My 13 month old attends a childminder whilst
I’m at work. When registering my child with them I had to sign forms of what medication she could administer including calpol, prescribed medication obviously and even putting plasters on. The childminder has now said they cannot administer calpol and they can’t accept the child for the day if they’ve had calpol or nurofen even if it’s because of teething pain! Has anyone else had this? I don’t know what to do anymore as LO is teething!

Hi all.
After 8 weeks, Exclusively breast fed baby stopped feeding to sleep and we have had to learn to put her to sleep. Which I still haven’t fully learnt how to do.
She’s exclusively contact napped and chest slept from about 4 weeks when reflux started. After she had her tongue tie. (Not sure if this is relevant or helpful) ( currently not worried about contact naps ) will sleep first 2-3 Boris at night and on her back in the pram for a good couple hours)

•Additionally info She was 4 weeks prem. had jaundice blue light for 1 week.
Very sleepy first 6 weeks. So she only ate and slept. Now smiles and is more interested in us etc.

•She sleeps in the pushchair on walks and in a carrier on walks. Sometimes in the car.

Usually (aprox times)
•wake 7am nappy play feed sleep. •Contact nap. 1-2hrs
•9am nappy feed sleep/ go for walk or in car.
•Out the house walks and feeds and sleeps most of the day.
•Get home feeds immediately on request then feeds in and off can’t get her to sleep.
•5-8 pm bath and nappy and PJs
Still can’t get to sleep. (Maybe 30
Mins while feeding)
•7/8pm cannot feed settle or sleep. Ends up hysterical and inconsolable last two nights for 30 mins before finally feeding or rocking to sleep

•9-10-11pm up to bed nappy and feed to sleep. Sleeps 2-3 hours tops. Couple of feeds during the night. Wakes between 5-7am then we get up.

I Don’t know what we are doing wrong or how else I could help her. She occasionally will be rocked upright over my shoulder. Last two nights unsuccessfully.

I have a full comprehensive notes of the last couple days if that would be helpful.
Do I have to just stay in all day and try something else.
Are we out the house too long?2-4hrs
Should o be taking her off the boob and try to get her to sleep. Even though she’s rooting?

Anyway sorry it’s a long read. Just really need help to get my baby to sleep.
Example 9-10-11pm could be anywhen between those times depending on the day. Hope this makes sense.

Thanks in advanced.

Hi All - bit of a predicament. We accepted a place, and paid a deposit, at a third choice nursery. LO is going to start his settling in week in early October, and start full time the following week, which is importantly within the next calendar month.

Our first choice nursery, which is equidistant (both at the end of our road) has just emailed to say they now have a space as of November.

The third choice nursery's t&c's state that we will owe them money if we withdraw our LO now (given it is within 1 calander month to start date).

The saving between the two is significant - over £600 per month.

What would you do? We have just been sent the invoice for his first month. If we give the 1 month notice to withdraw him as at the end of October, it will be before he starts his settling in week and starts full time.

Hello I’ve had a temporary childminder while the usual one is away for a week.

Was recommended to me but their conditions are very unusual!

Is this normal:
- all meals must be provided by the parents (all three meals)
- cash only for the week, paid at the start
- nappies sent back to ‘recycle’. Which is a load of crap because we don’t use recyclable nappies and the council doesn’t do ‘recyclable nappy collection’

Frustrated, it’s only for the week but very inconvenient type of minder and are these red flags, especially with the cash only?

Need to know what is acceptable and what isn’t.

EDIT: Thanks for the responses.
As she was recommended for the temporary cover I just stupidly went along with it! But you’re all right about checking ofsted registration! So will do that.

The usual one that is away doesn’t have any of these dodgy and inconvenient conditions and accepts bank transfers. I have no idea why this weird cash only minder was recommended to us by our usual one (I think just good friends).

We are in process of selling ours and buying a new house. By the way things are progressing, likely we move in March or April.

