crystal7

I had a not great experience at GMs last week. Any suggestions other than Kuki? Have been there a few times and agree it'great but I can only ever go at the weekend and you have to book a month in advance for Shingo/Pauline...

We never really had any leaks with Sainsburys or Asda nappies, maybe my babies weren't very leaky though as I seem to be in the minority.

Must admit I'm feeling very emotional about my daughter starting school, obvs keeping it to myself! She seems unconcerned although doesn't start until Sept 12th so plenty of time to start worrying! She seems so little to be going to school and quite babyish compared to her peers?! Anyone else have a similar child? I'm a primary school teacher myself so you'd think I'd be less anxious, never taught Reception though. I am expecting exhaustion in the Autumn term so won't plan anything too taxing yet.

Biff have some great boy's shoes, my 22 month old has just grown out of a pair of Pedipeds. Camper shoes are lovely too. I forgot about Mini Boden, Joules is also good- in the sales! Norfolkvillas I agree re Clarks shoes for girls, they have some nice winter boots though.

I agree, really hard to find nice boy's stuff. I notice it especially as my eldest is a girl and has around double the amount of clothes her brother has (not sure if this is a good thing...)I really don't like the colours and the fact that the tops need to have either some sort of vehicle or a dinosaur on the front. H&M are good, they don't have their ful range on line though- better to buy in store. Regent Street has a big kids department. John Lewis have some quite nice things sometimes. Agree with midivydale, Polarn O Pyret is fab. Lovely fabrics and prints and amazing quality plus many of their things are unisex which is useful if you have one of each. Very expensive though, even in the sales. I find a few bits in Gap too. Don't get me started on boys shoes...

We spent a weekend in York last year and the Railway Museum was a big hit with our toddler.

I love dry shampoo! Stops me having to wash my fine hair every day. Probably wouldn't work for longer than that though. I use Batiste, the colour one which hides grey hair too! Just make sure you rub it in well, wait for a few minutes, then brush...

Ha ha SBot I have had nights like that over the years! Thanks for the reassurance Canela, BST and fuchsia, will go for it in the Autumn I hope! NicoleS your system sounds perfect. Similar to what we did for a while with my eldest. We don't have the space at the moment but fingers crosses we'll be moving soon so may well set up our boy's bedroom like that. Thanks for sharing.

I feel like this all the time! My youngest is 2 in October and I get this *feeling* whenever I see a really small baby. Like BST I love the baby stage but I am aware it lasts about 5 minutes so not really a good enough reason to have another baby, who will of course grow up.. Otta my OH has said similar to me! Watching old videos of them both in babyhood moves me to tears!

Hi. I took my 2 plus buggy to the Science museum last month. South Kensington tube station is fine, 1 flight of stairs to themain station and a small set down into the museum tunnel. There are loads of people around who will offer to help. If not ask. Lots of other buggies too. I would get there as early ad possible, in my experience the queue is long even before the museum opens in the school hols. Have fun!

Not strictly family room related but everyone always has great ideas on threads like this! I'm looking for somewhere for 16 people (including 4 children aged between 2 and 9) to have lunch on a Saturday in October. It is a celebration of sorts so somewhere a bit special would be great. It doesn't have to be in East Dulwich, anywhere nearby is fine. There are several vegetarians in the party in case that makes a difference. Thanks!

Just found this thread, nice to see I'm not alone! Like others on this thread we started co sleeping with our 2nd child in the early days. He was (is!) a rubbish sleeper, wanted to feed all night long and I just wanted to get some sleep! Our baby is now 21 months old and is pretty much full time in with us. Sometimes he will go into his bed at 7 but mostly not. He settles fine in the big bed and sleeps through mostly. I was wondering what others do about nights away?? We haven't had a night away from the children since before baby 2 was born due to breastfeeding (which has recently stopped) and co sleeping. Not unusual I'm sure, we didn't leave our first child until she was over 2. But I would, at some point in the next 5 years, like the chance to have a not off! My parents are willing to have both kids and expect one of them would share a bed with the small one. I'm not sure if he'd cope though?! Am I cruel to even think of it?? He loves my parents although we only see them every month as they don't live locally...

I don't have anything useful to add but I had over active letdown with my 2nd child. He would splutter and get really windy. I'd be up all night feeding and winding. Like others I found feeding lying down helpful and the problem seemed to disappear when he was around 2/3 months. I never got around to expressing so don't have any experience but I admire anyone who exclusively does it. It must be incredibly hard work. Do try one of the breastfeeding cafes, I found the advice at the Peckham Library one excellent, good luck!

