I'm still feeding my little one now, but in the beginning I fed on demand during the day and on a schedule during the night. Let me explain. My son often cluster fed during the day, sometimes every hour or so for a few hours. Although I did sometimes, it didn't really work for me at night (not surprisingly). So at night if he woke within the hour or even within 3 hours my husband would resettle him (as he didn't smell of milk). When I did get up after 3 hours to feed him I made sure he stayed awake for as long as possible and had as much milk as possible. He often would fall asleep on the breast after 6-7 minutes. So keeping him awake by talking to him and tickling his feet would keep him feeding for about 1/2 hour. That was enough milk to keep him going for the next 3 hours.

Hi there,
It's an interesting idea. I've only been looking into Sign Time for a few days, basically since the link in this Aussie Forum to request it from the ABC. I'm not sure if going through child care would be the way to go, as the parents aren't learning it aswell so its not going to be backed up at home or even effective as the parents don't know what it means. It must be with parents and their kids.

I would be interested in attending a class, also subject to time and cost. About $8-$10 would be about my limit, and it would have to be within about 5 kms of home. Early Childhood Centres might be a place to start as they have alot of mums through the door. Maybe indoor play centres could be something too as I was at one just yesterday and they announced Story Time for half an hour, but maybe they would be interested in a more interactive format of Signing Time for half an hour. A simple lesson in: hello, goodbye, I'm sleepy, hungry and maybe book aswell. Would be a good audience to advertise your more structured classes too.

I really liked Sesame Street, and I think it is a good, wholesome show that actually teaches stuff.

I've found Sesame Street isn't what it used to be. You can buy Volumes 1 and 2 from their official website or from Amazon that was the first 10 years (1969-1979). My husband and I are early 70's kids and I enjoyed them periodically when I was shown them. My husband however, was parked infront of the tv regularly in his household and with mainly Sesame Street's input he could read by 3 years old.

He was also into Transformers and I loved the Smurfs. We both also loved Fraggle Rock and the Muppets, and a BBC show called The Goodies. A translated Japanese show called Monkey was also a weekly favourite. Other Aussie's have gotta remember these!!!

Gee I wish this thread was around about a month ago, I would have saved a bit of money. Never mind. I too have had great results with YBCR. My son watches it only once a day in the mornings while eating breakfast (I posted a topic not long ago to see if that was a good idea). I'm happy to report that while showing him the matching flashcards one day last week, when he was not eating, all of a sudden he grunted twice to "dog", trumpeted with one arm to "elephant", arms went up to "arms up", roared to "tiger" and clapped to "clap". I almost fainted as we've only been watching it for about 6-7 weeks.

Modern day Sesame Street is not great at all (and Elmo's voice is just irritating), doesn't hold his interest and has no educational content. I also tried an Australian starter video call My Little everyday ABC. While the claims are pretty high, it is very slow and my son is getting off the couch by "D". It does have a CD Rom with it which might be good but Starfall.com is great and is free. It also doesn't sound out the letters like with phonetic dvd's so I think that is a miss.

I've watched a Baby Einstein dvd at a friends and thought it was rubbish. My son was also pretty disinterested.

Hi hypatia,

They are listed under 'indoor play centre' in yellowpages online. There are heaps of them around. I've been to Shrimps at Bexley, Kidz club Earlwood, one just near Baby's Galore in Taren Point (forget the name), but that one is cool it has a miniture train that the kids ride on, l've been to Clown Town in Rosehill which is huge and the toddler area is pretty big too and I've been to Corner Cubbyhouse in Five Dock which is also pretty huge. But there are heaps of them. There is no semester costs, it is just casual and drop in anytime you like. The great thing is I also go on the 3yrs plus area if it isn't busy and according to their rules parents must supervise which means adults are more than welcome to go on them too. Some are three levels high!!! about the height of a one story house. Then you climb through all obsticles and padded things and often can sit your toddlers on your lap and slide down all the way to the bottom. It's a great workout believe me. Just be really careful in the big kids area if you take a little one because you can turn around to discover they are standing at the top of the 3 level slide by themselves. It can give you a small heart attack.

Hi there,

I heard that children under the age of 3 (I think it was) can't distinguish between a drawing of a cat and the real thing. Most flashcards I've found on the market and several links provided within this forum seem to have only drawings or cartoons of objects. Obviously LR combats this but has anyone else heard about such research?

Thanks so much for that link, that is a brilliant website which I've added to my favourites. I was there for about 30 minutes having a look at all the utube videos. That woman has so many educational and craft ideas.

Thanks again.

My little man goes through stages of being fussy and then happy to eat whatever I put infront of him. When he is being fussy I do things like adding fruit to pancakes (he loves pancakes). I often make bubble and squeak too which is like a hashbrown but with pureed cucumber, avocado, brocolli, carrots (whatever you have really) within, then you shallow fry it in a pan. He thinks its just funny tasting potato and eats it most of the time.

