randomv

Indeed. Can highly recommend the strawberry flavour for toddlers..unfortunately his pallette hasn't quite developped to appreciate the holy grail that is Butterscotch as yet. *hangs head in shame*

...Angel Delight...

sb, he's a journo/writer. Author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate people. Think he writes for the Spectator also..

I've yet to watch the program although I've read plenty of Toby Young's comments on this. The thing that struck me was that he explains his drive to open a school being that to live in London and pay for one child to be privately educated is do-able, but since be has 4 children it's not possible. Well, do you know what mate, just don't have so many children!! I'd love to have a huge brood but I can't afford it! I'm with Fuschia re objecting to schools being opened (at cost to us) whilst there are spaces available in existing schools and fear it is consigning the kids in non achieving schools to the scrap heap for good. I don't know what the solution is (other than to ban private schools lol) but I'm not sure this is it..

My friend's daughter went there for 8 months or so, until they left London a few months back. She was very happy with it and her daughter, who had been at home with her for the first 2.5 years of her life, settled in very quickly and loved going there. Hope that helps.

Hi there I washed ALL newborn stuff before putting it on my LO..definitely less slack nowadays, BUT he got a sore chin over the weekend and I traced it back to the Vanish I'd put in the wash (with non-bio detergent). Once I stripped his sheets and duvet and changed to the stuff that hadn't beeen washed with Vanish, the soreness cleared up, literally overnight..so even at 2 years they can still be sensitive to bio detergents in my experience.

Formula manufacturers are not allowed to advertise formula for babies, hence all the ads are for the follow on variety. If a LO has a good and balanced diet, there should be no problem with full fat cows milk. I also did a very gradual transition, 1oz more milk to formula ratio, upping another Oz every 3 days until he was having 100% cows milk.

Are you sure it has nothing to do with naps? My LO will wake early if he's had too much sleep but equally will wake at 5.30 (like today) if he goes to bed overtired - yesterday he had no nap and a slightly earlier bedtime. Its so easy to swing from over to under tired as one is tempted to give more sleep to compensate. Only other suggestion is a bunny clock. At 2 years my LO still hasn't quite grasped the concept but I'm using it and referring to it every time just to get him used to the idea.

Hmmm...my LO is just 2 and is BIG (91st centile) and is still fine in his cot! I'm thinking of moving to a bed before he climbs out and hurts himself though (he can do it, just hasn't wanted to do it enough!!) But accidents aside, I think he'll stay in the cot for a good 3-4 months longer. Travel cot on the other hand...

A friend of mine in another area of London was shocked to learn that 26 out of the 28 children in her 6 year olds class have private tuition. It's already an independent school! I think some parents go down the tutoring route to try and get their children into grammar schools and avoid paying for private secondary. The 'problem' being that state primary school children are not taught to pass the 11 plus whereas they often are at independents (although shockingly not the one I mentioned above it would appear!)

Is he still hungry first thing? If he's still downing milk and breakfast in the morning, after having had a night feed, then he probably is hungry, If not it's something else.. Silly question but is there any chance that a neighbour is regularly coming/going at the same time each night? Maybe a car engine running would wake him? My LO is a ridiculously light sleeper and that sort of think woudl wake him. Failing that, maybe just trying to reassure him with a hand on the chest, soothing sounds etc and not picking him up and feeding him might help? We had a big imnprovement with the pick up put down method at a similar age.

Oh ok...but unlike a grammar they don't simply cream off the top 2% of test applicants - they take applicants from across the test results and they apply very rigorous streaming once in the school. As for the area...point taken, although there are large Areas of Crystal Palace (esp near the school), upper Norwood and Sydenham which are all within the catchment area and which ARE very White and middle class!

How is it basically a grammar school? My understanding was thAt the vast majority of pupils come from the catchment area and only 10 or 20% are children with a particular gift?

How about you don't put him in the cot for that morning nap? Much easier for him to grab 10 mins in the buggy en route to an activity? My LO hated (still hates) being woken in his cot but he's fine if he just has a catnap in the buggy or car. I'm sure that reducing that early nap and working towards 1 nap per day will help with the 5am starts long term. Glad you had a better night though - you must be feeling a bit better?

I'd second the handysitt. I'm a recent convert to them and can't praise them highly enough. We've also used the cloth wraparound ones which were fine when he was much younger, but no good for a strong toddler, and I've always been afraid to leave him unattended in it. (probably due to the fact that the one time I did he fell out!) They aren't the cheapest, but my niece is now 4.5 and has only just stopped using hers so I don't think it's bad value for money.

