Yak

Use it to put the telly in. Our cats took up residence in ours too

Well that's at least 4 scooters that had been reserved (I had "reserved" the pink one) whereas only 3 scooters advertised in the original post. Hmm.

I would have thought you could use a solicitor pretty much anywhere, these days. From the perspective of having to deal with an intestate estate, you will make things so much easier for your loved ones if you leave a will. It just adds a layer of stress on top of grief. Don't just put it off like I have!

We have this with our LO who has always been ridiculously happy and settled. Things that have helped us is talking to the staff to see just how much is "show" at drop off time (answer - a lot), making clear on waking up if it's a nursery day or not, allegorical stories about a baby bear who didn't want to go to nursery and wanted to stay at home eith mummy bear but actually had LOTS of fun at nursery with [insert name of best friend] bear doing drawing /climbing / car playing etc etc. I think it's just an inevitable phase and shows their increasing awareness of you doing your own thing during the day.

The River Cottage baby and toddler cookbook is great too. Not too patronising and has really good tips on how to adapt recipes as kids grow up.

We put the clock the other side of his room to his bed, and although he is an inveterate fiddler with buttons and the like, he's never (to my knowledge) experimented with the cable.

He's 2.5 ish. I would say I could have used it for a few months now, but not before 2. But will depend on the child I expect. Pickle - I had you down as a possible fellow fan!

I know this has probably been done to death but I just wanted to share our sucess with using a gro-clock to stop the hideous early morning wakings that have been plauging us for months. I don't think the light mornings helped but I can say within a week of using a gro-clock, with very clear explanations, our mornings have been transformed. No more wailing toddler desperate to come into our bed, grumpy husband or cats being fed at 5.30. Hurray! The reason I'm mentioning it is because my little one has always loved routines, and it's only now when I see him so happy knowing when it's time to stay asleep/ in his bed and time to get up that I realise the lack of any clear way he had of telling when it was morning was stressing him out. I am also a bit anally retentive and it clicked with me that it must be really difficult not knowing whether it was morning or not if you can't read a clock and the room is dark with blackout curtains. Sorry if this comes across as being a bit boastful - it's really not intended that way, but I just wanted to drop a line in case it helps others. Clearly it is very specific to the child and their age but worked really well for us. And of course the gro-clock was an EDF purchase. Best tenner spent in a long time.

I would love to hear tips from others who have high energy children. My basic approach is to treat my boy a bit like a puppy - regular sleep, food and vast amounts of exercise - but that doesn't always work!

We went straight from cot to a queen sized bed (which had always been in his room) just after he turned 2. He still naps in there, and the joy of having a proper grown up bed is that it's great to cuddle down for stories and also makes the inevtiable all nighters when he's ill much more bearable. Like so much, it really depends on your child and their attitude to sleep and staying in one place, and how much that matters to you!

Myatt's fields wasn't on this morning (Sunday)

Also the Crypt in St Giles Church Camberwell is a great underground funcky reception. It's the same place that has the jazz sessions on a Friday night but you can hire it for a v reasonable sum on Saturday nights http://www.stgilescamberwell.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:booking-the-crypt&catid=63:hiring-premises&Itemid=89 http://www.jazzlive.co.uk/Jazzlive/Home.html

I have two - for left and right arms and you are very welcome to both of them. Can you PM me your number again? xx

We went to Sardinia in April this year and was just perfect. I imagine it would be roasting in Aug but probably still mid 20s in Sept. We stayed here - http://www.justsardinia.co.uk/accommodation/37/Residence-Lantana/. Couldn't recommend it highly enough. Pool, play park, free ride to the beach (1km away) whenever we wanted, ability to order take out meals from the restuarant AND amazingly helpful and friendly staff who didn't mind a small toddler loon running amok. If you want to go more off the beaten track then Minitoots's thread is your guide. We went to Montenegro in Sept a while ago and would fit all of your criteria but the beaches are rocky rather than sandy.

I hear you all loud and clear. I was told off for looking at my toddler the other day. Just looking. But given that he had crept into our bed in the wee small hours of the morning I suspect this diktat was to prevent me from "noticing" a wriggly addition to the bed.

That sounds super traditional to me. I thought 6 months plus was more common these days? We got yaklet dunked at about 6 / 7 months, and that was quite young in our catholic church. Enough with the guilt!

Sounds like you are doing all the right things, hs. I imagine it's not been easy to face up to the anxities this creates so good on you for tackling it. I had an older sister who I got on with but I was absolutely overjoyed when my little brother came along. Even though I'm nowvery close to my sister (physically and emotionally) I'm even closer to my brother even though he now lives in the US. I probably fought more with my sister than brother but maybe that's because we were so similar! Certainly tbe sister/sister fighting was a lot nastier and cattier. You're a brilliant parent and I have absolutely no doubt you will bring up the mini sailors in a warm and nuturing environment, a million miles away from your experience of childhood. They are lucky to have you!

I think it costs ?40 or so - an hour soft play then an hour's hire for a party room. Friends hired it for a joint 2nd birthday party so cost is second hand knowledge!

Thanks everyone. We have used Piriton overnight the last couple of nights but not sure it's made that much of a difference. The non-drowsy stuff sounds good so will discuss with the docs. Hope all little and big sufferers get through this soon.

For those parents whose kids have hayfever Is it bad at the moment? What age were they when symptoms started? I have a docs appt tomorrow for my toddler who has been choc full of snot the last few days. I'm hoping it's just a summer cold but genetically he's at high risk (I have asthma and ezcema, husband has hayfever). Thanks!

try something like runjogwalk.net

One of my friends just had her baby in Tommy's SCBU and has nothing but praise for them - if you PM an email address I'm sure she'd be happy to chat. X x

Could we make this thread a FAQ and make it a sticky?

Hmm I went to the same private school at which my mother taught (I wasn't given a free place, but it was subsidised to a certain extent ). I didn't have a great experience - in part being due to being singled out as a teacher's daughter -BUT: (i) that was secondary school (ii) it was girls only (iii) it was (mostly) run by nuns Take away any one of those three things and I think it'd be fine.

I didn't have PND but "straightforward" depression which kicked in around around the 1 year mark. Good luck getting it sorted - a sympathetic GP is a good first port of call. Let us know how you get on if you feel able to. x