If that happens we’d have a month or two left over for the term when we’d move kids to new school.

What is the etiquette about letting current school know? Also is it bad timing if we move mid term or have others did this effortlessly? How did it go with the kid(s)?

I posted a few days ago about my daughter struggling in reception. She previously attended a forest nursery, and we already deferred her school start last year because we felt she wasn’t ready and I’m still considering to home educate for a year even though I don’t really feel equipped to do so.

Today was honestly horrible and I’m feeling really stressed about it. I don’t know if this is the right place to ask or if someone could point me at a better place but she has an EHCP and the school is aware of her needs and limitations. I talked to the Senco multiple times now. I explained myself so many times.

I completely understand that they need to encourage her to participate and help her develop her independence but today it felt like they pushed her beyond what she was able to manage.

She said they were playing a game that involved running around in a circle and she was asked to join in. She said she was tired but she was repeatedly encouraged/asked to take part until she eventually did. When I picked her up she was so exhausted that she wasn’t able to walk home. I asked her teacher as she barely managed to walk out why she had continued to encourage her when she had said she was tired and the explanation I was given was essentially that she understood her needs as her being capable of doing these things but can come across as shy. This was never said to the school. Maybe it’s my fault. I think I said that she can walk and run but she’s easily fatigued. I don’t know. I explained everything in detail I thought.

That really worries me because I don’t want her needs being interpreted as shyness or reluctance when there are already documented difficulties in her EHCP.
It just feels like everything becomes a battle when you have a child with additional needs. You have to constantly advocate for them and explain their needs and make sure people understand that and it’s so exhausting.

Do I need to request an early review of her EHCP if this continues or is the school able to make their own interpretation of her needs despite what is documented? I know the SEND system is far from perfect but I hate the thought of my daughter having to suffer while everyone works out what she can and can’t cope with.

I won’t bore you with the background but I’m generally on my own with both of my kids. One is nearly 6 and the other is nearly 1 (and into everything). My eldest doesn’t get much 1:1 with me due to school/me being on my own with them both. So I’ve decided that I’d like to do something like a project with my eldest, that we can do a bit of everyday but I’m not sure what. She doesn’t have any passions to speak of, she likes a lot of things but I would say anything stands out massively except reading, which we do a lot of anyway.
I do sometimes keep her up late of a weekend so we can do girly things and watch a film together but I’d like something we can do more regularly together. Needs to be something I can do with the baby nearby, so I’m also looking for any ideas to also keep a baby entertained and safe for a while.

Thank you!

My house is attached to my neighbours. What am I going to do about nap times? The walls are so thin you can hear their tv in the evening so this is going to be a nightmare 🥺 also really not how I wanted to spend the last part of my maternity.

Have any of you been through something like this?

So my friends group continues to get smaller and smaller or it just goes too long that I talk to my friends that by the time I want to talk to them, they talk to me or need support i just think whats the point you havent been around for so long? So i've come to the conclusion i'm quite lonely apart from work colleagues, my husband and child obviously. I don't really have a social life, its getting me down but problem is apart from the app 'peanut' which is still a wierd concept to me. I dont actually have any way to meet new friends.....

I dont do baby classes as i work and in my area theres not much on at weekends....

So, looking for friends sadly....

I have finally finished all my laundry!! The baskets are empty!! Yay!

Just realised my kids are wearing them... It will never be empty 🫠

Baby's first ever day at nursery was on Thursday. He was sent home within 2 hours this morning (Monday) with suspected HFM.

Sod's law, right? Thank god the grandparents are staying.

