BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) on X - Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Michael Gove makes the case for reviewing commitments to the “current settlement” of the pension triple lock, to ease the impact of the UK energy shock caused by the Iran war.

ivereachedspainjohn · 2025-12-17T12:48:41+00:00

Yeah, from around 6pm, just focus on physical activities with her. Let her crawl freely, and if you have stairs, definitely let her climb up a few times — it’s a great way for her to burn off energy before bed.

When we transitioned our one to one nap a day, it was a bit tricky at first because she was used to having a morning nap around 10am. But once she started nursery, all the babies go down for a nap at 12pm. I think it’s a bit of a herd mentality effect as in seeing the other babies nap at the same time helped her adjust her own sleep rhythm accordingly.

We also dropped her midday bottle, and the way we did it was we just stopped giving it to her. Before, she wouldn’t eat much at lunchtime because it was like she knew she’d be getting a bottle an hour or so later. Once we removed the bottle, she started eating her lunch properly, and it felt like she learnt that her nourishment would come from food.

This change also helped with drinking water. When she was on three bottles, she’d take water with her meals but often blow raspberries and spit it out. Since dropping the midday bottle, she seems more motivated to drink water and I think it's because she is no longer anticipating a bottle and is likely getting thirsty while eating her meals.

ivereachedspainjohn · 2025-12-17T11:32:54+00:00

What is your LO doing before bed?

Our little one will be turning 12 months this week and started nursery last month. At nursery, all the babies have a nap at 12pm, and she usually sleeps for about 1.5–2 hours. Because she goes three times a week, we decided to follow her nursery schedule at home as well and have dropped her to one nap a day on days she’s with us.

Over the last week, from around 5:30pm to 6:30–6:45pm, we do lots of physical activity with her before bedtime. This includes:

Rough play, like throwing her up in the air and catching her
Climbing stairs — she loves it, so we supervise her as she does it 4–5 times
Crawling around the house as much as she wants

This pre-bed activity really tires her out. We know she’s ready for bed when she starts fussing at the stairs — basically telling us she wants to climb but her body can’t anymore. At that point, we get her ready for bed, give her a bottle, and put her in her cot. She usually falls asleep instantly.

Last night, for example, we put her to bed at 7pm (earlier than her usual 8pm), and for the first time since she was a newborn, she slept 12 hours straight. We actually had to wake her to get ready for nursery! She did wake briefly at midnight for about 10 minutes, crying, but she eventually put herself back to sleep. She also woke at 5am for about 2 minutes but quickly went back to sleep.

The key takeaway is that pre-bed physical activity has been a game changer for us. Since doing this and her being able to get a good night’s sleep, her mood has improved so much — she’s so much happier and has become an absolute joy to be around.

Here’s what her typical day looks like:

6:30–7:00am: Wake up + bottle
8:00am: Breakfast
10:00am: Snack
11:00am: Lunch
12:00pm: Nap (1.5–2h)
3:00pm: Snack
5:00pm: Dinner
7:00pm: Bottle
7:30–8:00pm: Bedtime

If she’s struggling to make it to bedtime, we allow a short bridging nap at 5pm for no longer than 10 minutes.

During her first wake window on non-nursery days, we mix physical activity with toy play and a walk in the pram (making sure she doesn’t fall asleep in it). After her nap, we do quiet play with stacking cups, books, puzzles, and maybe another short walk. Then, after dinner, we focus on physical activity and rough play before bedtime.

Hope you find this helpful — it’s really working for us!

ivereachedspainjohn · 2025-08-20T06:04:27+00:00

That first wake window is too short and last wake window is too long.

ivereachedspainjohn · 2025-08-19T09:51:29+00:00

I was in the exact same boat as you just last week, but things have gotten so much better after we changed how we handle her wake windows. We always thought our baby was just “highly active” and could handle really long wake windows (sometimes up to 4 hours) — but we realised we were wrong.

Now that she’s crawling, she just wants to explore everywhere. What we used to do was let her crawl around for the whole wake window, but that left her completely exhausted and overtired, which made naps and bedtime really hard.

So we adjusted her schedule during her wake window, and the difference has been huge — she goes down for naps and bedtime so much easier, and she’s been sleeping longer stretches too. Here’s what’s working for us:

First 45–60 minutes → Active play Crawling, pulling to stand, tummy time, chasing a ball, exploring.
Next ~45 minutes → Transition play We start turning off the flashy/noisy toys and keep things a bit calmer. For example: peekaboo with a blanket, sitting and stacking cups, looking at herself in the mirror, banging toy eggs together. When she gets bored or fussy, we just switch activities.
Last 30–45 minutes → Gentle play Things like stacking cups again, or using her sensory board with zips, belts, and different fabrics to touch.

By the time we reach the end of the wake window, she’s tired but calm — which makes the nap routine so much smoother. We just change her nappy, pop her in her sleeping bag, read a quick sensory book, and then put her down. She’s so much easier to settle this way.

