carebear

Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone has any recent feedback on My Favourite Nursery on Upland Road? I've had a look round the forum but most stuff is quite old now. Thanks in advance!

Ps - I meant to say, aside from the bus issue, it's a great pram that we've been really happy with; v sturdy, apparently comfy for the little one and very easy to drive!

Hi there, We have this pram and it's not always easy to manoeuvre on a bus but it's usually doable. You can get on at the front on some double deckers but there seems to be a model where it's not possible. Annoyingly I have yet to work out how to spot the difference in models so I usually just ask the drivers to open the doors at the back regardless and they're usually quite happy to do this. Occasionally they insist I get on at the front, in which case we normally fit! Regarding getting two in the space, again I have usually managed on this front although it has sometimes involved rearranging and getting the smaller of the two buggies to squeeze in first. I'm not sure how the uppababy compares to other big 'travel systems' on this - it is certainly the widest of any I've seen but I'm not sure whether to the extent that it makes a difference on the bus. I hope that helps a bit - basically, it's definitely not the most bus friendly pram out there but it's usually workable one way or another.

Thank you very much everyone, especially for explaining how it works to listen to both, that was really confusing me! Will look into Motorola again now I know it can be done.

Thank you very much bluedark - that sounds like just the sort of thing I'm after. Googling now...

Hi everyone, I'm hoping to pick some brains about baby monitors as I'm finding the internet a bit of a minefield and I'm not really sure if what I want (or what I think I want) exists. We are expecting our second child shortly and number 1 will be just under 2. I'm not ready to let go of baby number 1's baby monitor because although he usually sleeps through, we don't always hear him from downstairs if he does wake (when ill or something)and he still has the bars on his cot etc. so wouldn't be able to alert us if he had been sick or was upset. We have had a fairly straightforward BT monitor since he was born which we've always been happy with (temperature, ability to mute, not many other functions) but recently the screen has broken which is more annoying than it first sounds so we're looking to replace this one regardless of what overall decision we make. Could happily make do with a cheap replacement though since I don't think he'll be using it for that much longer. However, I'm also toying with the idea of whether a video monitor could be useful for him to allow him to play in his room on his own sometimes without me having to run upstairs every time there is a suspicious noise (or a suspicious silence which usually means more naughtiness!) as he gets older. For baby number 2, we are also considering a video monitor for other reasons. Specifically, with the experience of number 1, I think I would feel a lot happier sleep training if I could check on the baby with the use of a video monitor. I dismissed the idea with baby #1 because I thought it would make me neurotic and that I would keep checking unnecessarily but I actually think it would avoid unnecessary trips into his room which we really could have done without when trying to get first baby to sleep (e.g. certain crying, not sure if it's because he's hurt himself or ended up in a funny position or because he is crying because he wants us - nb we never did full on controlled crying but more gradual retreat kind of stuff and leaving to resettle for short periods in the middle of the night before going in). Probably more detailed than anyone needed but basically I would really appreciate any info or thoughts on any of this. What I think would be useful would be a 'double' video monitor. I think Motorola do one of these but I can't work out how it works in practice - do you have to decide which child you want to check on? In which case, how does it work at night when you want to be alerted if either child wakes up? Or is it easier to just have two monitors? Any good/bad experiences with video monitors (and/or recommendations for brands)? Basically any thoughts on any of this would be great because I'm completely lost! Many thanks...x