I've been to Ruskin the last few weekends. Not too busy in the mornings and there's a kiosk selling coffee, cake, ice cream and sandwiches. Went to Sydenham Wells last week too, had a lovely morning there. Manageable just about alone with 1 and 4 year old. Really liked that there's play equipment right next to the water play. My 2 often want to get out of the water after about 10 min then want to get back in a bit later. This way they could slip shoes on and play out of the water then hop back into the jets when they got hot again! Thanks for the tip edf!

Is Sydenham Wells park doable on public transport? We went to Burgess Park this morning. They have water fountains outside the under fives playground off Albany Road. It was great, not crowded at all. Probably not enough for older children as the jets weren't very high but perfect for toddlers. The cafe is nice too and has good children's pasta and toasted sandwiches. There is a small car park but we went on the bus and walked from Walworth Road.

Oops wrong post!

Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens is fantastic. Get there early though (not easy from ED with small children...) as it gets crowded, think they might limit numbers. I like the Tate Britain, in the school hols they have art trolleys with all sorts of materials for children to create their own masterpieces to take home plus friendly staff on hand to inspire. Easy to walk there from Vauxhall. Southbank is another hit as others have said however there's a much better playground than the one behind the London Eye. Archbishops Park behind St Thomas's A&E, great play equipment and never very crowded.

Another vote for the nitty gritty comb. Try to get into the habit of frequent combing. I'm dreading my daughter getting them, she hates having her hair brushed. Apparently applying conditioner and then combing with said comb is effective.

My experience with both children was similar to yours Klove! Bed at 7, then up 2-4 times per night. Up for the day between 6 and 7. I just used to bring them into bed with me after the first feed. Daughter wasn't eating much at this age, son ate loads and wasn't very interested in the milk just the cuddles. Unfortunately he still prefers to sleep In 'mummydaddy bed' at 20 months but I think that's probably down to his personality rather than my night time parenting (or that's what I choose to believe!)

At the top of St Francis Rd there's a cut through to Dulwich Hamlet football club. Walk past the stadium AMD up the alley until you get to Greendale . Turn right onto Greendale and almost immediately left into another alley and Bessemer's on your left. I takes about 10 min or less with a scooting 4 year old.

Gone Girl v gripping but I was disappointed at the ending. Another vote for the latest Kate Atkinson. Just read The Small Hand by Susan Hill which is creepy plus very easy to read. Enjoy your holiday!

The Rosendale in West Dulwich has a lovely beer garden with kids play equipment, food's nice too. The Rye Hotel near Peckham Rye also has a great outside space, never eaten there though. Agree with the above The Dish and the Spoon is fab. Ours really like Giraffe and Pizza Express, bit boring but they are very child friendly! Have fun.

Travel bands helped me a bit, also avoiding public transport where possible. I found nibbling on rice cakes as often as I could manage was good too. You have my sympathy preg related sickness is awful and it was so much worse in my 2nd pregnancy with toddler in tow! Hope you feel better soon.

Where possible we always drive at night. Bath at home, into PJs, into car. They always sleep through stops to get petrol etc. Works less well on return journeys as they always seem to wake up as we come off the motorway. Still prefer it to travelling whilst they are awake. Having said that we drove to Wales on Sat morning. IPad games were popular with 4 year old. 18 month old was trickier, he slept for a bit luckily. We cbeebies theme tunes and Charlie and Lola story cd kept him amused plus raisins and dried cereal. We are also driving across France in a few months and planning to get a portable DVD player. Let us know how you get on!

Another one who doesn't iron work shirts (or anything!) he does them himself, on a Sunday evening and I tend to chuck the odd dress of mine at him. Yes housework is endless. I think I make it harder for myself by not being able to walk away from mess. Everything has to be fairly clean and tidy before I sit down in the evening. We don't have a cleaner (sore point between OH and I) and I work 3 days per week too. I find myself cleaning whenever I can really, usually when the oldest is amusing herself and youngest is asleep on my days off (ha). Or in the evenings when they're in bed. I'm a bit lazy about cooking on the days I work though as the kids get all meals at nursery. We often just have hummus and pitta or leftovers, hate the thought of cooking (and messing up the kitchen) after a long day at work. We do 1-2 loads of washing per day, kids clothes get absolutely filthy at nursery (including coats which get washed at least twice a week?!) plus OH cycling stuff. Bed linen definitely not more than every other week, mostly less and it doesn't get ironed. I am in awe or anyone who irons bed linen! It's a big treat to stay somewhere with nice smooth sheets though...