How was last night? There's definitely a tricky phase when they no longer need both naps (or one in the case of my LO) but are not quite ready to last without it. In my experience it's just been a case of bearing with it while they get used to it, keeping things as low key as possible and keeping a sharp eye out for signs of overtiredness. I always think it's better to have an early bedtime (even if it means a slightly earlier start)as that can always be pushed back again once they have adjusted, as LOs sleep so much better when not OT, which obvioously has a knock on effect the next day. My son wakes early if I put him to bed at say, 6.30pm due to no nap, but he'll wake at 5.45 if I keep his bedtime at 7 or 7.30 on those days - they're crazy I tell ya!

sophiechristophy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have no issue with feeding before bed. As far as > I have found it really relaxes my baby, and isn't > a problem at all. In fact, I think it is a really > nice thing. And she has slept through on and off > since she was 8 weeks old, so I definitely don't > think it does any harm at all. > I think the point i intended to make about feeding to sleep is that there comes a point where it no longer works consistently, in the case of my LO at around 8 months, and he became a very upset and over tired little boy who could not get to sleep at all which isn't very useful for anyone concerned! I'd have found it pretty impossible not to feed to sleep very early on, but I think after baby no. 1 I can be far more attuned to what the tiredness signs are (rather than clutching the Baby Whisperer book and desperately trying to decipher what each movement or cry meant, as I was in the early days!)

I think the key is to learn the different cries that your baby makes. For months I thought my LO was waking every hour crying because he was hungry so I fed him back to sleep. It was only at 8 or 9 months when he was fully weaned onto meat and I knew he wasn't hungry or had anything else to make him cry that I was brave enough to do any sort of sleep training. What I quickly learned was that the cry he had been making was because he was overtired. He didn't want to be fed, or cuddled or rocked..he wanted to go back to sleep but had forgotten how to do it. HAving gone through that process, it was then immediately apparent what he needed so on those rare occasions he did wake I could tell straight away if I needed to rush in and comfort him, or leave him to grumble for a few mins. Also I think that routine is key - that's coming from the first 8 months of going with the flow I might add - and for us at least things really started to fall into place once I followed a routine. HTH and good luck!

I'v found that sudden night waking or refusal to settle is usually linked to too much sleep during the day, but since this doesn't fit with your pattern...Do you think it's maybe an attention thing, especially if it happens less on the days you are together? I've had lots of friends who's 2 year olds have started asking for water or a toy or something during the night and it's quickly become a habit - it's rarely about the object they are asking for and in the case of a drink I think toddlers learn very quickly how quickly we respond to these things! 2 years is also one of the peaks for separation anxiety, which would also fit with the attention thing. Just my thoughts..

LOVE my Bugaboo which we've had since birth. yes, I did get a Maclaren when he was 10 months old as it's easier for going on the tube, getting in and out of car etc etc but we still use the Bugaboo whenever we can and at 2 years, my LO will still take a really good nap of 1.5 hours or more in the Bugaboo because it is so comfy - we never get more than 45 mins in the Maclaren! People do tend to look after their Bugs so maybe you can get a decent one second hand?

Hi Ruth Like sb I got a sleep consultant a few months back when w 2 year old mini Random - previously a champion sleeper - developed some major separation anxiety issues and would not sleep without me in the room (I've done Gina with him since he was 5 months so you can imagine that lying on the floor with him holding his hand is NOT something he's been used to, but needs must when he was obviously very afraid) Anyway, I could not recommend this lady highly enough - she was fantastic and it 'only' cost around ?250. For me it was worth every penny to have a clear and consistent strategy to follow. It removed all the tension between hubby and I on how to deal with the issue and crucially, he was feeling secure enough to sleep soundly on his own within a few days. We used a well known sleep expert who uses gentle methods - happy to pm you the details if you like?

Hi there Not sure how old Master T is, but mini Random has never really managed to unlock this bowl: http://www.vitalbaby.co.uk/types/bowls/un-believ-a-bowl-set.html It doesn't work on a wooden table though.

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but maybe try putting him down 15-30 mins earlier than usual? My LO wakes early (6am) if he's had too much sleep during the day but even earlier (4.45-5.15) if he's not had enough and goes to bed over tired.

Hi Sounds to me like it may be the reflux that is causing the problem - if she's in pain she's not going to want to feed. do you have medication to control the reflux? If so, maybe you need to look at increasing the amount? I'm another believer in early weaning for bigger babies (my HV was actually supportive!) and solids can help reflux but it doesn't make sense to introduce them if she's not ready so IMHO it's worth ruling out the reflux first and foremost.

snowboarder Wrote: > To those on one nap a day - seriously - how do you > manage on days out? Do they just have a shorter > sleep and make do? > Pretty much, yes! Occasionally he'll sleep for 1.5 hours in the buggy or car but more often than not it's 45 mins. I just put him to bed at 6.30pm so he doesn't get too overtired and I try my best not to have two consecutive days like this as I find the overtiredness is cumulative (and in the case of my LO leads to screaming at bedtime and a very early start the next day :-S) I'd definitely go with the flow over your holiday though and just decide how you want to go about things when you get back. Have fun (jealous!!)