Hi there, I am 31 weeks pregnant with complete placenta previa. I opted to go to St Thomas's right from the start because I gave birth to my first child there and also because I was already anticipating the possibility of a planned c-section before we knew about the placenta for reasons associated with the previous birth. I therefore can't help much with the process of switching hospitals at this stage, but depending on what specific issues you are dealing with, may be able to answer questions about how St Thomas's have handled issues around my placenta situation and my experiences there generally both last time and this time, feel free to PM me. A friend of mine recently switched from Lewisham to Kings, so although not the same hospitals, still the same Trust involved. She switched quite late in her pregnancy and I think it was a fairly smooth process, but again give me a shout if you have any specific questions and I can try and find out for you. Regarding the midwives, this has been one of the definite downsides to not being associated with my closest hospital. I had a rather limited choice of places I could go to for my appointments and ended up opting for the hospital itself. The midwives have been good (and I've had the same one each time with only one exception which was for a last minute appointment) but it is a big hassle getting there each time. I'm not sure if the same would happen to you or if you would stick with the same ones since you're that bit further down the line, and I also don't know what happens after birth. I suspect they switch us back to our local community midwife team as the St Thomas team won't want to travel to Dulwich but would be interested if anyone knows what happens on that front. Anyway, I'm not sure how much help that is or if I've just given you more questions, but do get in touch if you think I can help!

I'm a little surprised that you are looking for a new nursery given how happy you are with your current one. And that you claim not to know about Bright Horizons in spite of this thread: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,1347145

Hi there, We have some very similar problems with a slightly younger child so I will be interested to see any feedback you get! From what I've read, later bedtime and cutting out nap can often have that effect as they get overtired (we have also tried these things with the same results). Have you tried cutting the nap but introducing an earlier bedtime to make up for it? How long does she sleep for in the day? Perhaps you could cut it down rather than cutting it out altogether. Sorry if that's not much help or you've tried all this already. We've had periods of success with later rising and although they've never lasted more than a month or two, they are usually as the result of introducing a change consistently for at least 5 days before we see any change. Good luck with it!

I would like to echo Bellenden_mum's sentiments that it is not an easy decision to change your child's nursery. But reading through this thread again, it seems to me that all of us who posted any criticism at all have either addressed why we have not removed our child from the nursery or mentioned that we have done so, so I'm not really sure who yummy mummy's comments were aimed at. I have no idea whether it has been established whether new mummy is really the manager but I must say, if she is, as a current parent who had both expressed concerns and also defended the nursery to an extent on this thread, I would have expected a private message inviting me to discuss the issues further at the very least if it was her. This further underlines the slightly odd approach to communication with parents that I already had concerns about. I would also like into reiterate that I have NEVER had concerns about my child's safety at this nursery.

My child has been in BH baby room for a while and I've had mixed experiences. I would definitely agree that they could certainly be more organised, in particular I've had several instances where there have been communication issues regarding a range of things. There has also been quite high staff turnover in recent months which they claim to be working hard to avoid any more of but only time will tell. And yes, we had a letter to say the manager is leaving - from reading threads about other nurseries it seems this can have a lot of influence on the nursery so the future is a bit unknown in that sense. In contrast to the PP, they have always been very vigilant with any accidents. I certainly have no concerns about safety or security. We took the place because when we moved to the area it was the only decent nursery I could find with a short/no waiting list. My little one has come on leaps and bounds in terms of development and vocabulary on the last few months for which I credit the nursery, but I have no experience of any others with which to compare. We were recently offered a place at our preferred nursery (preferred partly for location and partly because the preschool section seems to offer much more choice) and it was not a straightforward decision but we have accepted it, so I suppose that reflects the fact that we have not been entirely happy with it. All that said, on balance I think BH compares favourably to the nurseries of some of my friends' children and I think they probably all have their pros and cons. I'm aware I've been rather vague in this post so do please PM me if you'd like to discuss further.

I would echo that - mine wouldn't take any bottle from me but was happy to from his dad, especially if I wasn't in the room - we concluded that he wanted the breastfeed if he thought it was available but was happy to switch to bottle if he thought there was no other option!

I have completed this, will you be sharing the results? I would be interested to hear about them if so. Also, and sorry for being a pedant, it is inaccurate to say (as you do on the last page) that we have been 'randomly' assigned to the two groups as we were self selecting, particularly on the back of the conversation above.

Oh well, it was worth a shot. Thank you SO much again to those who took the time to look, I really appreciate it. Just hope they've gone to a good home (turns out there was a suit in there too). I imagine he won't make the same mistake again and worse things could indeed happen. I'm not surprised at all that everyone thought they were rubbish - they looked like rubbish! And I will play him the above clip in a carefully chosen moment. Thanks again, and obviously if anyone did rescue them, would love to hear from you.

