jollybaby

I can't believe I haven't tried the bread of life cafe yet and it's just round the corner. Is it open every day? What is the coffee like?

Snowboarder try not to fret too much. He may not need too many lotions and potions. Miss JB has just been through chicken pox at 15 months and wasn't bothered by her spots at all. We only caught her scratching once and that was after a hot bath.. We put calamine in aqueous on her biggest spots but we probably didn't really need to. Good luck!

Anita underwired for day and special occasions - bravado seamless for lounging and night. Both really comfortable - it took me a while to pack them away after I had stopped feeding.

Hi Mibbious - what sort of group are you looking for? An activity or mainly to meet other mums/dads? Your baby is probably a bit young for some of the structured music classes etc but I started taking Miss JB to a class called baby sensory around that age and she seemed to enjoy it. If you google dulwich baby sensory it should come up. If you get SE22 magazine delivered they have a section in there which lists lots of the local groups. Someone on here did create a huge timetable of all the local classes/ groups - I can't remember who it was and whether it's up to date but basically there's loads going on every day and I'm sure you'll get lots more suggestions!

We bought the micro scooter with seat and to be honest am not that impressed. It's quite flimsy and not very stable. Miss JB seems to prefer using it like a proper scooter. She's quite short so maybe the obar attachment may come in useful for a while but i think the t bar is probably easier for little hands to hold. Having seen a friend's 18 month old whizz around on the standard version I think this was a bit of an unnecessary buy. Ladywotlunches - you're very welcome to come and have a look.

I had Natalie as a post natal doula and she was lovely. It was great having the additional support in the early weeks. I thoroughly recommend her. http://www.birthbabybliss.com/

Re sleeping gear we've got a lightweight travel cot by phil and teds that we pack inside one of our bags. http://www.mothercare.com/Phil-Teds-Traveller-Travel-Cot/dp/B003VKT6RE. It's not the cheapest but has been great for travelling. I think little life do a similar tent like one. Would have happily lent it to you but will have left East Dulwich by the time you do your trip. :(

Easy jet are fine with baby equipment. You don't have to pay extra for the buggy and can take it to the gate. You can also take another piece without charge ie a car seat or travel cot. http://easyjet.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4033/~/equipment-for-infants-and-children

My dad swears by the nicotine gum - he still chomps on it 14 years on!

Let us know how you get on with the promenade - just had a peak and looks quite tempting!

Anna_r we had the exact same food hygiene issue at my mum's. Turkey cooked on Christmas eve then left in the oven until Boxing day. Mr JB coming from tropical Queensland was particularly shocked by this. Fortunately mum had had so much red wine by dinner that I don't think she noticed that he had a veggie dinner! I braved the meat and have lived to tell the tale. To be truthful after this christmas I've decided that my mother is bonkers. We're not particularly rigid with miss JB's routine but I asked my mum if she could avoid serving Xmas dinner at bath/bedtime. Guess what time dinner arrived 6.30!! We had to nip out between courses. Christmas eve meal was served at 10pm! I think the time has come for us to start hosting Christmas.

Louloub27 I was about to write a very similar post. Miss Jb is 15 months and over the past three weeks has been doing this 3 nights out of 4. It's usually a bit later ie 1-3 in the morning but it can take well over an hour to settle her. If you pick her up she arches her back and kicks to get away so we end up sitting by the cot and rubbing her back until she's in a really deep sleep and then try to tip toe away. A few times we' e had to resort tongiving her milk which is a habit I don't want to get into but it's hard when you've got a full day at work looming and you 've been up for an hour and a half. My brief google has brought up over tiredness and night terrors as a cause (not sure about the latter) but whatever the cause I'm praying it 's a phase as it's getting quite wearing. Hoping for lots of reassuring and helpful posts!!

Yes merry Christmas everyone from sunny Sussex. Hope you all have a fantastic day. A bit of an early start here and now miss JB is terrorising Grandma's cat but nearly time to open the fizz!!

I can't remember on which thread people were talking about numbers of presents but I was at work yesterday and I overheard a conversation between two of my colleagues - one was saying that she had bought her teenage daughter 68 stocking presents!!! That was in addition to her main under the tree presents. She was contemplating getting her another few too - including a pair of hunter wellies. I think it was easier when we were young as we used to have those huge White plastic sacks with father Christmas - everything got thrown in there.

How old is your son jasmina?

Shepherds' pie on Christmas eve. Breakfast on Christmas day tends to be ferrero rocher!

I can't believe that my daughter's nursery is encouraging the children to send cards to each other. She's only 14 months! there's a list on the door of about 15 names of her supposed friends.

I think I may try some of those techniques with Mr JB - I'll let you know how I go!

In the end we went to Beckenham spa (I think the mention of the cafe swung it!). It cost 4.80 but this was for an unlimited session. As Pickle said you also have to pay for parking. Really easy to get to from ED only took about 10 -15 mins. There are 2 cafes - one upstairs by the swimming pool and then one within the soft play. We had lunch upstairs and they served burgers, paninis, jacket potatoes etc. Food was fine. I've only been to a soft play once before so I don't have much to compare with. I think miss JB enjoyed herself- spent most of the time trying to climb up the slide. Was wondering though - do any of the other soft plays have separate section for the younger toddlers ie under 2s? There's quite a big difference between a 4 year old boy and a 14 month old girl and there were a few times when it got a bit hairy in there! Maybe I just need to learn to relax.

Yes thanks everyone.

A tough one. You need to tread carefully. It could become a real issue and the next thing you know you'll be timing showers. This is from experience. It doesn't sound like you have the heating on for very long - though I suppose I don't know your working hours. We have the heating on for 2 hours in the morning - our system would barely have heated up after 1 hour and 4.5 hours in the evening. My mother who seems to be quite financially savvy is a firm believer in the low and constant theory. I'd never be able to convince mr jb though - he turns the heating off if we go out and then we get home to a freezing house. Anyone know anything about oil filled radiators and how efficient they are? Might be an option for their room?

Recommendations wanted for soft play venues. We have a car and so am happy to drive a short distance. Would be good to hear about the price, play facilities, parking and of course the refreshments! Miss JB is 14 months and this is a new world to us.

Croydon is easy to get to too on the east London line (from forest hill or honor oak) and has a slightly better selection than Bromley I think. Though if you're happy to drive I'd probably go to Bluewater

I tend to take the line that when there's so much conflicting advice on something- there's probably no right answer. I think it is more important to try to encourage a good brushing technique.

The baby is probably a bit young for structured classes like baby sensory but there is still lots to do. I enjoyed going to bumps and babes - basically a coffee morning at St faith's in north dulwich. It's on Fridays at 9.30 to 11.30 from memory. If she's keen to get active she could try power pramming in either dulwich park or Peckham rye. A great way to get the baby to sleep. You don't mention if she knows many other new mums round here but I can also remember spending a lot of my time in the pub around that age with my antenatal group- the babies slept and had the odd feed whilst we drank hot chocolate and compared horror stories. Am sure there'll be lots more suggestions coming as it's a very baby friendly area!