carebear

Thank you all very much for your comments. They've given me lots of thoughts/ideas and we're biting the bullet and ordering some today. How to put an early riser and a late sleeper in the same room and manage any sleep will be the next challenge! Thanks again :)

Thank you! Will take a look now :)

Due to an expanding family we are going to put our three and five yo in the same room and I'm thinking bunk beds to give them more space to play. I'd previously ruled it out as thought littlest was too young (still has bars on cotbed atm)so I'm looking for something ultra safe. Oldest occasionally falls out of bed and will have to go on top so I'd also like big guards on the side. So really I'm after some advice on a) whether there are other things I should think about with such little ones (and/or is it just a terrible idea?!) and b) any recommendations for companies that sell good bunk beds? TIA!

Hi Lucy, I'm a family room moderator, I hope you don't mind but I have slightly adjusted the group title to be in keeping with previous baby groups (there has been confusion in the past). This includes adjusting the date range slightly so if your due date is actually in June give me a shout and I'll set up two groups. Taking my FRM hat off, I'm due number 3 in early March so following this thread with interest. Hope everyone is feeling ok. Xx

Hi there, I had a planned c section with my second after a forceps delivery with #1 that was close to c section. I'd firstly like to reassure you both from my own experience and others I know who've done elective and emergency that it's an infinitely different experience when planned. I was v worried about breastfeeding, unnecessarily so in the end. I know people often say it can take a bit longer for the milk to come in, and I think mine may have taken a little longer (like half a day) but just kept latching baby on and we both seemed to get there ok (in contrast to lots of problems establishing first time round). Others may have more help on how to get the milk flowing. On a related note, depending on your hospital, you may be allowed to take your partner or someone else to stay overnight. We toyed with the idea of not doing that as thought my husband would be better off with toddler but I was SO glad he was there on the first night to pass me the baby each time he needed to feed rather than waiting for the midwife each time. I think everyone's different with recovery rate but I definitely benefitted from having help around. We based it on the advice of six weeks. For the first two weeks my husband was on paternity, then we got some help on the days when my toddler wasn't in nursery in the form of grandparents and friends. I probably needed it for two weeks and then it was nice to have for the next two, we just gradually tapered it off. I also had the slightly odd situation that I hadn't picked up my 20mo for the second half of my pregnancy due to placenta previa so I guess he probably wasn't v demanding to be picked up by then! Good luck with it all - I am now facing a decision for my third between VBAC or elective and it will be elective all the way for me! X

Done!

If you are expecting a baby in the winter months, this is your thread, use it as you wish. Please, no advertising. Congratulations to you all! Family Room Moderator

We had someone do various decorating jobs in our house over a couple of years. He always charged by the day - ?135-150 per day or ?200 per day if there were two painters. (He always quoted number of days in advance and we paid for materials in addition).

We used Likeminders at a similar age - not cheap but all the sitters had to have experience working with the relevant age group so we ended up with a lot of trainee midwives and also nannies at that age which was reassuring.

Agree with Saffron that it's a good idea to get back in touch for some clarification. Was it the GP or reception staff who sent you straight to the hospital? TBH, I've always found the system in ED a bit confusing as different things seem to happen in different surgeries. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about - you're clearly in the system if booked for a scan, but agree seems unusual not to see a midwife before that. Good luck - and congratulations!

Hi all, My son is due to start reception at DVIS in September and I'm starting to panic a bit about wraparound care. He is on the waiting list for the afterschool club but given that we're now in August, I'm not hopeful of movement in time for September. I've also approached a couple of other local afterschool clubs that do pick ups with no joy. I know how long the afterschool club waiting lists can be across Dulwich so wondered what other working parents do? I've heard of people using childminders but not sure how this would work re pickups (or how I might find one, apart from through edf)? Basically looking for some advice and/or inspiration as am getting worried! I can probably do one regular early pick up and I've negotiated the first two weeks of term to work from home but after that really need to return to proper hours in the office. I'd also be very interested to hear from any other DVIS parents in a similar position to see if there's any scope for cobbling something together?! TIA xx

Thank you - that's what I suspected but wasn't sure if I'd invented the rule in my head, good to have it confirmed!

I was in a fairly unpleasant traffic collision the other day where I thankfully emerged more unscathed than the car. Fortunately the children weren't with me but both car seats were. The other car drove right into the left hand side of the car and the back light, back wheel and front wing mirror are all severely damaged as well as other denting. I wondered if anyone has experience/knowledge of whether I should be replacing the car seats as a matter of course? Neither appears to be damaged but I'm conscious they may have taken some impact. And/or is there an argument for replacing the one on the left as the right one wouldn't have been damaged? Thanks in advance - feel I should know this stuff!

