alieh

Hi everyone! I think I will have to miss the drinks this time. I had committed to also meeting for a friend's birthday drinks and was planning to do both, but I am all of a sudden feeling very pregnant and uncomfortable and not sure I can rush my bump around in order to hit two events in one evening! I hope there will be another one before our babies arrive?? Alie

Hi Maki! So sorry you're having such a bad time but glad last night was even a tiny bit better. I always find the Baby Whisperer Forums so helpful - like a sleep consultant but free! Here is a link to more information about gradual withdrawal and "walk in walk out" and how to choose: http://www.babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=80750.0 And here are some links to success stories about sleep training for toddlers using both gradual withdrawal and walk in walk out strategies: http://www.babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=113089.0 Or you could post your own thread and I'm sure someone will hold your hand through it! It seems it is a bad age for sleep generally (has been for us) but your situation does sound very extreme. I hope things keep getting better.

My friend is due twins in March and has hired a maternity nurse to help out at night for the same reasons you describe. She's in north London but I can ask her how she found the person she hired if you don't have any luck with recommendations on here?

Hopefully others who actually have nanny share arrangements will chime in, but that does seem a bit low based on the research I did on nanny shares a couple of years ago. From my understanding at the time, a sole charge nanny would be expecting ?8-10 net and a nanny share would be up to 50% more. Things may have changed now, though, as the economic situation wasn't quite as bad when I was looking into it! Although it seems odd to accept a post and then expect a big increase. I would think it would be reasonable to build in a small annual increase, but if you negotiated a contract based on ?10.50/hour net and nothing has changed in terms of responsibilities then I can see why you wouldn't want to pay much more.

Re: the pumping amounts, it may not change with a different pump. If I remember correctly, it would take me about that much time and I might get a bit more, like maybe 70 mls? I found I had to pump at the same time every day in order to easily get a decent amount. At other times of day I could put the pump on and not get a drop. I always found Kelly Mom really helpful for pumping information: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/ The Kelly Mom site says, for e.g., that a single pumping sessions usually yields 0.5-2 oz, so 50 mL would be on the high end of that range.

We had a small lunch/party upstairs at the Prince Regent (near Herne Hill station) in the afternoon (1-5 pm I think) in December and it was only ?50 for two huge rooms. The rooms are lovely with high ceilings and big fireplaces, lots of sofas, and space for a big long table. There is a bar up there too and they had a bartender serving us exclusively pretty much the whole time. In the evening the rooms cost more to hire. I think it was ?150 for the front room with the sofas and bar, and ?100 for the back room.

Thanks, I will look into the 15 hours entitlement.

Got it! Thanks. I misunderstood. I think it was the January intake thing that messed me up. So nursery in Sept 2012 (two months before he turns 4), reception in Sept 2013 (two months before he turns 5). All contingent on getting a space of course! Best start setting aside money for an extra year of childcare then....oops.

My son was 2 in December (born Dec '08). I just went in to Goodrich to collect a form to apply for a nursery place for him and they mentioned that they are dropping their January intake, and just having the September intake. They said that because of the change in intake he wouldn't be eligible for a nursery place until Sep 2012 and then would start reception in Sept 2013. I must have had it wrong, because I thought he would start reception in Sept 2012 (i.e. 2 months before his 4th birthday). Am I missing something or did I have it wrong all along that he would start reception just before he was 4? It only matters because I was counting on having less childcare costs as of Sept 2012 but it sounds like this won't happen until Sept 2013 (eek!).

As a follow up to this previous thread: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,579271,580102#msg-580102 The Peckham Plex are starting a parent/baby movie screening and have just announced the first date: WATCH WITH BABY at PECKHAMPLEX Thursday 13th January 11.30am (Doors open at 11am) LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS (15) LITTLE FOCKERS (12A) Tickets ?5.99 Inc Coffee & Cake Adults must be accompanied by a baby under 1 year old. Multi-story car park, ?0.80/hour, access via Cerise Road Across the road from Peckham Rye station Lots of buses from E Dulwich stop right out front (12, 37, 197, P13, 63, 363, etc.) If you're interested in this on an ongoing basis, you can email the Peckham Plex to be added to their mailing list here: [email protected]

Sounds good!