Other times I give him a packet of saltanas as even when he's sick he loves eating them, and while to wrestles with the packet I'm able to shovel in a much food as he'll take. Sometime only a few mouthfuls but I'll take what I can get.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

Depending on if you want to publish it or just make it for your own kids. I have made a couple of books for my son by using photography software. I downloaded www.clickphotobooks.com.au as it was from my country and would save on postage, but there are heaps of these type of companies around. It is also really simple to use and heaps of fun. I'm making several books with the alphabet right now. For instance ABC is one book of 24 pages. The first page is a 'this book belongs to' page then on the back of it (ie Page 2) is the word 'apple' in lower case, large type in the middle of the page. Then on the page next to it (page 3) is the sentence 'A is for apples' at the bottom of the page. This way I'm incorporating plural. Above it is a good photograph of a close up apple I downloaded for free from a photography exchange website. Then next to that is a photo of my husband and son holding apples. The next page in the same format is ant, ball, bike, cat, etc. You only pay when you get the books printed and buying more than one gives you discounts for bulk.

You can make anything with these programs, and it gives you a chance to put photos in a keepsake book for years and years. Dog enables you to put in a photo of your own dog, cat, the neighbours cat, baby, a photo of your child when they were a newborn, hat when they were at the beach with a hat on. etc etc. It's just endless and heaps of fun. I do leave out words that are too hard to get a photo of one of us with such as Crocodile! but that's only because I don't know how to use photoshop. But if you do, imagin what you could do then....

I am at stay at home mum right now and looking to go back to work as a Marketing Manager part time when my son is 18months. Hubby is a Motorcycle Purchasing Manager. No educational teaching background with either of us, just a love of reading.

If I may add a thought to this topic of downloading presentations or thankyou posts simply to get points for LR discounts. Personally I bought LR and LM within days of finding this website and it was weeks before I did any posting at all. It was a matter of priorities for me. I would rather spend the money on my childs education (which turned out to be a fair bit once it was in AUD$) than on clothes and toys etc for him. For example we bought his cot on sale at Target (similar to Walmart) for $250 and his pram was $139 as it was the display model. Most of his clothes for the first 3 or 4 sizes were hand me downs and I organised a toy exchange program at his playgroup (about 9 mothers). Friends of mine who wont spend the money on educational tools like LR spent $1500 on a Bugaboo pram and $1000 on a Bouri cot. Both of these items kids only use for about 3 years but a good start in education remains for life. Just ask yourself, where are your spending priorities during these tough times!

Hi i am still breastfeeding my almost 13 month old. I will continue to feed her until we both feel ready, not when people think it is right. I am trying for another baby so if I cant get pregnant while breastfeeding then I will wean her around 2years.

I am still breastfeeding my 14 month old and he and I still enjoy it. I plan to only ween him when I become pregnant with the next one. He often finishes a big feed, rolls onto his back with a big milky smile and starts clapping. How can I possibly ween him yet when my milk gets a round of applause. Magic.

Oh Khatty, I really feel for you. And all mums with non-sleepy babies. I too have an active toddler who for the first 8 months was a horrid sleeper. He was in a bassinette next to my bed and out of sleep deprived desperation I ended up breastfeeding him to sleep whenever he wanted. This created weeks of waking every hour on the hour for 10 hours each night. I went nuts (hubby didn't wake everytime). With support and professional help he sleeps about 9-10 hours each night. The only real periodic problem is a night of teething.

What really helped us was to hand him over to my mother for two nights when he was about six months old, for him to sleep overnight at her house in his portacot. He was familiar with it from naps now and then at her house. It took alot for us to let him sleep away from us, but the exhustion had taken over. You can't be there 100% for your child if your not even close to 100% yourself. It gave us a good chance to recharge and start a better system with him.

Hi there,

My 14mth old son is glued to the YBCR Dvd's which we watch each morning. We are only up to the starter and vol 1 videos so far, but as we watch both he happliy eats. He even cranks his head around to see, if someone walks in front of the tv. He's not a big eater so it's the one meal I know he'll finish. My question to those who use this or a similar series is; is it ok for him to have this breakfast distraction while watching these. He rarely interacts with the dvd because his hands are busy but if I don't feed him he runs around the lounge room chasing the dog (another daily ritual). Do you guys still think it's sinking in? Should I just keep going and wait for him to start talking to find out it worked?

Hi there,

I find the indoor play centres great to take my little one to. Most are free for under 12 months and a couple are free for under 2 years. If your bub like mine is over one they are usually about $8.00 for unlimited usage. Most also have frequent usage cards where your 10th visit is free. I try to find out the days which they struggle for kids and go on those days (weekends are hideous). I also try not to go at lunch time as you can't take food in (as they have inhouse cafes), so it only costs the price of my sons admission. Adults are free.

Some local pools are really great to. I go to Hurstville aquatic centre which has all sorts of fountains and spa type jets in their big indoor pool. He has loads of fun with them all and that is only about $5. The local park is always a good free alternative.

I'd be interested to hear of more activities that are even cheaper.