Definitely try Magic Moments if you can be flexi on timings - lots of recommendations for them on here. I heard of Mother Goose Upland doing one day recently (and would definitely recommend) so they might be worth a shot, although I think this was with a view to increasing later in the year. A lot of nurseries seem to be a bit less busy on Fridays so you might find they can be more accommodating if you're able to be flexible with your days according to their availability. Good luck!

Hi Louise, This might not be v helpful as you've prob already tried if you've approached 4 in ED but in case not, I was recommended the Townley Rd Dentist for this purpose a while back. Didn't end up taking them up on it because my kids currently get a dentist at nursery but might be worth a shot.

Hi Lucy, I had an elective section with my second, it was at St Thomas's so I can't comment on the specific hospital stuff but had a few thoughts that might be helpful in light of your questions. 1) if all goes smoothly there's no reason you shouldn't be able to breastfeed and do skin on skin. The longest delay is actually more likely to be you being sewn up rather than whisking the baby away. In our case, he was weighed etc and then handed to my partner for skin on skin while they sorted me out. I was then in a position to try to feed about half an hour post birth. I was really worried about the logistics of feeding post section but your top half will be v mobile so in that sense no different from a VB. The main difference for me was that I did need someone to hand me the baby each time so that may be something to think about overnight (either if someone can stay with you, or be v assertive with the overnight midwives!). Some people also say that it can take a bit longer for the milk to come in with a section. This was not my experience, but you might just need to play that by ear. I don't think it tends to be a problem, just a day or so later. 2) Hospital bag - apart from all the normal stuff, lots of very big pants! 3) If you don't get sent home with laxatives, buy some. Do NOT wait until you need them! Hopefully someone will be along soon with some Kings specific words of wisdom. Personally I had a really positive c section experience having had a not so positive first (vaginal) birth. There are a lot of advantages, like not being completely exhausted while trying to learn to feed, look after, get to know your baby. Please feel free to pm or respond on this thread if you have any more questions. Good luck! Xx

I agree it would be helpful for you to edit your post and title to explain that you are recruiting pregnant women. As a fellow psychologist I would also recommend that you update your participant information sheet to include this information for two reasons. 1) although I see you've got ethical approval, it's good ethical practice not to collect data that you know you're not going to use and to make your inclusion criteria clear. 2) you will likely get a lot of people starting but not finishing your survey, possibly including people who are confused and are answering despite not being currently pregnant. This might leave you with a fairly messy dataset. Good luck with the research - sounds very interesting!

I agree that 306 can sometimes feel a bit rushed. However, they've always been very good at squeezing in my children for appointments, especially when they were very young. They were also quick to give me a telephone appointment when I had possible miscarriage symptoms and they couldn't fit me in. The receptionist is nice too which is always a plus!

As a previous sing and sign parent, I'd like to add that I took both my children to sing and sign with Trish for several terms, several years apart, and there was definitely no singing to a recording! By far my favourite of all the local baby classes (Bea's baby bop a very close second!).

I work in this area and agree with all the pps - exposure, no fuss etc are all shown to help with fussy eating. I think this link summarises some helpful tips that are all evidence based: http://www.parentingscience.com/picky-eater.html On a personal note I also have a second child of similar age who is much fussier than his older brother. We take the approach that you don't need to eat it but it stays on your plate. Bit by bit I'm noticing that he's trying new things (often when he thinks I'm not looking!). It can be so stressful, but really normal at this age. Well done for persevering! Xx

A few thoughts below that I lifted from a previous post of mine on the same issue. Good luck! Are you warming the milk in the bottle up? (This was unnecessaary for my eldest but my youngest wouldn't touch milk that wasn't warmed up until he was nearly two). Another thing to try if you haven't already is to go out when your partner tries to feed your baby with a bottle - they're clever little things who can sense when the real thing is around, even if you're in a different room!

To be clear, the messages I'm referring to have been removed. Thanks, admin.

Posting as Admin: Reminding everyone to share their experiences and opinions respectfully, or risk having their posts removed. Thanks, Admin

I believe that Asquith nurseries launched something like this a while ago. My recollection is that it was v expensive!

Great, thanks both - yes, happy to do private as that's what I'm already doing. Thanks again, will investigate both.