seat option, the britax kidfix is very good if you have isofix in your car. It is one of the Which best buys and feels very secure. I got mine online - just googled to find the cheapest price.

How tall is he? My daughter has just about grown out of her maxi cosi tobi at almomst 4 years old and about 1m tall. She is now using a britax kidfix which uses the seatbelt and is tall enough to use until they reach the height required by law to still use car seat. If you want to come and try him in the tobi to see if it's bigger you are welcome, as it's currently stored in our under stairs cupboard waiting for no. 2 to grow into it!

The only time I had to give my 3 year old eye drops I did it when she was asleep! She flinched a little but didn't wake up :) Guess that would work if your little one still naps as you could do morning before she wakes, nap time and then after she has gone to sleep in the evening?

I like the avent ones. THey have a lace backing