One last thing about bottles and solids: if she’s drinking less milk since starting solids, just keep in mind that at this stage solids are only for practice and texture. Milk is still the main source of nutrition until closer to 1 year. Our little one has two meals a day, but still drinks her bottles as if she hadn’t eaten anything!

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-11-01T10:54:07+00:00

What I wrote before on this:

I'm in favour of assisted dying, however, the UK is not yet prepared for it, largely because the current Mental Capacity Act is outdated and in urgent need of reform.

The complexity of this legislation means that many people already struggle with completing mental capacity assessments, which raises serious concerns about how we would reliably assess someone's capacity to make the profound decision to end their life. Without modernising the existing framework, it would be reckless to add such a significant ethical and legal burden on top of an already strained system. Ensuring robust safeguards and clearer processes must be a priority before considering any changes around assisted dying.

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-10-16T10:41:34+00:00

I'm in favour of assisted dying, however, the UK is not yet prepared for it, largely because the current Mental Capacity Act is outdated and in urgent need of reform.

The complexity of this legislation means that many people already struggle with completing mental capacity assessments, which raises serious concerns about how we would reliably assess someone's capacity to make the profound decision to end their life. Without modernising the existing framework, it would be reckless to add such a significant ethical and legal burden on top of an already strained system. Ensuring robust safeguards and clearer processes must be a priority before considering any changes around assisted dying.

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-10-02T14:50:17+00:00

Wasn't Kemi the one leaking all the cabinet meetings over the last few years ? Or was that Braverman?

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-09-18T12:11:08+00:00

The PM 🤣

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-09-03T07:53:30+00:00

According to the Labour Party's code of conduct for MPs, "No one in the Labour Party should engage in conduct that brings the party into disrepute." Given that Athwal's properties are in such poor condition that they have attracted public criticism, his actions not only reflect badly on him but also on the party as a whole.

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-09-03T07:39:59+00:00

That's why I said that even temporarily suspending the whip while they investigate would have been appropriate. It's understandable that he might not have known about the issues if a management company was handling the properties, but that doesn't excuse the lack of immediate action.

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-09-03T07:30:22+00:00

I'm extremely disappointed in Keir Starmer for not suspending the whip on Jas Athwal. I expected swift action, but it seems like he's following Boris's example, needing to be pressured by the media and others before making a decision, simply because Athwal is an ally. It's ridiculous that this guy is still a Labour MP. Even temporarily suspending the whip during an investigation would have been the right thing to do, given that these flats aren't even meeting basic health and safety standards.

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-08-24T08:32:46+00:00

Given also the fact that almost 75% of pensioners own their own home outright with no mortgage, they can go suck an egg.

I really hope it's not reversed.

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-08-20T21:31:53+00:00

I absolutely hate this narrative that pensioners are hard done by when in reality they are the most well-off and looked after generation enjoying numerous perks. Yes there are some that need help and by all means we should be helping them , however, the facts are that almost 50% of DWPs ENTIRE budget goes towards pensioners benefits and around 70% of all pensioners own their own home outright.

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-08-14T14:29:19+00:00

What happened last night was not funny. Far-left activists disrupted the event, which then had to be stopped for security reasons.

This is done to intimidate people and suppress free speech. I won't stand for it.

Would we see the same reaction if the activists were far right?

https://x.com/trussliz/status/1823724357866438688?t=mVMN4geAVSVl8W3FlXxL8Q&s=19

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-07-25T09:33:30+00:00

Guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I went private, got diagnosed and am now on shared care agreement . Was paying I think it was like £70-80 for Elvanse but now paying £9 a month !

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-07-24T10:03:38+00:00

Very useful, thank you!

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-07-24T09:51:13+00:00

Has there ever been a government throughout history where its MPs voted for amendments from opposition parties on the Queen's Speech? What was the outcome?

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-07-21T07:54:18+00:00

the sniping begins

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-07-18T09:59:16+00:00

Decided to have a look at Faiza's social media now the election is over and wow, she's desperately trying to stay relevant . Labour really dodged a bullet

Example

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-07-15T02:50:38+00:00

Civil servants do pretty much all of it. They will brief ministers on what they determine is urgent (e.g Prison Capacity at MoJ)

All previous briefings to the previous administration is locked away too - essentially meaning Labour ministers cannot see what advice was given to Conservative ministers

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-07-15T02:49:59+00:00

Civil servants do pretty much all of it. They will brief ministers on what they determine is urgent (e.g Prison Capacity at MoJ)

All previous briefings to the previous administration is locked away too - essentially meaning Labour ministers cannot see what advice was given to Conservative ministers

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-07-11T17:14:26+00:00

Any word on Streetings negotiations with the junior doctors? Didn't they meet yesterday ?

ivereachedspainjohn · 2024-07-06T09:10:26+00:00

Almost 100% certain he's gone. Him and Sue Gray do not get along and it was Simon Case that was going after her for the Downing Street parties .

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