Yak

Yes, docs a good idea as they can prescribe stuff if it's fungal. Lots of nappy free time helps, as does making sure the bottom is bone dry before you put on any cream. A hairdryer on the very coolest setting helps. Good luck getting it sorted. It is really miserable for them, poor things, but it can be cleared up quite quickly.

We've used chauffered parking - pull up outside departures, get all baby kit out, car driven away & returned at arrivals when you land. We did the sums and at about ?50 for a week it was certainly comparable with the cost of two adult returns on the stansted express. I was really surprised as I thought it would cost an ARM & a leg, but we found it a nice stress free surprise!

I haven't been, but I hear wonderful things about Coram's fields - not sure if it has a cafe tho.....

Definitely La Palma. There is a great website here

Hmm a bit of a failure to plan on the part of my lovely husband meant that I had to go to church with a very wriggly 10 month old and a massive hangover while he stayed in to oversee arrival of my mothers day surprise (which is yet to turn up.....) That all sounds massively ungrateful so I shall just say the best present is being able to be a mother at all. I know how hard I found this day when we were trying to conceieve & failing. Now I just need coffee & paracetamol....

Mrs cuckoo, I have just splurted coffee all over my phone. Nicky-nacky-noos indeed. Brilliant.

Oh Jenny, you poor thing. Hope you're as ok as possible after this. Thinking of you. X

Bloody hell, now I feel guilty for not feeling guilty enough!

Thanks everyone for the great tips. We'll see how it goes but I suspect picky things which require no or minimal cooking are the way forward. I had totally forgotten about toast pizza so I shall revive that & other lunchtime favourites. Jennyh - you're not a bad mother at all! Just thank your lucky stars that you're not constantly having to think about the next snack / meal every hour....

Saffron, I've a feeling you might like www.papertoys.com....

Wise people, please could I ask you to share your best, quickest and easiest post nursery tea ideas. Yaklet will be starting next week & although they give him a big lunch plus tea (quite substantial) at 4ish, the boy has hollow legs. I am picking up by 5.30 & he'll be in bed at 6.30ish so I need things which will be easy for an overtired baby to eat & easy for an overtired mama to prepare. My mind so far has lit on sandwiches and got no further!

I think "better schools" is quite often code for "not living in an overpriced shoebox of a house and being woken by sirens in the middle of the night". I can quite understand people wanting to move for a whole host of reasons (including shoeboxes and sirens), but the emphasis on it being solely for the children's education seems, well, a little skewed to me.

There was a Radio 4 analysis programme on schools, selection, league tables & lifeoutcomes recently. What I found really interesting was the research on league tables, which showed them to be frankly useless, and that the effect of schooling on life chances amounted to about 10%. The other 90% was other socio-economic factors which were set in stone way before little Timmy set foot in a primary. You can listen or download the transcript here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b9hjs

It was a great night, and brilliant to see everyone in such fine fettle. I hope those who were ill or otherwise couldn't join us can come out next time! I for one am taking this morning at a slow, steady, sedate pace.....ow!

Just a reminder drinks are on tomorrow at the Mag. All very welcome!

If anyone wants a trial run with a slow cooker, feel free to PM me & borrow mine.

I would just say - don't worry about not knowing what to say or what the "right thing" to put in the card. The fact that you're writing will mean a lot to them all. As hard as it is to know how to react in these circumstances, I would say it's better to try & say something, however clumsily, inelegantly and awkwardly, than say nothing at all for fear of getting it wrong. x x

I would contact Witness Support, which is part of the Victims Support charity. They should be able to give you advice on what will happen on the day, having a supporter present, making sure you have somewhere to feed your baby etc. Very best of luck - I imagine it's pretty stressful for all of you. http://www.victimsupport.org/Help-for-witnesses

10 month old is just recovering from 6 days of D&V. Mr Yak is feeling pretty ropey so he might be next to get it. Baby Yak only really turned a corner the last day, so it does seem to drag on for ages. Bah!

Brilliant work, Hesmall1. I've (hopefully) changed the name of the thread so people can see when and where we are meeting without trawling through all the posts. See you all on 8th!

I've been meaning to post about this for ages, but only just got round to it. If you're interested in child development and all things sciency, Goldsmiths University have a child development unit called InfantLab which you can volunteer to take part in various research projects to learn more about brain development in babies and children. The Yaklet did one last week which was basically playing a game with some toys while wearing one of those hair nets to monitor brain activity. He had a great time and just flirted outrageously with the researchers, and was given a bib, thank you card and a small present for taking part. You can register without absolutely any obligation to take part in a research project, and there are FAQs on the website about the Lab and what happens if you participate etc. http://www.gold.ac.uk/infantlab/

Agh I'm due to be away part of that week, but I think I can arrange things so we're back in London by then. Mag will be perfect. Thanks Hesmall1 for getting the ball rolling!

All this recent talk about the need for a glass of wine after bedtime makes me think it is time for another outing to a pub. What say you oh Family Roomers?

Oh no! Sounds like things have changed then. Very happy to help out. It would be worth getting the local councillors involved too, as they were pretty hands on in making sure that the Baths weren't sold off a couple of years ago.

Bee, the last I heard is that it would reopen later in the summer when phase 2 of the refurb is complete. Has that changed?