Hornpipe

Thanks nunheadmum. Will definitely try the "don't do that approach'. I just want to help him with a response rather than just watch the adults deal with it! Thanks

My almost 3 year old boy is by nature very kind, gentle and sensitive. The positives are that he is generally easy to deal with, articulate for his age, empathetic towards others, lovely with younger sibling and other children etc. However on the flip side, he is a little worrier, nervous of many things and more importantly is often the target of aggression or bullying behaviour from other children. It's honestly like they sense he won't hit back and go after him for an easy target! I know this is part and parcel of growing up and I don't want to make a big issue of it for him, but we do feel of late it has started to affect him (copying some of the behaviour, spontaneously talking about it a lot etc). So far, all we have done is restrict contact with the main offenders (!)and carry on giving lots of cuddles and praise. Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you ensure it didn't affect confidence? I wouldn't change a thing about him and we love his gentle nature, but I just want to help him cope with it and ensure he doesn't get crushed! Any thoughts or shared experience much appreciated!

We had a bag of 'tat', otherwise known as the fun bag! We wrapped up each individual thing (i.e a happyland figure, wind up dinosaur, plastic spider etc) and put them all in a bag. Every time our son became a bit fractious, we let him open something. Pound shop and early learning centre were good for all the rubbish we put in there! The unwrapping meant the process was nice and drawn out. Stickers also worked well.

I'm also having a little wobble on BLW after my 6 month old choked on a piece of apple today. It was very scary - is this normal/am I being a wimp?! Purees just provoke a lot of retching and upset, so BLW is the only thing that seems to get any interest, but I'm not sure I have strong enough nerves!

Loo roll- theirs is scratchy and often absent! And wet ones/wet loo roll in case you tear - makes going to the loo a bit easier.

I agree wholeheartedly with the comments made about militant breastfeeding in public. Every time I see one of these sickos doing it, I lament the decline of humankind as we know it. I'd recommend doing what I do - keep your baby in the basement and feed it Hula Hoops under the cloak of nightfall. That way, there's no need for physical contact and no one realises you're a mother, so you can continue to be part of normal East Dulwich society. Anyway, I haven't got time to discuss this. I'm off down Lordship Lane to ram fat people's ankles with my Bugaboo. I think we'd all agree that these overeaters are simply taking up too much room on the pavement? As you were...

Stick with the pram, especially if you have a long or large baby! My son was only in the moses basket for about 4 weeks, he was so long he used to really rock around in it and in the end it seemed quite dangerous!

A friend of mine makes beautiful cushions, baby blankets, wall hangings etc with the child's name/initials or the like incorporated into the design. She works in fashion, so they are very tasteful and they have a vintage feel to them (using patchwork, wool etc). She talks to you about the colours and type of design you want so that you can tailor it to the child or family (I have a photo if you would like an idea of how the finished article looks). I was given a cushion for my son and as it is a complete one off it was a really special gift. If you are interested let me know and I will pm her details.

We had an attempted break in on Landcroft road last night - minutes after going to bed at about 11.30, a group of people tried to kick the door in but were scared off by our shouts and our neighbours taking chase. There were about 6 people (4 male and 2 female), but they got away. We called the police, but they were obviously unable to do anything. We'll be stepping up security tomorrow, but it's left us pretty nervous and we have an eight week old baby which makes matters worse. Did anyone else have any trouble last night or perhaps see the group? The police said nothing else had been reported, but the gang weren't shy about creating a lot of noise and bringing attention to themselves, so it seems unlikely that nothing else happened. Don't forget to lock up, it was a pretty terrifying evening.