Hi all, Thanks again for all your help, we are no closer to solving the disappearance. He took the number into work today for Tree of Hope, so who knows... Nabz, on the tiny off chance they haven't completely vanished, whereabouts did you see the box? A guy at The Actress very kindly took a look for us late morning and they weren't where we left them so I wonder if they'd moved up the road (clutching at straws really as we did trawl up and down the road last night!). Thanks again x

Thanks so much for looking! He's pretty sure they never went on the roof but if anyone sees some suits and shirts strewn around east dulwich, they're probably ours...

My husband 'absent mindedly' left a box of his shirts on CPR this morning (they were supposed to end up in the car but we drove off without them). We are now in Kingston for the day so can't go back for them! I was wondering if anyone might possibly have found them/is nearby and could have a quick look? It is a brown box on the pavement, on CPR, just up the hill from The Actress, on the other side of North Cross Road. Thank you in advance!

I did a course with Sarah Kohn who runs this company: http://www.earlybirdfirstaid.com/ It was about ?50pp I think and lasted half a day. As someone who has done several adult first aid courses, I found it very helpful. She only focussed on a few key things (choking, CPR, burns and touched on one or two other things), so it might not suit you if you're looking for something more comprehensive, but I actually found that very useful. When you have a young child, there's only so much information your brain can manage in one go so I liked the fact that I could be confident about a few very important areas rather than know a little bit about lots of things. At the time, she said she was happy to travel to people's homes to run the course if you could get a group of four or more together. The one I went to was on The Cut, just by Waterloo but she may do other venues. And she is happy for pre-crawling babies to come too.

I lived in London Bridge when my son was born and when he was very young (10 days) we had a successful evening out at Cafe Nawaz - just behind the hospital on Snowsfields. I don't think there was a changing table but the restaurant was very quiet so it was fine to do it on a mat in the loos. I was also going to suggest Cote (who definitely do have changing facilities, but you need to ask as they're based in the disabled loo which is basically the staff loo). Word of warning on the above suggestion of the Woolpack - I went there a few times with my baby and they were fine but quite strict on their no children after 5pm (or maybe 4?) rule. I went there for a late lunch with my mum when he was very small and they warned me several times what time they were going to throw me out. We didn't go out much with him in the evenings beyond the first couple of weeks so I'm not sure about other places' baby friendliness at night, but there's also an Italian on Borough High Street (Alma?) that is usually pretty quiet and might be accomodating. And Taz (also Borough High Street) were very good with us a couple of times in the daytime (although you have to go downstairs to change, and again no specific changing table). Or there's a Pizza Express very near the station which is always a failsafe. Generally speaking though, I would advise calling most places ahead just to check they're alright with you bringing the baby in the evening. Enjoy!

Hi all, We are also expecting baby no 2, on 15th September. My son will be 21 months. Not entirely sure what we're letting ourselves in for... x

Thank you everyone - I went with 306 in the end and although I have yet to have an appointment, the reception staff were unusually welcoming, so fingers crossed. Many thanks again.

Hi there, I'm new to the area and have an eleven month old baby. We are currently looking to register with a GP surgery and wondered if anyone has any recommendations. I'm aware that most GP surgeries carry the same types of grievances (difficulty getting an appointment, rude reception staff etc.) and while I'd like to avoid them, that's not my main concern; my priority is finding somewhere with a good baby clinic/health visitor/child GP system where it's easy to get my baby seen to quickly if he's ill and where there is an efficient system in place for him to get jabs, do the standard check ups etc. Competent Health Visitors would also be a bonus! Lordship Lane Surgery, 306 Medical Centre and Dulwich Medical Centre (CP Rd) are the three coming up closest to us on the NHS Choice website, so any opinions about those ones specifically would be much appreciated. I'm sorry if this has been addressed before - I've done a search and have not found any threads about GP surgeries specifically relevant to young children but if there is one, I'd love to be pointed in the right direction. Many thanks in advance.