alieh

I can't help you with Goodrich question but would you mind saying how close you think you need to be for Fairlawn or Horniman? Hopefully someone can help with your query soon!

I have an Amby hammock I'd be happy to lend. Amby + dummy + hairdryer white noise made a huge difference for my two at that age.

I wouldn't say MUCH bigger, but yes probably a bit and gardens definitely a bit bigger. But maybe floorspace is bigger by 10 or 15%? And gardens by 20 or 30%? I was really surprised! I got the sense from some of these threads that there was more value to be had moving that direction from SE22. There are definite downsides in terms of access to high street (we have the Co-op, etc. on Forest Hill Road very near and Lordship Lane very accessible too). Sorry to divert the thread - I can start a new one on house prices in SE23 I suppose!

For those talking about Honor Oak and Forest Hill....am I missing something? We've looked casually at a few places in the streets behind the Horniman and they seem to be the same or more than houses in ED? Is this pocket different re: prices? I just can't reconcile the prices in the sold register (sold prices in the ?400s over the last few years) with what people are actually listing for in this area (and expecting to get, according to agents). All of the places we've looked at need a huge amount of work/maintenance. At ?500K for a 3 bed terrace with no loft conversion and tiny kitchen and decor needing updating (and who knows what else lurking below the surface) this seems the same or more expensive than a similar terraced-house in SE22?

Also just a suggestion to keep an eye on other symptoms of reflux and/or food intolerance as extreme fussiness and lack of sleep could be linked to discomfort/pain. And an emphatic THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT A REFLECTION OF YOUR SON'S PERSONALITY! I was always worried about this too. Son #2 was a bad sleeper for most of the first year (dairy intolerance) and then a switch flicked and he is now beyond amazing. And when I say he was a bad sleeper for most of the first year, I mean he was waking a few times a night every night. There were a few months of extreme night wakings (months 4-7 were really bad) but even during those I was managing ~4-5 hours sleep. So the utter extremes of sleep deprivation you're facing now are very temporary and will get at least a bit better within a matter of weeks probably (especially if there's an underlying issue you can resolve re: pain or discomfort).

Not that helpful in terms of detail, but my friend lives just over the border from Belgium and seems to always be going to these amazing sounding indoor pool-waterpark complexes in both Belgium and the Netherlands. This is a bit out of date but has a list of these pool/waterpark type places (though there are probably loads more...she seems to visit a different one every week!) and also lots of other stuff for children in Belgium generally. http://www.isb.be/uploaded/ISB_News/FA_Things_to_do_with_Children_in_Belgium_2009.pdf

Thanks Fuschia! Is this the Peckham Rye one?

Not sure, but if you're looking for a recommendation for a Montessori nursery I can highly recommend Blossoms on Dunstans Grove. They seem very relaxed on the potty training front (and very child-led generally), have a wonderful array of mostly brand-new Montessori learning aids/toys (don't know the lingo but you know what I mean), and strike a great balance between encouraging children's independence and helping out where needed.

I am only just now realising that this is the last week for my son's nursery for the summer and now we'll need to fill 5 days/week with a bored 3.5 year old. Help! Is the Chaos Art Club summer camp on in East Dulwich do you know or just the Beckenham location? Any other tips? Can we get a little 3-5 year old playgroup going somehow? We can now do any day of the week though mornings are better as toddler younger brother naps 12:30-3:00.

I broke down and got a tumble dryer when #2 arrived. We got a normal one and put it in a shed just outside the back door. There was no plumbing required, but we did have to get an external plug put in. Maybe cost ?70 for the electrician to come and do this? I can't quite remember. Then you just need to cut a vent hole in the shed. Changed my life!

Hi! Wed doesn't work this week for us (but usually does). How about Friday per Urchin's post above?

I love the idea of the outdoor playgroups (i.e. the forest one in Cox's walk and the wooden circle one) but they're all a bit far afield for our nanny to try to get there with two kids (I also have a 16 m.o.). My son loves looking for sticks and treasures in the woods in Peckham park, for example. I'm limited in how much I can contribute as I'm at work but happy to encourage my boys and our nanny to participate! They are free Wed-Fri as he is at pre-school Mon-Tue. The other thing is whether Stephanie from Chaos Art Club would put on an extra class for 3-4 year olds if enough of us could commit to a term. I can't say enough about her classes - really far and above any of the other group activities we have joined in terms of the prep time she put into the classes, quality of materials, etc. My son loved it. Are any of the other "at odds" 3-4 year olds likely/hopefully going to be starting reception at Goodrich in Sept 2013? I'd love to get my son to know a few people in advance as hopefully he will get in there.

Hi! I've noticed the same. I have a son 3.5 too. I wonder if it is because many 3 year olds do the 1/2 day at nursery and then don't do activities in the other half of the day? My son does two days at pre-school so has 3 full days looking for things to do. I'm at work now, so it is our nanny that takes them to activities. I think she has found the soft play at the Herne has a mix of ages? On a Wed, think there is an AM and PM session (though they're on a break for a few weeks now). We did the Chaos art club which was fab and he was the youngest at around age 3. But I'm not sure what times they're running this now. You could call Stephanie to ask: http://www.chaosartclub.co.uk/index2.htm The Peckham one o'clock club also usually has a wide range of age groups.

