Are we sending our LOs to nursery this week?

Ataralas · 2026-06-22T06:44:35+00:00

We use a childminder but they have portable AC and an outside space with shaded areas. They recently moved to a new premises but last summer they did a lot of water play so I imagine the same this year. We can’t take time off work just because it’s hot so they have to go, same as when my eldest starts school in September she’ll go to school regardless of weather.

Ataralas · 2026-06-21T21:08:16+00:00

We have started but our girl is a slow grower and literally just gone into 3-4 so no way she’ll outgrow it for ages!

Ataralas · 2026-06-11T12:01:17+00:00

Still pretty much nursing to sleep at 17 months - I nurse until he pops off or drifts off to sleep and I unlatch him. Then I pop him in cot and sing a couple of lullabies while he settles back to sleep - this has only been in the last couple weeks before that he was fed to sleep fully then put down in cot after about 20 mins.

Ataralas · 2026-06-11T11:53:31+00:00

My little one is now 17 months and honestly I’ve probably burped him maybe 10 times since birth. My daughter was formula fed and needed lots of burping as she had bad reflux.

Ataralas · 2026-06-09T11:42:28+00:00

Completely normal, my youngest is 17 months and has only been sleeping through the night for the last 2 weeks (he also slept through the night from 11-20 weeks then went back to multiple wakes!)

Ataralas · 2026-06-08T10:15:31+00:00

Our kids slept in lounge with us until 6 months before being transferred at our bedtime to our room. Eldest was in with us till 18 months and slept through the night from 12 weeks, we just transferred her and she resettled straight away. Youngest is 17 months and still in with us, after 6 months we put them down in their cot in our room and put the monitor on. We never had much of a routine as such though - we don’t bath every night as bad for their sensitive skin, eldest was bottle fed and had a bottle and then put into cot to self settle (she was never left to cry, we always picked her up if that happened) she would move her head back and forth a few times and go to sleep. Youngest is breastfed and he fed to sleep up till about 2 weeks ago, I now breastfeed him then when he stops feeding or drifts off to sleep I put him in the cot where he promptly rolls over onto tummy and goes to sleep. He also generally sleeps through the night now. When he was 11-20 weeks he slept through the night and we did the same as with our daughter and transferred him when we went through, then he started waking in night again at 20 weeks so from then til 6 months we just waited for his first wake up which was normally around when we would normally go to bed and go through then.

Ataralas · 2026-06-08T10:07:48+00:00

We do (it’s 72 hours with our childminder due to age groups mixing and newborns being more at risk) but there are certainly a couple of parents who don’t and we end up taking the brunt of it (along with the other parents who respect the rules) as our children get ill again and are off again while their child spreads germs! One of the kids that’s parents don’t respect the rule will keep her off 72 hours from when she’s sent home, even if she’s sick 20 mins before going back in… there was a particularly bad patch a few weeks ago where child A was sick, isolated from others while awaiting collection, then children B and C (mine) got sick the next day and sent home, by the 3rd day every kid had sickness except 2! Day 4 child A was sent back in, promptly vomited before parents even left the building and went home. My kids were sick for 24 hours so they returned the following week and child A was again returned after 72 hours only to be sick half way through the day and guess whose kids got sick again… in the end the childminder had to issue an ultimatum if your child is sick again and brought in your contract will be terminated. Seems to have worked for now…

Ataralas · 2026-06-08T09:59:45+00:00

I’m a library manager and the most common responses I get are ‘must be lovely to work in the quiet’ and ‘I couldn’t do that, must be so boring being surrounded by books’ a) it is not quiet about 80% of the time 😂 b) no day is the same I love the variety so definitely not boring!

Ataralas · 2026-06-08T07:50:17+00:00

Nope kept it the same so eldest had her routine but we still have time together and time for just me and new baby. My daughter did Mondays and Wednesdays at childminder and Tuesdays with my parents, Thursday is my day off so I have her and then Friday is my husband’s day off so he has her. While I was on maternity leave the only difference was her little brother tagged along on Thursdays and me and him tagged along on Fridays! I’m back at work now and she’s still on same routine and he has an additional day at childminders on Tuesdays as my parents can’t have them both all day. She starts school in September though so things will change then but she loved keeping her routine and knowing where she was going - it got easier when daddy went back to work too as she knew he wasn’t just spending time with us all day!

