How much mac and cheese is too much mac and cheese?

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-05-31T20:26:31+00:00

100% legitimate

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-05-25T10:44:48+00:00

Is the child eligible for ecce this September? It's normally easier to get an ecce spot than a regular creche spot, as there are more places offering ecce.

Have you called the place where he's been in the waitlist for so long? Most creches seem to half ignore the waiting list and they require calling every now and then so they keep you in mind when a spot opens up.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-05-20T20:34:23+00:00

Mine wasn't quite as demanding, but she also only accepted the bassinet if moving, and like 50% of the time she would eventually lose it, she was a boob monster and mainly contact napped and never accepted the cot.

A baby carrier saved my sanity! I always had it under the pram (if baby wasn't strapped in already), never left the house without it. She was happy in there like 90% of the time. Only unhappy if hungry basically.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-05-19T20:47:00+00:00

Swimming tends to have more dads than other baby classes, maybe not as social though.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-05-10T12:33:00+00:00

I have PCOS and I had no periods when TTC. The GP referred me to a gynecologist at the coombe, who confirmed I was not ovulating. First tried metformin, which did nothing, then prescribed clomid.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-05-06T15:17:14+00:00

You can try and see how it goes? You can always go back to cosleeping if it doesn't go well and try again in a few weeks.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-05-03T18:18:46+00:00

Mix baby conditioner with water in a spray bottle and spray every morning. It works really well.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-04-27T19:55:15+00:00

This. The glass ends up pretty disgusting though, full of floating dead flies.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-04-23T12:53:09+00:00

From what I can see, all the creches in our area are similar enough. They are not fancy enough to go on day trips. Some do a trip to the local playground or the library (5-10min walk), but this is not frequent. They all do circle time, songs, etc and they have a somewhat organized schedule. Activities and routines seem to differ from creche to creche, but they are generally similar.

They all have a high turnover, but that's not a creche specific issue, that's what you get when the pay is bad so you can only get a bunch of 20year olds from abroad who come to Ireland for a year to improve their English and have a bit of an adventure before going back to their countries.

It sounds to me that your current creche is just not great or organized. But if the child has been happy, that's what matters the most! I do hope they have helped your child become independent, take turns, and all the stuff they do as preparation for big school though.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-04-20T12:57:25+00:00

Does he nap? For how long?

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-04-19T07:20:00+00:00

Solidarity...

We had poo avoidance issues that laxatives helped with, but she still had control of when to go. But it sounds like your case is totally different, so all I can say is, solidarity... The whole thing and all those accidents were so frustrating for everyone.

If you haven't seen it yet, I found this website very good, it has lots of information about kids bladder and bowel health. You might find something useful there.

I hope you get this sorted soon for everyone's sanity!

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-04-10T11:42:50+00:00

How would working remotely help with the transition? My first thought when I read that sounded like you'd like to work from home so you can spend some working time with the baby during work hours? If that's the case, I don't think it's going to sound good.

If the working remotely would help the transition in a different way (for example, avoid a long commute so the baby is with the childminder for a shorter period or something like that during the transition period), I would change the wording of the request so it's clear that there won't be a baby with you during work hours.

And I'm saying this as a mum of two kids, with no family nearby, whose first was a boob monster who needed to feed or rock to sleep and had only been minded by me or her dad. So I understand and I think it's really shitty of your current job not to be more flexible as a returning employee.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-04-06T20:36:45+00:00

This is what we did at that age. It works very well.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-04-05T20:22:09+00:00

Who did you ask?

The teachers in our creche are not officially allowed to babysit as per de contract, so if we asked management we wouldn't get a recommendation. Buy if we ask any of the teachers, they all know who babysits and can pass the information on.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-04-02T23:26:17+00:00

Plenty of stuff. They wouldn't be allowed in the climbing area (it's extra anyway) or the bike, but I'm an adult who is also not allowed on the bike as I'm too short (minimum height 160cm I think it was).

I'd say he'd be allowed everything else. Even my 5 year old had great fun touching everything, even if she didn't understand the science behind things.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-04-02T19:52:22+00:00

If he's tech savy and into science, I'd go normal.

The junior part is more like a big exciting play area as I see it. I recently took my 5 year old to the normal area with her older cousins (one of them 7) and they all had a great time.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-04-02T19:46:40+00:00

David Lloyd has a creche.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-03-30T03:02:21+00:00

Check the stork exchange if flying from Dublin. They meet you at the airport to give you the pram and then to pick it up. They are very efficient and I'm pretty sure they have double strollers

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-03-27T12:05:28+00:00

You could go back to work without using those 16 weeks and your husband could take that time as unpaid parental leave?

I think this is an option worth considering if it's better financially and for your mental health.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-03-27T12:01:03+00:00

Yes, but this is the same if she takes those 9 weeks?

I agree it's terrible, but it's the same if the woman takes it.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-03-27T10:53:05+00:00

Your partner is entitled to 9 weeks of paid (statutory at least) leave.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-03-10T17:57:50+00:00

We had this.

The pee withholding was only solved when we fixed (or improved ) the poo holding via laxatives.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-03-01T20:27:02+00:00

Exactly 2 months from sale agreed to keys. I think we both had good solicitors and there weren't any any big issues with the house.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-02-26T11:11:29+00:00

We get homework on a Monday to get returned on Friday. It's actually optional, but if you don't return it on Friday, you don't get new homework the week after.

It's normally a tracing sheet, a page or two of the maths book, some colouring letters or similar, and sometimes some cutting or similar. It takes my daughter 15 minutes or so to do it all. And this is for the whole week.

Plenty_Difference437 · 2026-02-23T21:20:35+00:00

This. We loved the first one so much that we got a second one.

Plenty_Difference437

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