jollybaby

Wow - very helpful. Many congrats on the new arrival!

Now to throw something else into the mix does anyone know how the Beco Gemini compares to the Ergo or Manduca?

I'll check this out next week. As far as I'm aware it is a staff shuttle bus though you do often see members of the public on the bus. I often have to do a mad dash between clinics on different sites. It can be very frustrating when you can't get on and have to wait another 10 mins before the next, or the one after that. As for public transport options - there is the overland between London Bridge and Warerloo East or the jubilee between London Bridge and Westminster.

My daughter had a meltdown as we were leaving a shopping centre a couple of days ago, as I wouldn't go back and get her another balloon. I used the old stay calm and not engage approach. Pulled my buggy over to send a quick text to my partner and was called a 'f**king c**t' by a stranger for ignoring my wailing daughter! This was not in ED I may add

That part of the Algarve is lovely - not too built up and fabulous beaches. A cheaper option than staying at the Martinhal resort might to book a villa through owners direct in one of the nearby golf complexes such as Parque Da Floresta.

Fmm - in a way yes. I had a rather rocky start with breast feeding and so introduced the odd bottle of formula at around 2 weeks. Mr JB used to do the evening shift from 7pm to midnight so I could get some sleep and she'd have a bottle or two during this period. I think he really enjoyed his time alone with our daughter and having some input into her feeding schedule. It gave him the confidence to look after her alone from an early age. At one point though, I did find that he was almost undermining my efforts to reestablish breast feeding. He kept wanting 'to top her up'. No grasp of the supply and demand aspect of breast feeding. I wanted him to say 'keep going you're doing really well' not 'do you think she needs a bottle'. It didn't help that the first time we gave her a bottle she fell asleep and didn't stir for 3 hours (which seemed like eternity at that time).

Guy's Hospital and McDonalds if you get really stuck (for changing rather than feeding!)

Surely you mean older?

Dogs, pigeons - any animal really. Don't think I have a budding vet here!

Pickle - I think the aforementioned waistcoat may have been purchased on a trip to New Zealand. Father in law is a little obsessed with New Zealand natural products, along with Canterbury sportswear!

I don't think it would be unreasonable to say that you exchanged them for more wintry styles. My inlaws are in Australia so I can get away with not dressing our daughter in the monstrosities they send over. Blue leather waistcoat for a newborn girl anyone?! Unfortunately their taste isn't much better when it comes to buying for us. my BIL says that they have the knack of finding the worst item in the best shop! Same BIL on Christmas day had the guts to hand a present straight back to his father, saying that he'd never use it so he may as well give it to someone else. Not necessarily recommending that approach.

Definitely not alone. Miss jb is 2 next week and still has her morning and evening milk in a bottle. I've also decided that it's not worth the battle and that she'll stop when she's ready. The look of disgust on her face if I try to give her milk in a cup is priceless.

Looks like lifebeat is a registered uk charity. Good luck in raising your money Ade - I'm no longer in East Dulwich either - otherwise you'd be very welcome to come and wash my very dirty car!

I'm a male Thai weightlifter! We must have similar builds MsB

I recently took the direct Eurostar to Avignon with my 21 month old daughter I paid extra for a seat for her as didn't think I could cope for 5 1/2 hours with her on my lap. Mr JB wasn't with us and so I was also worried about ending up with a random next to us - not sure they would have enjoyed being in close confinement with a toddler for that long! the journey itself was fine. We walked to the buffet car a few times and she sat quite contentedly in her seat for most of it. I packed a bag full of colouring books, stickers, toys, books and lots of food. The iPad also came in handy towards the end. There were lots of families and so nobody seemed to mind a little noise. You'll probably be fine doing a shorter journey without the extra seat. There were loads of empty seats in our carriage so you may be lucky there too. Happy travels.

Ellie - I agree with Katsu, there is no shame whatsoever in getting in help whether it is from your family, friends or outside. I too had a pretty horrid start it motherhood. I had a hideous 3 day labour ending in EMCS and thenPND. By week 2 I thought I was dying. Baby JB wasn't a particularly tricky baby either (which made me feel worse). As others have said it really helped to have my partner take over between 7pm and midnight. Getting 3-4 hours sleep in a block enabled me to function. Between 4 -8 weeks I also had help from a doula (Nataliedoula on here). She came for 3 hours on Tues and Thurs mornings and it was great being able to go for a bath, have a nap or just have someone to talk to. I'd strongly recommend this option. As/if and when I have another baby I will definitely have more help in place for the postnatal period. No question. I hope last night was a bit better for you. Please make the most of all the offers of help on here. I don't live in East Dulwich anymore but if I did I would have been very happy to come round, make you a cup of tea and push a buggy back and forth!

Just had a peak - looks like they've stopped doing the Malaysia -Uk flights. May be worth using them for the second leg of your journey though.

?1000+ seems to be fairly standard for flying ti Australia these days but it may be worth looking at Air Asia - a low cost airline operating from Malaysia. My father in law flew with them and was quite impressed.

Going on holiday

Very timely thread - am about to do the Eurostar to Avignon solo with our 21 month old. Any suggestions for the younger toddler? T

Hey Snowboarder - I heard on the grapevine that you were moving out this way. We moved to Sevenoaks at the beginning of February. We're slowly settling in but agree it's so much harder to meet others and find out what's on without the help of the EDF. I've been fortunate in that two of my NCT friends have also moved to Kent. Please get in touch if you fancy meeting up - I'm around Tuesday afternoons and Fridays. Your boys would be very welcome to explore/destroy our garden or I can show you the delights of Hollybush park.

I can understand why you're not happy about leaving your baby and to me the most sensible solution would be to bring your nanny with you. However if you do go - I'd be very surprised if your baby went off breast feeding after one night apart. I left miss jb for 4 nights when she was 8/9 months old and when I returned we simply picked up where we had left. As for wedding etiquette we went to a wedding in the Czech republic last year - Miss JB wasn't allowed into the ceremony. I was a little miffed at first but then relieved as the service went on for about 90 mins - for legal reasons the service had to be given in both Czech and English. Mr JB came out looking worse for wear - I had a lovely time drinking coffee in the town square in the sunshine!

Goodness I'd never even heard of a mooncup until reading this thread- sounds like a cocktail!

I do agree that it's a shame that women stop because they don't have the support or feel uncomfortable about feeding in public. I mixed fed Miss JB and I had the opposite problem in the early days - I felt embarrassed about formula feeding in public. I can remember breast feeding her whilst out at lunch and then running home to give her a bottle - oh the joys of maternal guilt. As for what can be done to improve rates - a tough one. As others have said it's hard to strike the balance between promoting breast feeding without making those who can't feel like failures. I'm personally of the opinion that breast is best but formula is fine but I suppose if they put it like that lots of women aren't going to even bother - particularly if none of their friends or relatives breast fed.

Oimissus bit slovenly here too - maybe my post should have read - she won't let me surf or read trashy mags! Bellenden - will book you in for surbuban play date and Suzy just seen a couple of canines poking through so maybe teeth are partially to blame.