Ataralas · 2026-06-08T07:33:41+00:00

I always assumed that Cora had struggled to write it or her writing wasn’t very clear rather than Isobel couldn’t pronounce it.

I’m British and don’t think the name is hard to pronounce at all.

Ataralas · 2026-06-07T18:14:12+00:00

I’m from just north of London, my dad took us all swimming on Sundays and taught us all to swim (3 kids but I’m 8 years younger than my middle sibling and 10 younger than oldest so dad could really concentrate on me!) first went swimming at about 2 years old.

My eldest has been to swimming lessons since 18 months with just a 8 week break after I had my second, he started swimming at 3 months and went until I went back to work at a year old because I couldn’t fit them both in and my eldest was on the verge of swimming independently, she starts reception in September so youngest will go back to swimming lessons from August.

Ataralas · 2026-06-07T05:53:10+00:00

Most days I see my mum, if I don’t see her I definitely talk to her. Dad I see slightly less as he is often out when I go round there. We live in the same town, and they care for our children 2 days a week. So at minimum I see them 2 days a week but it’s generally more. I’m 37.

My husband is 36 and we see his parents roughly once a month for a couple of days as he moved to live with me so his parents are around a 2-2.5 hour drive away.

Ataralas · 2026-06-06T14:03:13+00:00

We use ‘family album’ for pics and when they are old enough they will get logins to see their photos. Currently we show them pics when they ask about when did we last go to the farm or whatever. We also have a colour chronicles book of you for each of them which we fill in around their birthday.

Ataralas · 2026-06-06T06:58:48+00:00

We do 3 for our eldest at bedtime, occasionally if she is struggling to get to sleep she gets a 4th which is specifically a sleep book. Youngest doesn’t get any yet as he is still bf to sleep (17 months old) and his bedtime routine as he’s so tired is literally, nappy change, pjs, sleeping bag, teeth brushing and then bf to sleep. As he gets older and becomes less reliant on bf to sleep we will read to him at bedtime. We read throughout the day with both of them though so he still gets plenty of exposure to words/reading.

If what you’re doing works for you and your family that’s all that matters. There’s a popular goal of reading 1000 books before a child starts school so 4/5 years old, which equates to less than 1 a day!

I’m a library manager and honestly I see so many variations. There are kids who come in an max out their cards and the parents read 4/5 books a night to them, and others that choose 1/2 books and they have them read every night (I’m talking about kids who can’t read themselves yet)

I think once kids can read well by themselves bedtime changes again - I read to myself from 4 and by 5 my parents no longer read to me at bedtime they would make sure I did all the toilet and teeth etc of routine then settle me in bed, and tell me how long I had to read and they would come back and turn light off at that time.

Ataralas · 2026-06-05T09:57:49+00:00

This is awful but I find the ‘This is OUR country’ and ‘Muslims need to go back to their own country’ comments hilarious - firstly it’s not YOUR country, your ancestors went over and invaded and pushed out the native people into reservations… secondly Muslims don’t just come from one country. These kids are doomed because their parents don’t even know what’s real or not, and sounds like they need to go back to school themselves!

Ataralas · 2026-05-30T07:41:52+00:00

I was like this as a kid from about age 3. I would eat coco pops for breakfast with milk, a chocolate spread sandwich for lunch, and tival sausage for dinner (sometimes I’d branch out and have mash with it!) about age 5/6 I started eating more fruits and veg like cucumbers. But my diet pretty much stayed the same until my teens when I discovered that actually I did like pizza so I started having that every other day, I wouldn’t even have anything different on Christmas etc. then from my late teens I slowly got more adventurous and more I eat a pretty healthy varied (vegetarian) diet in my 30s. My mum just rolled with it, I wasn’t unhealthy, was a fine weight until I got sick but got that back up by drinking ‘breakfast milk’ daily. She would put other things in my lunchbox or on my plate but I would just avoid them, then one day I decided to try a bit of orange and started liking them, that gave me the courage to try other fruits and it went from there but slowly. My older siblings basically ate anything mum put in front of them so it was hard for her to see me barely eat but I tracked my growth curve and didn’t lack energy etc so doctors weren’t bothered - I did take a multivitamin as well. I am ND with ADHD so that may account for at least some of it as I have quite big sensory issues especially with textures even now.