Going to try to get one on eBay, but if not then will import it yes. Might get my parents-in-law to bring it over at the beginning of April, which would mean getting by with sling and single buggy for a month or so. Hope we like it! The Phil and Teds is too long to store in our shed, and none of the side by sides fit through our front door.

I'm going with this one: http://adventurebuggycompany.com/twinbuggy.htm The second one down, with the reclining toddler seat.

I might try that because I've been waking him at 2:30 and he is now mostly shouting at bedtime until around 8:00. Maybe if I wake him at 2:00 he'll be ready to go down closer to 7:30 again.

We having been having lots of renewed sleep horrors with our just-turned 2 year old, including these types of bedtime antics. Could he be due his big 2-year molar teeth? I think these have been the cause of our woes as our little guy goes down much better on the days we give him some pain relief. The only other thing I'm wondering is if I need to start shortening his nap? He still sleeps 2 hours after lunch and would sleep longer if I let him, but maybe this is now too long for a 2 year old and causing him to fight bedtime? I'm scared to lose that time in the day though, so haven't started messing with it yet! We've been doing basically gradual withdrawal type strategies as described above, and also starting bedtime a bit earlier to make sure he has lots of time to wind down, read a number of stories, talk about his day, etc.

This was the bane of my life back in November. My son would drink a bit of honey and lemon mixture before bed, which seemed to calm it enough to help him get to sleep. But I think the two things that made the biggest difference were a hot mist humidifier and propping up his cot legs at the head end, as I think it was a sort of post-nasal drip irritating his throat that was making him cough. Harder to prop the bed with a 4.5 year old I guess, but maybe she would be okay sleeping propped up on a bunch of pillows?

I was wondering the same, and have decided to get it after seeing how many people in my office are ill. I also had a terrible flu back in October and am not keen to repeat the experience. I read this thread on Mumsnet this morning, which may be helpful: http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/1108020-IM-SORRY

Snowboarder, sorry to hear this. I had something similar sounding back in October and it was absolutely brutal. I tried to suffer through but eventually did get an appointment and needed a heavy course of antibiotics to clear up a chest infection. It is worth getting this checked out before it develops into anything like pneumonia. When you tried for an appointment at DMC did you mention that you are pregnant, feverish and having trouble breathing?? That seemed to do the trick for me. I haven't used the walk in clinic near Peckham Rye station but my Mum has and she said it was fine.

I agree that he probably needs to understand the triggers better, rather than just treating the flare ups (though lots of good tips for doing that too). I would be wanting a referral to a very good allergist. In my experience, food sensitivity testing can miss a lot and you really need to do your own investigations to try to understand what is going on. Has he ever tried a strict elimination diet for a few weeks to see if things improve (lots of info online about elimination diets)? Through a combination of my own food diaries and seeing an amazing allergist (in Canada, or I would recommend him) I have identified that my sensitivities are to some obscure food additives and colourants - this wouldn't have shown up in any normal food testing. For example, you mention booze being a contributory factor...could he be reacting to sulphites? High in booze (esp wine), but also used as an additive in loads of foods and a common trigger for excema. By doing an elimination diet and then slowly reintroducing things, he might be able to figure out what is causing the flare ups in the first place. Maybe wait until Jan though, as the elimation diet would exclude most yummy Xmas treats!

The first thing is for your husband to check whether his employer is already signed up to the scheme. If they aren't, it should be fairly easy to convince them to do so and the sites listed above will have good rationale for them. My husband works for a very small company and they were happy to sign up to the scheme once he told them about it.

I might need to get a second TV between now and then!

On the garland point specifically, I got a cheap one at Argos on Rye Lane. It looks fairly real, but I wired in some real pine/other bits to make it look even better.

I have one that my son cannot be bothered with and wouldn't miss, but I'm not home until this evening. I'm just off Underhill Road if that helps!

Thanks!

Does anyone know if swimming lessons have been running this week in Peckham? We are scheduled to go tomorrow morning and I can never get through to the pool on the phone to check.