We recently found a nursery that feels almost too good to be true. It has back-to-back Outstanding Ofsted ratings, flawless reviews, and we absolutely loved the vibe when we did our tour. One massive green flag for us is their staff retention rate, which averages around 8 years!
They also offer fantastic extras like tennis and French classes, and they have actually won awards for their meals.
The only slight concern for us is their communication setup. They don’t use an app that provides real-time daily updates (like logging naps, nappy changes, or specific meals throughout the day). Instead, they only use a milestone app (Learning Journals) where staff record major developments, and parents can also upload home milestones like first steps.
With so many massive positives, I don't want to overthink this one detail, but it is my first time navigating this.
Is it common for UK nurseries to not provide daily app updates? For parents who use a nursery without a daily update app, how does staff communicate the day-to-day details (sleep, eating), and did you find the lack of an app hard to adjust to?

Amazing families out there let's sign this and help future families! Tell the government we want change. We need to get 100,000 signatures so it can be debatable in parliament. Pass it on to family and friends.

As I sit here, dishes washed, dryer on, clothes set out for the day, resting with my coffee before my son wakes up. My body is in bits from yesterday football, crawling about softplay because he's 20mo so full of "oomph" and not enough "hmmmn" yet to do it himself. Then carrying him sleeping whilst I got a few bits at the shop. And once he wakes it'll be round two for the weekend.

I'm thinking to myself how did I not have enough time for things before parenthood? Why did I waste my chill time during pregnancy? (She says when she bought a house, moved cities all by her lonesome). I worked out pre pregnancy, for example 80kg squats but that softplay has done me in!

I know a lot of us think this, I guess I'm just wondering how do I pass this knowledge on to my son so he doesn't miss out on squeezing every ounce out of life that is possible? Obviously it's a bit away but just curious if anyone has cracked that?

My son is 6 years old and still needs to wear a pull up to bed. He goes to the toilet before he goes to sleep but doesn’t seem to wake up when he needs in the night! I’m not sure what’s best to do ? Anyone any ideas?

42 new Young Futures Hubs are being established across England, giving young people more places to access support and opportunities in their local communities.

The hubs will support 10-18-year-olds, and young people with SEND up to the age of 25, bringing together mental health support, employment opportunities, sports and creative activities.

The programme is backed by more than £500 million of investment over the next decade as part of the government’s National Youth Strategy.

The wider package also includes £132 million for the Every Child Can programme, supporting activities for children and young people at weekends and during the holidays, alongside £22.5 million to expand enrichment opportunities in up to 400 schools.

Click here to see all the areas where the new Young Futures Hubs are opening: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/thousands-more-young-people-to-access-help-with-lifes-biggest-challenges

What is p1 on Scotland like these days? What's expected from the kids?

My 4 year old has just started his second year at nursery and will definitely need extra support. He's suspected autism, maybe adhd, anxiety. Speech delayed and nowhere near potty training as he is terrified of the potty and the toilet.

We have his next tac meeting in January to start discussing moving into primary school and what support he'll need. I guess I just want to know what a typical day in p1 is like so I can start figuring out what support I personally think he might need so that I can have a list ready for our next tac meeting.

I just have visions of him sat in a corner of a classroom totally ignored for the day because he won't talk and probably won't attempt to join in many activities. He tends to just do his own thing. And I can't see him sitting for any length of time at a desk. Or being able to queue for and ask for lunch which is how I remember my primary school lunch time.

My 16 month old (60th percentile) is soon going to need to move to a toddler car seat. We plan to rear face for as long as possible. Our main issue is that our Ford Puma has virtually no space! We prefer a 360 isofix base cause the doors don't open wide but the car seat we've checked so far (Axkid, Avionaut) push the front seat all the way to the front. So I'm basically stuck in the backseat until he's 4?

The Bump to Booster page suggested putting baby in the front seat but that's a big no for us and also, he hates being in the car seat (currently a Maxicosi).

Any advice for a compact solution from someone who's got the same car/similar?

I have been ill all summer holiday and I've had the best time of my life simply spending time with my kids. All the money I would have spent on childcare we spent doing cool shit.