Wendy suggested the Little Lamb viscose liners, so I'll try those and we can compare notes! Thanks for recommendation re: polyester liners - they don't really work for me in that the poop doesn't come off without dipping and sluicing the liner deep into the 200 ml of water at the bottom of the toilet and then trying to transfer it dripping wet into the nappy bin without getting dirty puddles all over the floor (ick!), which is what I want to avoid if possible. There were periods in my son's life where his bowel movements were more solid and rolled off the liners, and the fleece ones worked great then. But now we're in a "soft" phase which is more messy! I've been amazed at the success friends have had with elimination communication but I work full time and think that might be one step too far to ask our nanny to deal with that one!

Let me know if you find one that works better for you and I'll buy it too and I'll do the same!

Ultra liners are the ones I'm using too. I wouldn't say they scrunch up, just aren't quite wide enough. Even if they extended past the nappy legs (we mostly use all-in-one/pocket nappies, at least our nanny does) that would be better as you can easily clean any "spillage" (sorry) from his legs but not from the nappy elastic! BTW, my experience with nappy rash is that disposables almost make it worse. I have some silk liners (fabric) that use when he has nappy rash which seem to help (these you do have to sluice in the toilet, which is a bit grim but only use them in nappy rash situations...and actually much easier than sluicing nappies as there's no elastic), plus oats in the tub (tied in a muslin), plus metanium cream do much better to fix nappy rash than disposables in my experience. Just in case it helps!

I am having this exact problem and the scraping of the elasticated leg area of the nappy is making me lose the will to live. Did you have any luck finding a wide disposable liner? We have major soft poo situations so there is no rolling into the loo happening at all. I can't remember the brand I am currently using but it was from Wendy at the Nappy Lady. I'll get in touch with her to see what wide options she has if you haven't already.

I am hoping to come but have a job interview the next day so need to avoid getting too stuck in!

6 months was AWFUL! We finally successfully ditched the dummy around 7.5 months which helped a bit. He settled into a regular 2-3 feeds/night from then to about 12.5 months when he dropped feeds most nights and mostly slept through. And has been pretty good since then (except this week at 15 mos he's started waking up again howling for ages at night...why????). I think some children are more amenable to sleep "organisation" or training than others. And some children just need less sleep than others. Son #1 needs less sleep than average (grrr) and Son #2 more than average. Beyond luck, I think people who very systematically leave babies (like waiting 10 minutes or something before going to them when they wake if they're not due a feed, even when very tiny) before rushing to them from a very early age probably learn to self settle and connect sleep cycles faster than others. I could never get the hang of this because I always feared that if I didn't rush to settle them they might be awake for hours. I just suffered and gradually tried to increase opportunities to self settle (i.e. making sure they went down awake at bedtime, leaving for 5-10 minutes sometimes during naptime if they woke up after one sleep cycle, etc.). The Weissbluth book called Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child is good on understanding "post-colic" (same applies to reflux I think) babies and bad sleep after the age of 4 months (before this he recommends just doing whatever it takes to get baby to sleep) but his prescription - leave them alone to cry if they wake anytime other than 3-hourly feeds overnight - is quite brutal and I couldn't do it personally!

I don't have a good reason so only would consider if it was a very common set up. Shame that we can't share the days as I would love 2 or 3 1/2 days as, it sounds like, would many others. My son is very settled in an independent pre-school for 2 full-ish days, so I think we'll stick with this for now. I am tempted by the Goodrich nursery as it might be nice for him to get used to it before HOPEFULLY starting reception there in Sept 2013 but sounds like this isn't a good plan. Thanks for all the replies!

Thanks! I started a separate thread on this for anyone else looking.

I asked this question at the bottom of another thread but realised it makes more sense to post it with a separate title. Does anyone know if you're allowed to take a school nursery place for just 3 of 5 days? Is this frowned upon?

Can I just revive this thread to ask a question/gather opinions? Is it possible to take up a school nursery spot but only use 3/5 days of the week?

Blossoms Montessori nursery (on Dunstans Grove) takes children throughout the year I believe. Their day runs 9-3:30, so not sure if you were looking for full day hours. If the hours work for you, I can't recommend it enough!

Hate to say it, but similar to Susy it was months before the poos caught up with the wees. Sadly he wasn't even open to the concept of pooing in a nappy - it was full on poo accidents in the pants for quite a while. Sometimes it worked if I left his night nappy on a big longer in the morning that we could "catch" the poo in there before getting him dressed. I just bought loads of really cheap pants and binned them where necessary! But we didn't really have the witholding problem, just the accident problem. I'm sure you've tried it, but regular post meal sitting on the potty maybe with TV on as incentive to get him to sit there for a bit? Ugh - not sure there is any solution other than time. But I think it is important for them to stay regular however you can, so nappy on at strategic points in the day, lots of orange juice or whatever works!