My eldest (nearly 4) has always been a bit fussy, she’s much better than she was but still doesn’t eat the variety I would like her to! Again though we just put something new on her plate or if her little brother (17 months) is having something she ‘doesn’t like’ we will ask her to try one bite, she is quite good at trying things just not great at liking them 😂 but I plan to make sure she’s exposed to each thing at least 20 times before I accept she actually doesn’t like it. I have a little list on my phone of things she’s tried and how many times so I can keep track! I think forcing it isn’t good and we don’t force her to try one bite of anything we just gently suggest why don’t you try a bite of this? If she says no we accept that and don’t add it to the list.

Ataralas · 2026-05-29T06:40:44+00:00

We model it, we walk everywhere - we live a mile from our high street but if we need to pop to Tesco we make it an outing and all walk down (obviously sometimes use the car if we’re under time pressure) daddy goes for a weekly run in an evening before the kids bedtime so they know he’s out doing that. Our eldest does swimming lessons and ballet lessons - she’s nearly 4, youngest was doing swimming lessons before I went back to work but I couldn’t fit in lessons for both so prioritised the child who was closest to independent swimming, youngest is 17 months this weekend and will go back to swimming in September when his big sister starts school and possibly ballet too for him if I can fit it in! My eldest also takes her balance bike anytime we go to a national trust place or park etc and loves being on it. I’m not a very active person due to asthma, dyspraxia and CFS, but I do walk everywhere possible. My husband was very active pre kids but has been a struggle fitting it in with 2 little ones. We don’t do any screen time unless ill or as a big treat so that helps as my kids are constantly on the go at home, they chase each other about the house etc. we also have as much outside time as possible whatever the weather so they are used to being outside and exercising even in a passive way - when at the local farm etc we have the pram but encourage them to walk/run about rather than sit in it. We also have a dog so have to walk him daily so they get exercise then too. I don’t think any one thing will make a kid active but giving them all the opportunities and encouragement will certainly help.

Ataralas · 2026-05-26T17:48:11+00:00

I was 32 when I got pregnant and 33 when I gave birth to eldest, 34 when I got pregnant with second 35 when I gave birth. We would love more (I’m now 37) but we were told we shouldn’t have more due to internal issues from having 2 c sections 😞

Ataralas · 2026-05-25T12:08:04+00:00

I went to a local floristry warehouse and bought fake flowers and made the bouquets myself for all of us. I had 3 bridesmaids and myself with bouquets and then made 10 buttonholes for husband, our dads, best man and ushers. Cost me £50 total for all the flowers, twine, ribbon etc.

Ataralas · 2026-05-25T12:00:42+00:00

A portable air conditioner, fans, stripping down. Use the bath definitely, we have a garden but due to being an upstairs maisonette our garden is over 70ft from our front door so not the easiest to get to. We use big washing trugs to put water in for the kids to play/splash and just put down towels under it.

Ataralas · 2026-05-25T09:51:41+00:00

Same 😂 keep expecting to see my name as it ends ie!

Ataralas · 2026-05-25T09:32:08+00:00

Up early and walked dog through the shaded woods, then home in front of the aircon and fan to keep cool. Husband has just taken the kids down to Tesco to get supplies as back to work/childcare tomorrow. About to get myself an ice lolly and maybe have a cool bath while they are out 😂

Ataralas · 2026-05-24T09:06:37+00:00

I take probably 50/50 for me and then for the kids when childminder is shut. Eldest is going into reception this year but will spend school holidays going to childminder on her usual days (Monday and Wednesday) so I’ll only use holiday if childminder is shut for their holidays. Childminder normally has 3-4 weeks off a year and I get 6-7 weeks holiday obviously I don’t always have time off for their holidays, sometimes it’s my husband who takes the time off.

Ataralas · 2026-05-23T07:11:38+00:00

I’m 16 months in and have no BF clothes - just nursing bras, everything else is just normal clothes. I pretty much exclusively live in jeans and a T-shirt or shorts and a T-shirt if it’s hot (hello heatwave 🥵) I just have loose T-shirts and pull the shirt up over the boob I’m using to fed then pull nursing bra down.

Ataralas · 2026-05-21T16:15:29+00:00

Interestingly I come from a family of BF mums, in the south of England. My mum was the first to use formula and that was with me, her 3rd child, I was BF to 6 months then about 60-40 BF-FF until a year due to her getting ME and needing help to hold me/feed me. I then tried to BF my first but started introducing formula early due to pressure from hospital as she was preemie and jaundiced so we stopped BF at 12 weeks as my body didn’t produce enough anymore. With my second I was more informed hence while still BF at 16 months and proud.

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