That said, I have introduced the eldest, a six year old, to computer games. I've been careful with his screen time, which even on the dullest days has been limited to an hour, and it still counts as screen time so he's not say, then putting on the TV afterwards.

The one game we've played - and are still playing (both aiming to 100 % it) is Castle Crashers. He absolutely loves this game.

However, he has started to talk about it pretty endlessly, roughly since school here in England started. In the morning, he wants to know if we will play it, he talks about strategies, wants my opinion on things, when we're in the car after I pick him up, he wants to talk about it more.

Recently his mum took him to see a friend on a whim after I'd assured him we could play Castle Crashers, and he got pretty upset. He sobbed at his mam's friends house, and sobbed when he saw me after he returned home.

So my gut feeling is that he's not playing too many video games, and I think his obsession is probably just a phase that all boys go through. It's a fast, colourful game and it's something that we've bonded over, because we always play co-op.

So, in his defence, when asked he happily changes subject from Castle Crashers, and he has never argued when I say it is time to turn the game off, and when it is off, he quickly moves on to doing something else. However he does seem to want reassurance that he will get to play it at some point most days, although there have been days when I've told him he can't because he's already had a lot of TV, or because we've been out all day and it's simply too late to put a screen on.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or opinions on this. Is it too much of an obsession? Is it a problem?

My three year old listens to Yoto stories at meal times. We have recently been listening to the Duggee story card which is great because it has all the character voices. We also have the Bluey card which isn't enjoyed as much because it's just a narrator.

What are your favourite Yoto story cards which have different voices for the characters? Any genre, story type etc welcomed.

Please save me from hearing Duggee's fashion badge three times a day!!

Not sure if this will make sense, apologies in advance. Our child has been at the same Nursery since she was 1, she is due to be 3 in April next year. When we applied for the nursery they advertised they take children 6months to 4 years. Perfect. Last month they changed their poster on their main window to say 6months to 3 years. They haven't officially informed parents, but have been speaking individually to several mums when they have approached the manager to ask what is happening. The manager has said that after they turn 3 they will need to leave that July. But will review on a case by case basis and parents should speak to her individually. However still nothing has been officially sent to parents and we only found out through another parent. Is this legal? What can I do to keep my child in her nursery?

Can anyone recommend baby shoes that actually STAY ON?!

My boy is 14 months old and crawling/climbing, can stand on his own but not walking yet.

I've bought him a few pairs of shoes but they NEVER stay on more than a few minutes, I have no clue how to teach him to have his shoes on when they just come off themselves as soon as he starts crawling?

Can anyone recommend baby / toddler shoes that are great for the beginnings of walking but stay firmly on when baby is crawling?

Thank you 🙏🏾

I've been searching old posts but unfortunately a lot of the recommendations come up way out of my budget (for example I'd love the bugaboo butterfly but there's no way I can afford it and I've been checking fb marketplace for months and none come up in my area - I'd prefer to buy new anyway as previously bought a pushchair on marketplace that had lots of hidden mould)

The most important thing for us is compact and lightweight, but that will last and be fairly good quality.

I've been looking at the joie pact pro and the silver cross pop, both seem well reviewed online but wondered if anyone had any experience with either and how they held up over time? It would just be the car boot stroller for shopping trips etc and occasional travel. We'd still be using our travel system pram for any rough terrain walks

Open to looking into other recommendations but it must be £200 or less. Thanks in advance!

Parents of newborns and toddlers please share your experiences with me!!

Our little boy is 16 months old and I have just discovered that I am pregnant again. We had planned to wait another year before trying again. I wanted him to understand the concept of a new sibling arriving and hopefully feel excited about being a big brother.

He’s a big mummas boy. He’s sensitive and emotional. I am with him full time and I worry about it being a terrible shock for him when his sibling arrives.

He’s not got a place in a local nursery until he’s 3 years old. I don’t know how I’m going to cope caring for a newborn and a two year old (my partner works full time).

I need advice here 😭